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TIDAL vs Spotify: Which is Better?
“What is TIDAL?” While Apple Music and Spotify are the most recognizable names in streaming music, TIDAL offers a lot of options that make it a tempting alternative to Spotify and Apple Music.
TIDAL’s exclusives may not offer the same pull as they used to, but it is still a great option for many users, and it’s what I’ve been using to listen to most of my music in 2020. There is a free 30-day trial of TIDAL.
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Here are six things you need to know about the TIDAL music streaming service, including why there is a $19.99 a month option and how the TIDAL vs Spotify comparison shakes out as you look for a new streaming service.
One of the reasons you may be checking out these two options is that your free music streaming trial expired or you simply want a new experience in the app or from the playlist curation standpoint.
While originally a very expensive streaming service, TIDAL offers a $9.99 a month plan that is comparable to Spotify. This is in addition to luring consumers with exclusives and HD music videos without the high-end lossless Hi-Fi sound.
Before you cancel Spotify or sign up for TIDAL, here’s what you need to know about these popular streaming services in 2020.
What is TIDAL?
TIDAL is a music streaming service that offers many of your favorites and some exclusives. The base plan is a great option, but the big reason to choose TIDAL is for the Lossless High Fidelity music is $19.99 a month — double the quality of Spotify.
The TIDAL Premium offering is $9.99, but it does not include the Hi-Fi lossless music quality. At this price users still, get access to the curated playlists and to all of the music and HD music videos. here’s a list of what TIDAL offers.
- More than 60 million music tracks
- Lossless sound quality (FLAC/ALAC 44.1kHz / 16 bit – 1411 kbps)
- More than 250,000 music videos
- Curated Editorial provided by experienced music journalists and industry experts
- Dedicated apps available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android phones and tablets
Subscribers can expect exclusive content, access to rough tracks, studio sessions and yes a place to buy merchandise.
Tidal Price Per Month
Tidal offers eight different prices depending on what you want, what discounts you are eligible for and if you want a family plan.
The standard Premium plan is $9.99 a month and it is the option most users will want to look at.
The HiFi plan is $19.99 a month and includes lossless High Fidelity sound quality.
The rest of the plans are a variation on these offerings but at a range of prices.
The Family plans allow you to add up to 5 other members, for a total of six members on the plan at that price.
There are also TIDAL student and TIDAL military discounts that offer significant savings to Premium and HiFi.
To use these discounts, you need to verify your eligibility, and students must re-verify every 12 months.
Spotify is $9.99 a month for a normal account, $14.99 for a family account and there is a $4.99 a month plan with Spotify and Hulu Limited Commercials.
TIDAL vs Spotify
What you need to know about TIDAL vs Spotify.
TIDAL Premium includes “high quality” at AAC 320 kbps. Spotify offers the 96kbps option as normal quality on Mobile, but also offers a high-quality 160kbps with the free version of Spotify. When you pay $9.99 a month for Spotify you can stream at 320kbps “Extreme quality” for better sounding music.
If you pay for the high-end TIDAL Hi-Fi at $19.99 a month you gain access to lossless content that is not compressed and streams at CD quality. This plan also includes Master Quality Authenticated quality for many tracks, which offers up studio-quality sound. If you don’t want to use TIDAL and you want lossless, you can try out Amazon Music HD free for 30 days.
TIDAL and Spotify both offer iPhone and iPad Apps, an Android app, and the option to play from the web. There is a desktop Spotify player, and now there is a PC and Mac TIDAL desktop player available. Both services offer an offline mode and a free trial.
Spotify offers over 40 million songs and TIDAL boasts 60 million. Of course, this only matters if your favorite musician or group is missing. Both services connect to various home audio sources wired or wirelessly.
TIDAL and Spotify both support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can use either in your car.
TIDAL Exclusive Tickets
In addition to the Tidal exclusive tracks, one reason that some people are trying Tidal or switching to Tidal. deadmau5 offered early access to tickets for the deadmau5 orchestra concert in LA to Tidal members and you can also grab a Tidal exclusive album from this concert. There will be other similar experiences where Tidal members get early access.
Tidal vs Spotify Curated Playlists
Do the special TIDAL features offer enough to convince subscribers to switch from Spotify.
TIDAL makes a big deal about curated playlists from artists and music journalists, but this is not something exclusive to TIDAL. Apple Music offers curated playlists and Spotify also offers a lot of curated playlists from insiders, publications, and from music-savvy regular users.
Spotify also offers Daily Mixes based on your listening habits. Tidal now offers My Mix, a personalized mix based on your listening history.
You can import your Spotify playlists to TIDAL if you want to bring the playlists you’ve spent time making on Spotify or even on other services. This is a free service from Soundiiz.
HD Music Videos & Exclusive Tracks
Spotify now offers some music videos in the app and users can also watch HD music videos on YouTube. TIDAL builds in HD music videos and other exclusives into the TIDAL app and subscription.
Videos remain a major pull for TIDAL.
TIDAL artists have not removed music from YouTube or VIMEO to put it behind a paywall, but new music videos are showing up exclusively on TIDAL for a period. Typically within hours, the new music video is also on YouTube from someone who downloaded the file.
Representatives describe TIDAL as, “a single destination for artists and fans to share ideas, exclusive content, songs, videos, studio sessions, rough tracks, personal conversations and more.”
Exclusive content is great to an extent and Spotify does offer some Spotify Sessions that may be similar to some of the content, but it doesn’t compare to the level that TIDAL offers.
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