Why music streaming is not just about music
After happily using Spotify Premium for almost 5 years the rising streaming service Tidal has aroused my curiosity with advertising loss-less audio streaming. Quite quickly I signed up for the 4$ / 4 Month Test-Subscription to see what the service has to offer.
The audio quality.
Lets start with the best thing about Tidal. The music quality.
The service allows streaming with a quality of up to 1411kb per second, when you sign up for the HIFI Plan. Spotify maxes out at „only“ 320kbps for premium users. But there is more! Some Artists offer their original studio quality on Tidal allowing listeners to enjoy the maximum quality there can be. What sounds great at first glance, is very dependent on your taste of music. If you love Hip-Hop you will find quite a few Artists publishing the „Master Quality“; If youre into Rock for instance.. not so much.
Can you hear the difference?
Assuming you have high-quality headphones or a good stereo at your disposal the answer is yes. Songs seem to have more volume, greater precision and perfect high-tones and precise bass. A real upgrade for many songs, that make use of high frequencies or very low bass.
Is the quality worth the extra pay?
If you are into high quality audio and audio experiences. Yes.
The Price.
Tidal is available in two pricings. The „Premium“ Plan for 9,99€ a month with 320kbps streaming and the „Hifi“ Plan for 19,99€ a month. Tidal does not offer a free plan or a test subscription without submitting payment options.
Spotify and most other streaming services are available for 9,99€ a month.
The Music Collection.
Can you find your music on Tidal?
Yes. Just like Spotify, Amazon Music and all the other comtitors Tidal offers an amazing amount of songs. Spotify seems to offer at least a few more songs in the classic Techno area, whilst Tidal offers fresh sounds from the Hip-Hop, Indie and newly rising themes.
The Song Suggestions.
One amazing feature of Tidal are the song recommendations provided whilst playing a specific song.
After just a short amount of time using the application you will find your favorite tunes among those suggestions. Recommended songs will also automatically play on, when your playlist has ended. A feature one can find on several other platforms.
The Problems With Tidal…
I was almost ready to switch to Tidal and leave Spotify behind.. until I have tested on mobile devices and the TV.
Application Bugs, laggy Android Auto, Bluetooth Connection Issues, No Crossplay…
The experience on mobile devices or across devices is a hard one. Yes it works and yes I hated it.
Let me name a few issues I had.
– Tidal quite often wasn`t able to present Playlists on Android Auto.
– The App itself is laggy and sometimes not responding
– CrossPlay is not available and not on Tidals Developers timeline (very sad)
– Playbacks in the car stop for no reason and going back to songs before isnt always possible
– Online / Offline playbacks are strictly seperated, but saved titles are only available in the online section (Why?)
– Laptops seem to cut-off bluetooth playbacks on a fresh Tidal start
– Weird Notifications about unsuccesful playbacks, even when Tidal shouldnt be running
My second big issue with Tidal is the search and the availability of playlists.
The search is quite often returning irrelevant results. About the playlists… Users cant publish their lists on Tidal.. On Spotify however, Users playlists add a very big community feeling with great playbacks to play with!
Let me explain these points with a few screenshots
Search results.
Playlists.
My Verdict.
Even though I am a big fan of Tidals superb audio quality, Spotify is my current way to go. The buggy experience and a missing collection of user playlists make listening in the background surprinsingly annoying.