Pono (digital music service)

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Pono Music
100px
Pricing model $9.99–$24.99 (expected, per album)
Platforms OS X, Windows, online
Format FLAC/WAV/DSD (192k/24 bit to 44.1/16 bit lossless)
Restrictions Unrestricted
Catalogue Major labels and prominent independent labels
Streaming No
Availability January 5, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-01-05)
Features Sync FLAC/WAV/DSD files to PonoPlayer
Website www.ponomusic.com


Pono (/ˈpoʊnoʊ/, Hawaiian word for "proper"[1]) is a portable digital media player and music download service for high-resolution audio.[2][3] It was developed by musician Neil Young and his company PonoMusic,[4] which raised money for development and initial production through a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter.[5] Production and shipments to backers started in October 2014, and shipments to the general public began in Q1 2015.

Pono's stated goal—to present songs "as they first sound during studio recording sessions", using "high-resolution" 24-bit 192 kHz audio instead of "the compressed audio inferiority that MP3s offer"[6][7]—has received mixed reactions, with some describing Pono as a competitor to similar music service such as HDtracks,[8] but others doubting its potential for success.[2][9][10][11]

History

Writing in his book Waging Heavy Peace, Young expressed concern about digital audio quality, criticizing in particular the quality offered by Apple's iTunes Store.[12] "My goal is to try and rescue the art form that I've been practicing for the past 50 years," he said.[13]

Young is the Founder of Pono Music.[14] In September 2012, Young appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman with a prototype of the player,[15][16] and reported backing from major record labels Warner, Sony, and Universal, with a full agreement with Warner.[1][17][18][19]

In March 2014, Young announced that Pono would provide "the finest quality, highest-resolution digital music from both major labels and prominent independent labels" using the FLAC audio file format.[20] $6.2M of funding for the project was raised via preorders for the player using the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.[21] In June 2014, Young assumed the title of CEO of Pono Music.[22] The Pono player and music store was officially launched in January 2015.[23]

Ecosystem

The Pono "ecosystem" will reportedly comprise the following components:

  • A portable music player, "PonoPlayer", costing $399 with 64 GB of internal storage. The player also supports removable MicroSD cards up to 128GB. Thus, the total capacity is 64GB with no MicroSD card inserted, or more depending on the size and the MicroSD card. The cards can be swapped to allow for a larger selection of data.[20] The press release notes that the PonoPlayer, developed in collaboration with Ayre Acoustics, can store "100 to 500 high-resolution digital-music albums".[24]
  • The PonoMusic online music store, which will also sell earbud and headphone products suitable for use with the PonoPlayer device.[24]
  • "PonoMusic App", accompanying desktop-based "media-management" software, which will allow customers to download and sync music to the player.[24]

Reception

A 2012 Rolling Stone report on Pono, relayed generally positive anticipation, but quoted musician Jim James as asking, "I've already bought Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' a lot of times. Do I have to buy it again?"[6]

Press reaction to Pono announcements in March 2014, was generally skeptical: approving of the idea of good sound, but questioning the viability of a standalone player in a market that had moved largely to smartphones and that was moving increasingly towards music streaming.[9][10][11][25] Several commentators suggested that the key to improved sound lay largely in music engineering and mastering practices, rather than in file formats and players.[26][27][28]

In the wake of its launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2015, Pono received mixed reviews. Yahoo Tech's David Pogue conducted a blind test with 15 volunteers aged 17 through 55 comparing Pono Music downloads (FLAC format) played on a Pono Player with iTunes downloads (AAC format) played on an iPhone; he found that the participants did not prefer Pono.[29] A subsequent (subjective, non-ABX) review in the Stereophile magazine, deemed the Pono Player's performance superior to more expensive components and players with the reviewer saying "I am pleased to report that CD rips sounded excellent through the player".[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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