Qwest TV

Qwest TV is a subscription video-on-demand music service built around professionally filmed concerts, documentaries, archival performances, and editorially presented programming. Its central focus is jazz, while its broader catalog extends into adjacent and complementary genres such as blues, soul, funk, and classical music. The service positions itself as a curated alternative to general-purpose video platforms, emphasizing specialist programming, high-quality recordings, and contextual material for listeners and viewers interested in music history and performance. The concept emerged from a meeting in 2014 between Quincy Jones and Reza Ackbaraly. Jones is an internationally recognized musician, composer, producer, and media entrepreneur whose earlier activities included the creation of Qwest Records and the co-founding of Qwest Broadcasting. Ackbaraly brought experience in music programming and cultural curation, including work associated with the Charles Cros Academy, the Jazz à Vienne festival, La Petite Halle de la Villette concert venue in Paris, and the music television channel Mezzo. Their collaboration combined Jones’s artistic profile and industry network with Ackbaraly’s specialist knowledge of jazz programming and live music presentation. Qwest TV was publicly introduced in July 2017 at the 51st Montreux Jazz Festival. In September of that year, the founders launched a pre-subscription campaign through Kickstarter in connection with a tribute concert for Quincy Jones at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. A beta version of the service followed in December 2017. These steps established Qwest TV as a direct-to-consumer digital platform rather than solely as a conventional television channel or record-label imprint. The service’s catalog has included concerts, documentaries, historical archives, and original or exclusive productions. Examples identified in reference material include a 1977 Aretha Franklin concert in Paris and the ten-episode series The Sound of New York. Its jazz programming is presented under a broad “jazz and beyond” concept, allowing the service to connect canonical jazz material with blues, soul, funk, and other related forms. Jazz videos are accompanied by liner notes written by specialist music journalists, reinforcing the platform’s educational and archival character as well as its entertainment function. By 2020, Qwest TV was described as offering three channels: Qwest TV Jazz & Beyond, Qwest TV Mix, and Qwest TV Classical. The first covered jazz, blues, soul, and funk; the Mix channel provided a broader selection; and the Classical channel focused on performances spanning music from the seventeenth through the twenty-first centuries. Classical programming included live concerts recorded in different locations, with conductors, symphony orchestras, solo pianists, chamber ensembles, and smaller orchestral groups. The name refers to Quincy Jones’s earlier Qwest Records label and Qwest Broadcasting venture. Qwest TV therefore carries forward an established media and music-business identity while applying it to subscription streaming. Publicly available reference material does not establish the service’s current ownership structure, headquarters, subscriber scale, financial performance, or detailed geographic availability. Those fields remain unverified here.

Qwest TV developed from a partnership between Quincy Jones and Reza Ackbaraly. The two met in 2014, and their discussions led to the idea of a dedicated streaming service for jazz and related music. Jones contributed the authority of a major recording artist, producer, composer, and media entrepreneur. Ackbaraly contributed specialist programming experience developed through cultural and music institutions, including the Charles Cros Academy, the Jazz à Vienne festival, La Petite Halle de la Villette in Paris, and the television channel Mezzo. The project was designed around curated audiovisual music content rather than a general entertainment library. Its intended scope included filmed concerts, documentaries, archival material, and exclusive programming. Jazz formed the core, but the concept also embraced neighboring traditions such as blues, soul, funk, and classical music. This breadth was reflected in the service’s “jazz and beyond” orientation, which connected historically important performances with contemporary and cross-genre programming. Qwest TV made its public debut in July 2017 at the 51st Montreux Jazz Festival. The festival setting linked the new platform to the international live-jazz circuit and communicated its focus on performance and music culture. In September 2017, the project began a pre-subscription campaign on Kickstarter. The campaign was associated with a Quincy Jones tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, using a high-profile live event to attract early supporters and potential subscribers. A beta version was launched in December 2017. This marked the transition from concept and promotion to an operating digital service. The platform’s catalog included concert films, music documentaries, archives, and exclusive productions. Among the examples cited in reference material are a filmed 1977 Aretha Franklin concert in Paris and The Sound of New York, a ten-episode series. Qwest TV also sought to add interpretive value to its jazz catalog: videos were accompanied by liner notes from journalists specializing in the genre, giving viewers historical and critical context. By 2020, the service was organized around three channels. Qwest TV Jazz & Beyond covered jazz together with blues, soul, and funk. Qwest TV Mix offered a more varied selection. Qwest TV Classical broadened the platform’s repertoire into classical music, with recordings of concerts from around the world. Its programming included performances by conductors and symphony orchestras, solo piano recitals, chamber groups, and smaller ensembles. The classical catalog was described as spanning works from the seventeenth through the twenty-first centuries. The Qwest name connects the service to Quincy Jones’s earlier ventures. During the 1980s, Jones established Qwest Records and later co-founded Qwest Broadcasting in the United States. Qwest TV extends that naming and media lineage into subscription streaming, but it is principally presented as a curated audiovisual service rather than a conventional record label. The available reference material does not provide verified information about Qwest TV’s current corporate ownership, headquarters, management team, financial results, subscriber numbers, or precise operating markets. Its current operational status beyond the documented channel structure should therefore be treated as requiring further verification.

• 2020

  Three-channel structure documented

  [1]Qwest TVen.wikipedia.org

  Qwest TV was described as operating Jazz & Beyond, Mix, and Classical channels.

• 2017

  Public introduction at Montreux

  [1]Qwest TVen.wikipedia.org

  Qwest TV was officially introduced at the 51st Montreux Jazz Festival in July.

• 2017

  Kickstarter pre-subscription campaign

  [1]Qwest TVen.wikipedia.org

  The service opened a pre-subscription campaign through Kickstarter around a Quincy Jones tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

• 2017

  Beta launch

  [1]Qwest TVen.wikipedia.org

  A beta version of Qwest TV was launched in December.

• 2014

  Conceptual partnership begins

  [1]Qwest TVen.wikipedia.org

  Quincy Jones and Reza Ackbaraly met and began developing the concept that became Qwest TV.

A specialist, curated streaming destination for jazz and related music, combining live performance films, documentaries, archives, and editorial context rather than presenting an undifferentiated mass-market video catalog.

• Streaming channel · 2020

  Qwest TV Jazz & Beyond

  A themed channel centered on jazz and extending into blues, soul, and funk. It reflects Qwest TV’s core editorial proposition: specialist music programming built from filmed performances, documentaries, historical material, and related editorial content. The channel is intended for audiences seeking a concentrated and curated alternative to broad entertainment platforms.

• Streaming channel · 2020

  Qwest TV Mix

  A broader programming channel within the Qwest TV service. Reference material identifies it as one of the platform’s three channels in 2020, but does not provide a detailed breakdown of its individual genres, schedule, or commissioning model. Its role appears to be providing a varied selection beyond the more specifically defined Jazz & Beyond and Classical channels.

• Streaming channel · 2020

  Qwest TV Classical

  A classical-music channel featuring live concerts and recitals recorded internationally. The documented scope includes performances by conductors and symphony orchestras, solo pianists, chamber ensembles, and smaller orchestras. Its repertoire covers music from the seventeenth through the twenty-first centuries, giving the channel both historical range and a performance-focused identity.

• Music documentary series

  The Sound of New York

  A ten-episode series cited as part of the Qwest TV catalog. The available reference identifies it as a documentary or documentary-style music production connected with New York’s musical culture, but does not provide further details about its contributors, release schedule, or production partners.

• Video library

  Concert and archival catalog

  Qwest TV’s broader library combines concert films, documentaries, archival performances, and exclusive music content. Cited examples include a 1977 Aretha Franklin concert in Paris and classical performances recorded around the world. Jazz videos are supplemented by liner notes written by specialist journalists, adding explanatory and historical context to the audiovisual recordings.

• 2017Qwest TV Kickstarter pre-subscription campaign

  United States · International

  Qwest TV used Kickstarter to solicit early pre-subscriptions. The campaign was launched in September 2017 in connection with a Quincy Jones tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

  Outcome. A beta version of the service was launched later in December 2017. The available material does not state the campaign’s fundraising total or subscriber count.

  Source

• 2020

  Organize the service into genre-oriented channelsStrategy

  Background

  By 2020, Qwest TV’s catalog covered jazz and related genres as well as classical music.

  Action taken

  The service was described as having three channels: Jazz & Beyond, Mix, and Classical.

  Aftermath

  The channel structure gave the platform distinct editorial destinations for core jazz programming, broader selections, and classical performance content.

  Source

• 2017

  Adopt a curated specialist streaming modelStrategy

  Background

  The founders developed Qwest TV as a subscription video service focused on jazz and adjacent music genres rather than as a general-purpose entertainment platform.

  Action taken

  The service emphasized concerts, documentaries, archives, exclusive content, and specialist editorial notes, with jazz as its central programming area.

  Aftermath

  The model was publicly introduced at Montreux in 2017 and moved into beta operation later that year.

  Source

1. 1Qwest TVen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Qwest TV official websiteqwest.tv