TIDAL - TIDAL - TIDAL Free (AAC), TIDAL HiFi (CD/Lossless FLAC): £9.99/month, 30 day free trial ; TIDAL HiFi+ (CD/Lossless FLAC, MQA HiRes and immersive formats): £19.99/month, 30 day free trial
Product Description: Extensive music catalogue of CD quality music. Uses MQA streaming for its HiRes streaming service. Pioneering alternative ways to reward artists including Direct-to-artist and Fan-centred royalties.
Overall
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Audio quality
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Content
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Music discovery
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Features
TIDAL
HiRes and CD Quality streaming service using innovative MQA technology and pioneering alternative ways to reward artists.
Pros
Competitive CD Quality plan
HiRes Streaming
HiFi integrations
Discount plans
Cons
Some discount plans only available in US
MQA decoders required for highest quality
History
TIDAL was launched in 2014 and currently does not publish subscriber numbers. Estimates from industry sources range from 1 to 5 million. In January 2017 Sprint, the US mobile carrier, bought a 33% stake in the company with the remainder owned by Jay-Z and a variety of other successful music artists, making it the first mainly artist-owned streaming service in the world. In March 2021, the financial company Square Inc acquired a majority interest in TIDAL with Jay-Z retaining a board position and other artists who own shares remaining as stakeholders.
In November 2021, TIDAL it reworked its subscription plans to provide a free taster service called TIDAL Free, a CD Quality service called TIDAL HiFi and a HiRes/Immersive formats service called TIDAL HiFi+. The pricing of the HiFi plan has been reduced making it an attractive competitor to Apple Music’s Lossless and Amazon Music’s HD offerings. The imminent launch of Spotify’s CD Quality service has no doubt hastened this reorganisation of its products.
TIDAL was one of the early pioneers of high quality streaming with its original HiFi service giving CD Quality when most others were only offering 320kbps MP3s. It has now taken this one step further with its Master Quality service which uses MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology. Using MQA enabled DACs and hifi equipment it is possible to playback 24bit HiRes streams in much smaller bandwidths than conventional 24bit FLAC file streaming. The process is not lossless and there is a divergence of opinion as to whether you can hear the difference between 24bit FLAC files and MQA processed files but with the availability of a free trial then you can judge for yourself.
MQA technology is proprietary and requires licensing to be incorporated into hifi and audio production equipment. Support for the format is growing but it has gathered criticism from those that favour open standards v proprietary formats.
The streamer has also been in the forefront of supporting immersive audio formats such as Sony’s 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos and continues to add to its catalogue.
Services
Standard Plans
TIDAL Free (US only) 160kbps AAC with limited interruptions but with access to the full catalogue of 80 million+ songs and 350k+ videos
TIDAL HiFi £9.99/month 30 day free trial
44kHz/16bit FLAC (CD Quality)
Includes access to TIDAL Connect and My Activity which provides individualised daily listening insights.
TIDAL HiFi+ £19.99/month 30 day free trial
HiFi Plus features everything the HiFi tier offers, plus fan-centred royalties and direct-to-artist payments. HiFi Plus provides immersive sound formats (Dolby Atmos Music & Sony 360 Audio Recordings) and TIDAL Masters – Master Quality Authenticated (96kHz/24bit using MQA technology – requires specialist MQA enabled DAC to play back 192kHz tracks)
Family Plans – includes up to 6 family members
TIDAL HiFi £14.99/month 30 day free trial
TIDAL HiFi+ £29.99/month 30 day free trial
Student Plans*
Student HiFi £4.99/month 30 day free trial
TIDAL Student HiFi+ £9.99 30 day free trial
*Not available in all regions
Military and First Responder Plans are available in the US only – details can be found here.
Availability
TIDAL is available in 60 countries including most of North and South America, Europe and Australasia. A full list can be found here.
Audio Quality
160kbps AAC to 96kHz/24bit HiRes FLAC (using MQA technology) depending on subscription. 192kHz/24bit available with TIDAL HiFi+ with MQA compatible DACs/HiFi devices). Master quality audio is currently available through the TIDAL iOS, Android and Desktop apps.
Immersive Audio Formats
- Sony 360 Reality Audio – This provides an immersive experience with vertical components added to conventional stereo or 5.1 channel surround sound. Individual sounds such as vocals, piano, guitar, bass, and even sounds of the live audience can be placed in a 360 spherical sound field. To learn more about 360 Reality Audio, you can do so here at Sony.com. A demonstration playlist of 360 Reality Audio tracks can be found here.
- Dolby Atmos Music – This allows sounds to be precisely placed, adding dimensionality to create a full audio atmosphere. A full list of compatible devices and Dolby Atmos content can be found in this support page here.
Content
80 million+ tracks in all genres (Pop, Rock, Classical, Jazz, World, Soundtracks etc). TIDAL do not publish how many of their tracks are available in HiRes (MQA) format but at the end of 2020 they partnered with Warner Music Group to add ‘millions of MQA tracks’ from their extensive catalogue.
Music Discovery
In addition to the usual search, playlists and personalised mixes, TIDAL offers two additional ways for subscribers to discover new musical experiences.
TIDAL X is a programme that connects artists directly with fans by streaming live shows, events and artist meet & greets. TIDAL X will showcase and support artists of all levels from established artists to emerging talent.
TIDAL Rising aims at supporting artists from around the world who are ready to reach a wider audience with their music. In addition to providing a showcase on the streaming service the company assists the artists with PR, Tour Support, Live Show Bookings etc to aid in their growth and long-term success.
Contributor Mixes were introduced in mid 2020 which together with an interactive credits feature provide a way for listeners to appreciate music in new ways by exploring the innovators behind some of their favourite songs.
Users can recap their most streamed music with annual retrospectives e.g. My 2020 Rewind.
Features
TIDAL has support for PCs and Macs on the desktop, a Web player and iOS and Android Apps. It also has integrations to most mainstream hifi and smart devices such as Samsung and Roku, Android Auto as well as Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. Lossless casting to a range of hifi products is available via TIDAL Connect. The Plex streaming media player software is also supported.
TIDAL has an offline mode which works for both HiFi and HiFi+ subscriptions.
TIDAL also has over 350,000 music videos, short docs, movies, live concerts, events, original shows and podcasts. Personalised music playlists can be created with My Mix and personalised visual playlists can be created with My Video Mix which offers up to eight diverse video playlists for every mood.
A recent addition has been integration with Algoriddim djay giving DJs the ability to mix audio and video streams in their performances using TIDAL’s high quality content. TIDAL can also be used with Serato DJ Pro.
Support is also available for Smart Watches such us Apple Watch and In Car Entertainment such as Tesla’s recent upgrade to its range of Electric Vehicles.
