Pono (digital music service)
Pono (/ˈpoʊnoʊ/, Hawaiian word for "proper") was a portable digital media player and music download service for high-resolution audio.[1][2][3] It was developed by musician Neil Young and his company PonoMusic, which raised money for development and initial production through a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter.[4][5] Production and shipments to backers started in October 2014, and shipments to the general public began in the first quarter of 2015.
Pono's stated goal to present songs "as they first sound during studio recording sessions", using "high-resolution" 24-bit 192kHz audio instead of "the compressed audio inferiority that MP3s offer" received mixed reactions, with some describing Pono as a competitor to similar music services such as HDtracks, but others doubting its potential for success.[2][6][7][8][9][10][11]
In April 2017 it was announced that Pono was discontinued, and alternative plans were later abandoned.
Reception[edit]
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?"[9]
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 increasingly towards music streaming.[6][7][8][38] Several commentators suggested that the key to improved sound lay largely in music engineering and mastering practices, rather than in file formats and players.[39][40][41]
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 to 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.[42] 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."[43]