Can high-resolution audio save the art form from digital compression?

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2012, musician Neil Young launched Pono to rescue music from the 'inferiority' of MP3s. He aimed to deliver studio-quality, 24-bit audio through a dedicated player. But as the industry shifted toward streaming and smartphones, could a premium high-resolution service actually survive the digital age?

Founded in 2012 by Neil Young and CEO John Hamm, PonoMusic sought to challenge the standard audio formats of the era. Young, motivated by a desire to preserve the integrity of his craft, criticized the quality of services like Apple's iTunes Store. The company's mission was to provide high-resolution 24-bit 192kHz audio—using the FLAC format—to replicate how music sounds during original studio recording sessions.

The venture saw significant early momentum. A Kickstarter campaign launched in March 2014 surpassed its target in a single day, eventually raising $6.2 million via pre-orders. Pono also secured backing from major labels including Sony and Universal, as well as a full agreement with Warner. The flagship hardware, the PonoPlayer, was developed with Ayre Acoustics and launched in early 2015, priced at $399 with up to 128GB of total storage capacity.

Despite the high-fidelity ambitions, Pono faced steep headwinds. Industry analysts questioned the viability of a standalone player in a market dominated by smartphones and streaming services like Spotify. Furthermore, record labels charged significantly higher prices for high-resolution files. Technical and funding struggles emerged by mid-2015, and the service was officially discontinued in April 2017. While a transition to a streaming service called 'Xstream' was proposed, no such service ever launched.

The reception to Pono's audio quality was notably mixed. While some reviewers found the player's performance superior to expensive components, a blind test conducted by Yahoo Tech's David Pogue involving 15 volunteers found that participants did not prefer Pono's FLAC downloads over iTunes' AAC downloads.

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