Kuwo 酷我

Click pics to enlarge. Top pic shows album view of Wilco, commendable for its cover arts Metadata.

Kuwo, 酷我
Letter from Shenzhen (22-2): Kuwo, Part I

This article is about a Chinese Music Provider (I am not sure if it’s only available in China as it requires registration and phone number). I debated on whether to write it in English or Chinese, but decided for the former as my angle, given this blog’s restriction in China, is likely of value only to those like me, mostly bilingual, HK or otherwise, and located in China at the present. Note, Kuwo operates only in Chinese.

Given the delivery of music is a hotly contested commercial activity everywhere in the world, why have I developed a fondness for this provider here in China? It’s simple: 1) unlike other giants like Tencent, it is strictly a music provider; 2) its interface is clean and simple, without bombardment by trivia or juvenilia; 3) its contents have considerable merits for those interested in Western music (very strong jazz and pop, and some classical); 4) Its Metadata and Configurability are superior (especially in comparison with exasperating rivals); 5) it has an Audiophile inclination; 6) it’s the closest thing to free Spotify, which is not available in China (unless u go VPN)(I don’t use Tidal, so cannot compare).

Actually this article is a Prep for my next article on the many jazz and pop musical gems (yes, I switch genre once in a while) I have recently streamed through this player. It has already immeasurably enriched my musical experience.

Kuwo.cn Download the Player. MUCH to its credit, unlike most Chinese softwares, this one does NOT come with garbage extras. Chinese app users know many apps (even if you carefully personalize the download) come with extras (like virus scans etc that are horrible and intrusive) and hard to get rid of. NOT this one. Mind you, I downloaded its app on my Windows 10 laptop. The vast majority of users probably just use cellphone/tablette Android or iOS (both supported). 

The Interface Unlike all other Chinese Music Providers, it is clean and purposeful. Perhaps not as uncluttered as Spotify (my reference, as I do not use Tidal) it is still pretty good. Search (in English) is efficient and creating personal folders and even podcasts are easy. I cannot stand the ridiculously juvenile interfaces of most Chinese sites. This makes Kuwo refreshing, like a music renderer equivalent of the cleaner aesthetics of Chinese 知乎. 

Housekeeping and Metadata After a search, say Miles Davis, tons of tracks show up, rather jumbled. But clicking album 专辑 sorts it into their respective albums. What is impressive is that cover art if pretty well covered. See top pic. This is of vital importance to us old folks who rely on album covers to collate. Now, the same album (say, In a Silent Way) often has different sources, some perhaps remastered and others from other compilations. So the user has to look at the contents and compare. It is far from perfect, but it is better than expected, given that this is China.

Freeload or Membership I am not a paid member (fee is actually very small), and on certain material can only sample, but the freeload material is large enough to keep one interested. The more mainstream, the more likely membership is required, but for people like me who like Ornette Coleman, it’s a free ride! Even Miles, largely free. And the same album frequently appear in different versions and, if you are lucky, while most require membership, you may manage to find one that is free. More on this later in Part II.

Audiophile Section This is a unique one. It has Chinese (and others) audiophile favorites but is curiously not available for streaming (lossless) but can be downloaded free. I have yet to try this. I am not in a hurry, as most hifi discs are pretty bad musically. Today, I am a Streamer and see little need for files. Like my friend icefox says, if you can stream it, why download?

Sound Output Choices When I first played it, although I connected my laptop via USB to my Meridian Explorer (then fed to my big system), I could not get anything except through the laptop's own speakers. Sound through the Kuwo analog out was rather muffled and bass heavy. After some fiddling, I found that one can select various output configurations in Settings. This is unusual, as the usual player will default to the USB output on a laptop. NOT this one, you have to configure it. This is probably par for the course in China, as the overwhelming majority only knows the cell phone and do not use a laptop.

Sound Quality Methinks Sound Quality is very good for a streaming service. I have yet to compare it with Spotify (through VPN) but I don’t feel the need, being happy enough. This site touts itself for its lossless content. Many tracks say lossless but I don’t think so. If you hover over the track source info, most say wma, aka MP3., while on the side it may say lossless. There is an Equalizer, which I don’t use. And then there is the unique HiFi Mode, which shuts off access to the player from any other source you are looking at (say you are listening and watching news and the pop up window will still play the video but there will be no sound). It also seems to up the gain a little but the result is good.

Source and Safety BTW, the track sources are all over the map (and it’s funny that the site shows them), but I trust the engine has screened out all viruses. I’d reckon it’s safe

Above, the HiFi Section in general. Aside from the Asian favorites, there are TAS picks etc.

Picks of Taiwan magazine Audio Art, the magazine that I despise the most. And the musical recommendations show their lack of sophistication.

Sound Settings allow various configurations.