The Neil Young Archives adds hi-res audio to music videos and films – powered by OraStream’s next-generation hi-res audio streaming delivery technologies.

The OraStream team that partnered with Neil Young to provide all of his music streaming in high resolution quality has delivered high-res sound in music videos and films. Subscribers to the Neil Young Archives have been able to access and stream music videos for the new album “BARN” by Neil Young and Crazy Horse” in 192kHz/24-bit audio quality.

The new feature was first added in two films; “Distant Camera” and “Horseback” for NYA’s subscribers to hear and feel these records in high res audio while watching the films. Since then, the Neil Young Archives added hi-res sound to the new music tracks from the new album, BARN including “Welcome Back”, “Song of the Seasons”, “Heading West”, “Shape of You”, “Human Race”, “They Might Be Lost”, “Tumbling Thru The Years” and “Change Ain’t Never Gonna”. 

Music videos are an important part of the music industry. Based on a 2021 IFPI survey, video streaming accounts for 22 percent of weekly music engagement compared to subscription audio streaming (such as Spotify Premium and Apple Music) which accounts for 23 percent of weekly music engagement while ad-supported, free tiers of audio streaming make up 9 percent). For genres, such as, classical, jazz, world music whose audiences cares deeply about music and sound quality, music videos delivered in hi-resolution sound quality can help the songs and artists expand viewing audiences.

OraStream’s platform supports hi-res audio in video streaming, the same way it is done for music delivery; as bandwidth increases, the video and music will increase in audio quality to the highest levels possible, subject only to the quality of the original music source. For the NYA music films and videos, this means up to 192 kHz/24 bit resolution audio quality. 

Celebrated singer-songwriter Neil Young, who has put his name and reputation on the quest of better audio for many years, says: “It feels great to be able to hear this sound dimension and quality while watching a movie! Being able to watch a video and feel the sound the way it was made is really a great experience.”

OraStream's CEO, Frankie Tan says: "With advances in broadband networking, computing and storage technologies, digital media including videos can support higher quality lossless audio. Hi-res audio gives the closest reproduction of sound quality in the original performance and OraStream’s adaptive streaming then delivers the best video and audio quality that user's usage conditions can handle”.

You can watch the video release for “Welcome Back” in hi-res audio (links below):

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brio.orastream.com/widget/?showId=61a92046153a005a45fecf95

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<iframe src="https://brio.orastream.com/widget/?showId=61a92046153a005a45fecf95&theme=dark" width=640 height=405 frameborder="0" allow="clipboard-write; fullscreen;" allowfullscreen></iframe> (embed player widget for HTML page)

About The Neil Young Archives

The Neil Young Archives, described as a “Revolution in fandom” by The Guardian, is a website and app where fans have access to Neil Young’s audio, video, memorabilia, notes, lyrics, original manuscripts and an eight-page newspaper. It’s where Neil is continually adding new content and where his fans and he communicate with each other. It went live a little over a year ago and has tens of thousands of paid members. A subscription costs $19.99 per year. Visit https://www.neilyoungarchives.com

About OraStream

The company was founded with a mission to restore high quality audio to digital music. Its novel adaptive audio-video streaming platform powers a new generation music services based on streaming 16/24-bit lossless resolution audio, video and live streams which adapts to the user’s quality of network, and usage conditions. Visit https://www.orastream.com

Harbingers of the High-Res Era: OraStream Lets Everyone Enjoy the Highest Possible Audio Quality

High-res audio, often called “lossless,” has been the purview of the elite for too long, argue the streaming media experts at OraStream. The company is opening the gates to all, providing the technology for legendary artists, music startups, online stores, video livestreamers, and performing arts organizations to bring hi-res versions of their sound and vision to the world.  

OraStream has powered projects by icon and audio aficionado Neil Young, created music lockers for personal high-res file collections, and served a range of B2B customers looking to up their audio performance. These include some of the premier players in classical and jazz, such as Naxos’ ClassicsOnline HD, Primephonic (now part of Apple Music), Presto, and hi-res download store HDtracks.

“Our musical experience is driven by our feelings. When we listen, when we watch, it triggers something in our emotions,” explains OraStream co-founder and CEO Frankie Tan. “Music helps us feel elation. It helps us reflect. Hi-res music really amplifies that. It really enhances music’s emotive value.” 

This emotive value was limited to the lucky few with the right hardware and specialty subscriptions, until services like Qobuz and Tidal, and then Amazon and Apple Music created higher-quality streaming audio tiers. Most streaming media, however, still runs on 1990s-era MP3 quality. Challenging assumptions of consumer apathy, OraStream foresees hi-res audio becoming the new standard, the level of quality demanded by consumers, as they discover how much better audio can get. 

Thanks to OraStream, listeners experience flawless streaming audio at the highest bitrate their system and connection can deliver. Behind the scenes, OraStream uses SLS (Scalable Lossless Coding) to ensure this experience unfolds without a glitch. To do this, OraStream’s technology adapts to listeners’ technical setup and listening habits. Depending on the device, internet connection, listening volume, session length, and other key factors, OraStream can adjust precisely how much data it sends, optimizing the experience for its context.
 

“Some may claim people can’t really hear the difference. That’s simply not true,” notes Kelvin Lee, CTO of OraStream. “When people listen to music attentively, they experience the difference in the dynamic range in lossless. There are bits and pieces missing from lossy formats that you can hear in isolation, like in a quiet room. This will impact your listening experience, especially if you get used to it over time. It’s a lot like pixels and visual resolution: once you get a 4k TV, you never want to go back.”

While increased detail and dynamics are transformational for stand-alone audio streaming, they prove equally impactful for video. OraStream is working on raising the bar on video and livestream audio quality, so that it finally lives up to the last decade’s leaps and bounds in streaming video resolution. 

As more bandwidth, affordable audio equipment, and new media like VR and immersive gaming take hold, OraStream is helping high-quality audio become part of everyday life. “Audio won’t get better in general if we don’t deliver studio-quality sound to video audiences. In video production, audio determines the entire vibe. If you take away the soundtrack of a scary movie, for example, it’s not scary anymore. The audio creates the emotive atmosphere, and the closer to the recording is to studio quality, the stronger the emotive experience,” says Lee. “As it is now, you see nice visuals but the audio is flat and lifeless. You have a Ferrari chassis with a lawnmower engine.”
 

With mainstream services embracing hi-res streams and with a plethora of new formats and media where audio is crucial to experience, OraStream feels high-quality music and sound have finally regained some of the value they shed in the age of the MP3 and cheap earbuds. “For so many years, music has been devalued. We’re bringing back the value of music and to do that effectively, we need to raise the emotive value of music,” reflects Tan. “At the moment, we’re seeing a generation of consumers who’ve never heard anything but lossy quality. That’s all they’ve known, that was the only value they felt. They need to hear what they have missed growing up. If they listen to lossless for a month, we’re convinced they will.

Hear Every Thread: OraStream Powers a Hi-Res Livestream for re:Sound’s Tapestry, Sponsored by M1 Samsung 

Original program by jazz master Jeremy Monteiro and Singapore’s re:Sound chamber orchestra weaves Ravel, Coltrane, and original music by Monteiro into a lush whole, tests new hybrid model for performing arts ensembles.

The OraStream team that partnered with Neil Young to provide all of his music streaming in high resolution quality via the Neil Young Archives has united with Singapore’s Resound Collective to give M1 Samsung subscribers a special seat at Tapestry, an evening when jazz intertwines with jazz-inspired classical gems. Led by composer and pianist Jeremy Monteiro, Tapestry will reach audiences at Singapore Conference Hall and as a 2k video, 24-bit/48 kHz audio stream using OraStream’s high-resolution video streaming platform.

OraStream hopes livestreams can offer ensembles like re:Sound greater flexibility and help them expand their audiences beyond their home community. “It enables a hybrid model that can reach an audience outside the venue, yet have the same emotional impact. Classical music has always attracted an audience that cares deeply about music and sound quality,” says Frankie Tan, OraStream co-founder and CEO. “We believe hi-res livestreaming paired with an in-person show could be a great model for other classical ensembles. Hi-res livestreams can increase sponsorship potential and sustain the performers and operations even in a post-COVID environment.”

“For us, creating a concert of jazz with Jeremy was very natural,” explains Mervin Beng, chair
of the Resound Collective. “But we wanted to work with Jeremy on more than a single work for jazz piano with orchestra - we wanted a complete program where classical and jazz really came together. I was delighted to hear from Jeremy that he had similar ideas, with ambitions of creating a canon of music for a jazz ensemble with an orchestra, so what was left was for us to figure out how to bring this together. The Ravel quartet felt like a natural way to tie everything together.”

Jeremy also suggested the concert be livestreamed and suggested OraStream as the perfect tech partner. “Having listened to the pristine high resolution sound quality of OraStream for many years on their various services, I am excited that the music I will perform with re:Sound will be heard with such high fidelity on this livestream to M1 Samsung subscribers”. “From the moment I heard about what Jeremy had in mind, I was doing my own research into livestreaming,” Beng recounts. He drew on his extensive tech experience and his Resound colleague’s computer science background to evaluate OraStream. “I had confidence that OraStream was doing something unique and could make sure everything was in place for a great livestream.”

Tapestry will stream on January 22, 2022 at 8:15PM, Singapore time.

About OraStream

The company was founded with a mission to restore high quality audio to digital music. Its novel adaptive audio-video streaming platform powers a new generation music services based on streaming 16/24-bit lossless resolution audio and video files which self-adjusts to adapt to the user’s device capabilities, quality of network conditions and individual listening preferences. OraStream’s adaptive streaming technology powers audio delivery on the Neil Young Archives and Primephonic, a premier classical music service which was recently acquired by Apple Music. In addition, two of the most significant online sites for classical and audiophile music recordings, Presto Music and HDtracks, have launched their newly revamped music stores with OraStream’s technology.