What is Tidal Music? The Complete Guide

Experts predict that the global market for streaming music will be worth around $76.9 billion by 2027. People love having the option to keep thousands of songs available and organized into handy playlists online.

It’s much easier than storing the song you may want to listen to on your phone or laptop. Plus, you can use streaming platforms almost anywhere.

The biggest challenge for most customers is figuring out which other streaming services they should be using. To help you make a better choice, we’re going to be exploring one of the most popular music services around; Tidal Music. 

Before we getting into it, I just want to say that this streaming service is more than just an alternative version of Apple Music or Spotify, Tidal gives artists and DJs more control over their music. So without much more stalling, let’s take a closer look. 

Introduction

Tidal identifies itself as the world’s first streaming service for high-fidelity music. 

If you’re an artist keen to show off what you’re capable of, or a dedicated audiophile, Tidal may be the perfect service for you.

There are over 60 million songs to choose from, a variety of podcasts, live concert recordings, music videos, and some fantastically curated playlists too. 

You can log into the platform and start streaming from virtually anywhere, including your smartphone, smart speaker, laptop, or even an intelligent TV. 

The cool thing about Tidal is that it’s not just another audio company built by a huge corporation.

Tidal is a Norwegian subscription-based company built by musicians like Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Calvin Harris, Daft Punk, and so on.

The “artist ownership” structure helps Tidal to provide more unique and exclusive experiences to listeners. It also means that artists get more of the money they deserve. 

Aside from premium subscription options that allow you to enjoy your audio at the standard 320 kbps, it can also offer a more expensive option for high-fidelity fans.

The Tidal HiFi option comes with lossless CD-quality audio, high-res music, and more.

There aren’t a lot of alternative products that can offer a similar CD quality experience (besides Amazon Music HD). 

Pricing

Tidal is a premium music streaming service, so you do need to pay to get the full experience.

The standard pricing package is the “Premium” service, and you can get a thirty-day free trial first too. There’s also the option for a whole 6 months of Tidal for a discount price. 

The premium plans offer unlimited ad-free music across all your devices.

You can also access Tidal events with this service too. With the option to create new playlists, import existing playlists, and download songs, it’s easy to enjoy a great experience with Tidal. 

For those who want an even more advanced musical experience, this streaming service also offers a HiFi subscription, which comes with all the same features you get from Premium, as well as the bonus of lossless streaming master quality using FLAC 16-bit instead of your standard musical experience. This tier also offers a limited selection of Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 music tracks to explore. 

A single Tidal plan will come with the functionality to stream music to one device at a time when you’re active online. However, you can also use up to 6 accounts simultaneously in offline mode. 

 Pricing options include:

Single person:

• Premium: $10 monthly
• HiFi: $20 monthly

Full family package:

• Premium: $15 monthly 
• HiFi: $30 monthly

Student (requires proof of student status):

• Premium: $5 monthly
• HiFi: $10 monthly

Military plans (Only available in the US):

• Premium: $6 monthly 
• HiFi: $12 monthly 

First responder plans (Only available in the US):

• Premium: $6 per month
• HiFi: $12 per month

What is Tidal Premium Content?

Tidal’s premium package offers access to premium content. You can enjoy feature-length articles with your music, so it’s easy to learn more about the musical pros that create your favorite songs.

It’s difficult to find the same master quality of educational content on other streaming services. 

The platform also offers exclusive albums too, which you can use for a limited period. These albums are basically early-access content that you can listen to before virtually anyone else.

There’s also exclusive video content through Tidal Hi-Fi that you can’t get from any other provider. 

Tidal’s exclusive video content includes sneak peeks, backstage footage from concerts, outtakes, and more.

There’s also access to first dibs on sports and concert tickets through Tidal Hi-Fi if you’re a fan of the live-action. You’ll be able to purchase some of these products before the rest of the general public. 

One slight downside is that you won’t be able to record any streaming audio. You’ll need a different set of streaming providers for this purpose.

Tidal’s Hi-Fi plans are a little pricey – particularly compared to other cheaper streaming services.

However, it’s well worth the cash for people who value audio master quality above all else. 

The Tidal HiFi packages give you access to streams that sound a lot better than most of the files available elsewhere.

Non-compressed 16-bit FLAC audio is impressive, and Tidal HiFi will make a serious difference to your listening experience, provided that you have the right speakers and headphones to enjoy it. 

What is Tidal Masters?

Tidal is all about giving music lovers access to master quality audio wherever they go. Sometimes, this means offering additional features that you can’t get from most other streaming services.

Tidal Masters is a brilliant example of this.

Essentially, you get a collection of tracks ready to stream in High-res audio quality, using the codec MQA. 

You start off with the same loss-less FLAC files that you get from your Tidal HiFi subscription, but the additional codecs mean you get special compression that reduces the bandwidth required to stream high-quality files.

Tidal’s hi-res option differs quite a bit from things like Amazon Music HD because you aren’t just getting a huge file thrown at your streaming service. 

The compression functionality means that you can stream a lot more before you hit your data limit. However, you’re going to need software and a device that supports the MQA format.

The Tidal app for desktop, android, and iOS systems is a fantastic way to get started.

However, for true audiophile experiences, you’re better off looking at a third-party audio system. 

As you might expect, the true high-res audio master quality you can get from Tidal Masters will depend heavily on the various components of your audio delivery chain.

The amplifier, speakers, headphones, and DAC will all need to be high quality to deliver the right outcomes. 

Can You Buy Music?

Aside from streaming with Tidal, you can also use the music store on the site that sells downloads of albums and songs.

The price you’ll pay for this kind of offline listening depends on a lot of things, including the track and album.

You’ll have the choice to download tracks and music in different formats, including lossless FLAC and MP3 content. 

The good thing about Tidal is that you don’t have to be a premium subscriber to purchase the music you want in the store. You will need to create an account so you can store and track your purchases, however. 

What Does This Platform Work With?

The only way to get an excellent streaming experience with something like Tidal is to make sure that you have the right hardware or software. Tidal can work on:

• Apple and Android TV
• Amazon Fire TV
• Apple and iOS devices
• Roku devices
• PCs and Macs
• Samsung smart TVs
• Chromecast devices

There’s plenty of support on third-party systems too, such as Yamaha MusicCast and Sonos, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about finding something to play the albums you love. Dedicated apps are available for many digital systems, so you can easily log in anywhere.

You can also integrate your Tidal content into media player software, like Roon, Kodi, and Plex. Back in 2020,

Tidal even introduced Tidal Connect, which is an exciting new way of adding Tidal audio to compatible speakers. You use your Tidal connect as a controller, selecting specific speakers for playback that suits you.

The experience is like using Airplay or Chromecast.

One problem you may have with Tidal is that it’s not always ideal for playing content on smart speakers. You might suffer if you have something like an Apple Homepod.

The only way to really get started is to use AirPlay from your iOS device.

Google’s line of Home speakers allows you to cast Tidal to them using the mobile app, but there isn’t a native support option that you can use to make streaming easier. 

Additional Features

Beyond an extensive catalog of listening solutions, Tidal also offers a range of bonus features too. For instance, you can create, edit, and remove your own playlists using Tidal tracks.

There are even third-party tools available that allow you to import playlists from services you’ve used before, like Spotify and Apple Music. 

The good stuff is the human-curated playlists, which are collections of songs that are built by individual people. You can even explore music lists with articles that explain the history of the musical adventure you’re about to go on. Other features include:

• Articles and interviews: Just as impressive as the human-curated content on the Tidal streaming site, are the articles and interviews. You can see some amazing interviews here which focus on some of the biggest artists in the world. It’s a great way to improve your audio education. 
• My Mix: If you’ve ever used the recommended music service on Spotify or Pandora, then you should feel right at home here. The MyMix service recommends music based on songs you’ve listened to before. There are tons of playlists built according to the genres and artists that you love, with new tracks that appear all the time based on your music preferences. Unlike other suggested playlists, My Mix is one of the few services that grow with you. 
• Podcasts: Tidal is packed full of amazing podcasts, although you do get a slightly smaller collection compared to some companies, like Apple and Spotify. The good news is that there are a bunch of original content podcasts here that you can’t get anywhere else. 
• Videos: Tidal really shines in the video landscape. With around 250,000 music videos, live concert recordings, and various great shows too, it’s easy to find something entertaining on Tidal. There’s even the option to download the Tidal app on bigger screens like smart televisions, so you can experience everything in a larger-than-life format.
• Credit interactivity: Tidal provides users with interactive credits so that they can enjoy a more informative experience when they’re working online. The interactive credits feature supports users in exploring tracks by their favorite studio musicians, artists, songwriters, producers, and more. This is one of the best features around if you’re keen to explore more of the sounds that you love. We also love the fact that each audio artist gets the full recognition that they deserve with these pages. 

The Performance

Tidal stands out as one of the leading solutions for audio streaming online because it offers an experience you can’t really get anywhere else.

Whether you’re looking for high-resolution streaming experiences, or you want the basic streaming you’d get from most music content systems, Tidal has you covered. Of course, the Tidal HiFi offering is really where Tidal makes its mark. 

While the other streams on the music scene fight to deliver slightly richer tracks with more full-bodied tracks for those willing to pay a little more, Tidal does something completely different.

It’s not just the Tidal HiFi experience that makes this service so compelling, but the unique Masters solution that drives a more intimate content experience for people who don’t want to compromise on audio quality. The extra features that you get from Tidal make your life more convenient too.

Finding playlists that suit your sound preferences is easy, thanks to a range of curated mix options. You can also learn about the musicians you love through interactive credits, articles, podcasts, and interviews.

If all that wasn’t enough, linking your Tidal solution to your favorite devices has just gotten a lot easier with the arrival of Tidal Connect in 2020. 

As more streaming platforms continue to grab the attention of digital consumers worldwide, it’s safe to say that Tidal will only continue to invest in more advanced experiences for its listeners.

With Tidal, you can enjoy an experience that’s a world apart from the standard listening options you’d get from other companies like Spotify and Apple Music. 

Although the continued arrival of new HD listening solutions might have Tidal looking over its shoulders in the years ahead, there aren’t really many options that can compare with Tidal right now. 

Our Final Verdict

Whether or not this streaming service is for you, entirely depends on what you’re wanting from a streaming platform. To put it simply, Tidal has the best audio quality of any streaming platform. However, it does come at a cost that is more expensive than the likes of Amazon Music and Spotify.

Therefore, if cost is a deal-breaker for you, then I’d choose a different streaming service instead of this one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not THAT much more expensive. Personally I’d prefer to have the better quality audio and pay the bit extra per month – it is that much better.

But hey, that’s just me.

I’d love to know what you think so please do leave a comment in the section below!