New News

 Lenbrook Spins Out its Content Delivery Business

Lenbrook Media Group created to commercialize BluOS, MQA, and SCL6 across the hi-res music supply chain

Lenbrook Media Group Logo

JANUARY 4, 2024, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, LAS VEGAS – The Lenbrook Group of Companies, owner of globally recognized hi-fi brands like NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, and Bluesound and the renowned BluOS hi-res multiroom platform, has created a new business unit, Lenbrook Media Group. The new entity will more effectively enable the commercialization and development of Lenbrook’s content management solutions, as well as pursue new opportunities that fit Lenbrook’s vision to offer increased choice to music fans and enthusiasts for quality audio. With the BluOS content management platform at its core, this group will also oversee the growth of content encoding solutions MQA and SCL6 which Lenbrook acquired in the autumn of 2023.

“The acquisition of MQA’s assets complemented our existing BluOS platform and supports creators in the recording studio with capturing and delivering directly and in the highest quality, their art into the homes of music lovers. Creating the Lenbrook Media Group allows us to fully capitalize on this unique position by giving it focus, and putting the right strategies, structure, and resources in place,” explains Gordon Simmonds, President and CEO of The Lenbrook Group of Companies.

Lenbrook Media Group will be led by newly-appointed Vice-President and General Manager, Mike Jbara, the former MQA CEO and Warner Music executive.

“We worked closely with Mike when he led MQA and were impressed by his understanding of the complete content chain from creation through playback,” Simmonds adds. “His excellent people skills, his deep understanding of the music industry and his knowledge of music technology and licensing-oriented business activities, makes the leadership role at Lenbrook Media Group a perfect fit for both parties.”

Jbara says, “Once you combine Lenbrook’s vision for advancing choice and innovation in the performance audio industry with the assembly of some of the best minds in audio hardware and software engineering, it results in substantive opportunity to empower creators, distributors, fans, and broadcasters in addition to hardware manufacturers. It is an exciting list of possibilities that we believe will benefit both the music and the specialty audio industries.”

Jbara and Lenbrook Media Group colleague, Andy Dowell, Head of Licensing, will attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 9-12, 2024, and will be taking appointments to discuss licensing, integration, and other opportunities.

About The Lenbrook Group of Companies

The Lenbrook Group is a privately held Canada-based owner of brand development and distribution interests in residential and commercial audio and communications technologies. Its internationally recognized brands include NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, and Bluesound, serving the high-performance residential audio space; Bluesound Professional, for sophisticated networked streaming commercial audio solutions; and a growing portfolio of software platforms and technologies including BluOS, MQA, and SCL-6. Lenbrook provides comprehensive market development services to a portfolio of important brands through Lenbrook distribution subsidiaries in the Americas and Southeast Asia.

About Lenbrook Media Group

The Lenbrook Media Group develops and commercializes digital IP for use by audio device manufacturers, creators, and broadcasters and distributors, to encapsulate and deliver high resolution audio files that retain the clarity and details of the original performances and recordings. Its portfolio includes the award-winning BluOS hi-res wireless multiroom audio distribution platform; MQA, a hi-res audio packaging and delivery codec; and SCL6, an adaptive hi-res audio codec ideal for wireless and mobile applications.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Corporate Contacts

June Ip 
Marketing, Lenbrook International 
media@lenbrook.com

US Media Relations

Jeff Touzeau 
OLEX Communications US
jeff@olexcommunications.us


UK Media Relations

Steve Dalton 
OLEX Communications 
steve@olexcommunications.co.uk

LINKS
Website: https://lenbrook.com/

Lenbrook Extends Leadership in Hi-Res Audio with MQA Acquisition 

Deal adds significant audio patents and codecs to Lenbrook’s IP portfolio 

Lenbrook Acquisition of MQA

PICKERING, ONTARIO, CANADA, SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 – Lenbrook Corp., a diversified, privately-owned Canadian enterprise with activities in brand development, technology, and distribution in both residential and commercial audio and the communication sectors, has acquired the assets of MQA, a UK-based industry leader in high-resolution audio encoding. 

This acquisition enriches Lenbrook’s intellectual property portfolio with an assortment of significant patents and introduces two prominent audio codecs – MQA and SCL6. This merger further solidifies Lenbrook’s commitment to excellence and innovation in the evolving landscape of audio technology. 

“Lenbrook’s vision is of a thriving hi-fi industry where technologies that promote both consumer choice and the pursuit of the highest sound quality are deserving of investment and nurture,” states Gordon Simmonds, Chief Executive Officer of Lenbrook. “We view this acquisition as an opportunity to ensure the technologies developed by the scientists and engineers at MQA continue to serve the industry’s interests rather than be confined to any single brand or company.” 

George Massenberg, Grammy winning producer and recording engineer, reacts saying “I’m so relieved that MQA and SCL6 will continue under Lenbrook. MQA’s technology, with its faithful rendering of detail, complexity, and sound stage, gave us the reason to go back into the recording studio and reverse a 20-year decline in the quality of audio delivery methods.” 

Founded from the insights and support of record industry executives, recording artists, and audio engineering experts, MQA sought to provide creators with the means to efficiently preserve the detail and nuance of their works in high resolution recorded formats, which at the time pushed directly against the trend toward heavily compressed music. 

“I’m delighted that MQA will continue in good hands with Lenbrook,” adds Morten Lindberg, Grammy-nominated Master Engineer at 2L. “For 2L, using MQA has allowed us to enhance the experience of our recordings, beyond the raw capture, with increased access to sonic details, transparency and lower listening fatigue.” 

“MQA is the only technology that considers the entire audio signal chain, from studio to listening room, to assure consistent quality of reproduction. The patents and research that underlie MQA represent significant contributions to digital audio quality due to their focus on time domain issues that have not been well understood until recently,” explains Greg Stidsen, Chief Technology Officer of Lenbrook. “We’re determined to continue to develop our marketplace and encourage the possibilities these technologies can achieve.” 

Lenbrook has established a position as a stable and well capitalized organization that takes a long-term view of investments and market development. MQA had amassed over 120 licensees and several content partnerships, so Lenbrook’s primary objective in this acquisition was to provide certainty for business and technical developments that were underway prior to MQA’s administration. As a result, Lenbrook retained a core group of engineers and developers and sales and marketing personnel including Andy Dowell, previously the Head of Licensing for MQA, who will continue to lead business development activities. 

“As one of MQA’s most significant licensees and also the owner of the award winning BluOS high-res content platform, Lenbrook is well positioned to build on what was started,” reflects Dowell. “Its BluOS platform work has proven that the Lenbrook team understands it takes a certain amount of neutrality to be a licensor, but it can also take a customer view when it comes to the wants and needs from a product development standpoint.” 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Corporate Contacts

June Ip 
Marketing, Lenbrook International 
media@lenbrook.com

US Media Relations

Jeff Touzeau 
OLEX Communications US
jeff@olexcommunications.us

UK Media Relations

Steve Dalton 
OLEX Communications 
steve@olexcommunications.co.uk

LINKS
Website: https://lenbrook.com/

Sonos and Lenbrook Reach Settlement In Patent Infringement Case

Undisclosed terms include multi-year licensing deal associated with all BluOS enabled solutions worldwide

Santa Barbara, Calif. – July 30, 2020 – Sonos (Nasdaq: SONO) and Lenbrook Industries today announced they have reached a confidential settlement in Sonos’ patent infringement lawsuit against Lenbrook Industries, and Lenbrook America, which sell the Bluesound high-resolution multizone audio systems. As part of this settlement, Lenbrook Industries will pay royalties for a license to Sonos’ patents for all BluOS enabled devices. [Continued]

Download Full Press Release here:

NR-Lenbrook-Clarifies-Patent-Infringement-Claims-Made-by-Sonos-26JUN2019Download

Lenbrook Plans to Defend Patent Infringement Claims Made by Sonos and Clarifies Status of Dispute/Negotiations

For Immediate Release

PICKERING, Ontario, Canada, June 26, 2019 – Lenbrook America Corp. and Lenbrook Industries Limited (“Lenbrook”), the maker of the award-winning high-fidelity and high resolution audio based Bluesound wireless multi-room audio players, announced its intent to defend vigorously the claims of patent infringement made by computer audio company Sonos, a public company. The patent infringement complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on June 20, 2019, and names both Lenbrook entities as defendants… [continued]

 

Download full Press release here:

NR-Lenbrook-Clarifies-Patent-Infringement-Claims-Made-by-Sonos-26JUN2019Download

Skip to content