First, Taylor Swift caused controversy by taking all her music off of streaming services, especially Spotify, because she allegedly felt the streaming services weren’t paying enough for her. artists for their work. Not long after, Jay-Z’s Project Panther company acquired Tidal’s parent company and relaunched the service as the first of its kind to be owned by artists.
Listen in! Image via Shutterstock.
Fast-forward a bit and popular artists like Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj will release exclusive music videos just for Tidal subscribers. To view these and additional content, you must sign up for a Tidal membership, which starts at $9.99 per month.
So what exactly is Tidal and what sets it apart from other streaming services? What content is available, how can you sign up, where does your money go, and why are artists so eager to promote it?
Tidal exclusive high-fidelity music and videos
Tidal’s big promise is high-fidelity music streaming, or HiFi for short. This is the first service to offer this quality of music streaming. What breaks this down is that unlike standard MP3 audio, HiFi music is not compressed in any way, so it basically delivers the best sound quality.
Typical normal quality audio streaming has a bit rate of 96 kbps and high quality of 320 kbps. Tidal’s lossless playback has a much higher bit rate of 1411 kbps, Tidal says its music quality is on par with that of CDs.
In addition, Tidal has a large collection of music videos and many more available for streaming, which is atypical of current streaming services. Spotify and Rdio don’t currently offer music videos, although Spotify has announced it will soon.
Tidal took the internet by storm especially when R&B and hip hop artists Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj released a music video for their song “Feeling Myself,” but that video is only available on Tidal. In other words, fans who haven’t subscribed to Tidal must subscribe to at least $9.99 per month to watch the music video.
The service also features some other exclusive content like Jay-Z’s B-sides and behind the scenes with Madonna.
What Tidal means to you and what it means to artists
For $10 per month, you get over 25 million songs to stream through Tidal, plus a huge selection of on-demand music videos and other exclusive video content. This media is available through the web player at Tidal.com or by downloading the iOS or Android app. You can also save music for offline listening on up to three separate devices, or save them to a personal collection or streaming playlist.
Important: All that bragging about real high-fidelity streaming music isn’t even available in the base plan, but instead in Tidal HiFi for $19.99 per month. Anyone can opt for the more expensive one if that means getting better music, but that’s a bit more complicated because equipment is definitely needed as well.
If you have $20 in-ear headphones, you probably won’t hear a difference in sound quality because the headphones themselves aren’t made for high-quality listening. To hear and appreciate high-quality sound, you need devices capable of producing that high-quality sound – that is, expensive headphones or speakers.
Tidal is such a breakthrough because it is a direct connection between artists and fans without being blocked by other record labels and companies. Several A-list artists have claimed ownership of Tidal including but not limited to Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Rihanna, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Daft Punk and Calvin Harris.
Of course, one could argue that with their out-of-the-box support and exclusive content, these artists are making more money from Tidal than other streaming services. Exactly how much is unknown, but it is generally agreed that artists should get more. Usually, the money from the streaming service goes directly to the record labels from the moment they sign the music licensing agreement, then the profits slowly trickle down to the artists.
There are two sides to this. One is that artists deserve more money than their record labels and agents allow, so that’s a good thing. The other thing is that many of the artists who own Tidal are already millionaires and don’t need the extra money. You, the customer, can choose a side with your wallet.
Choose a tide plan or choose a contest
Tidal is available in two pricing plans: $9.99 per month or $19.99 per month. The $9.99 per month regular plan is the same as any other premium streaming service with standard quality audio, though it also includes access to music videos and exclusive content.
To get high fidelity music, you will have to choose the Tidal HiFi plan by paying double every month. It’s a hard sell, so you really have to be dedicated to getting the best possible sound quality if you’re willing to pay $20 per month.
While the $9.99 per month plan puts Tidal in the same playing field as Spotify Premium and other plans, there are still more affordable options from competitors with more features. Spotify and Rdio have completely free, ad-supported streaming plans that limit access to Mac or PC only, but also include features like stations and lyrics. Both also offer discounted premium plans of $4.99 for students, which is half of Tidal’s starting price.
Plus, if you’re in a family, these competing services will reduce the price of cross-device streaming for multiple users, something Tidal doesn’t currently do. Family plans start at $14.99 per month for two users.
Tidal is a good choice for anyone who is extremely passionate about directly supporting artists regardless of their current income. It’s also essential if you’re interested in high-fidelity streaming or the occasional exclusive videos that appear on the service. Competitors, on the other hand, still have control over features and pricing.
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