Tidal HiFi: New music subscriptions and free streaming

In the battle for the throne of the best music streaming providers, Tidal has recently fallen behind a bit and is now repositioning itself. Today, Tidal announced its realignment and introduced two high-quality Hi-Fi subscriptions. In addition, one blows with a free streaming offer to the attack on Spotify.

Tidal HiFi: From 9.99 euros per month

At the latest since Apple Music offers streaming in HiFi quality at no extra charge, the former top dog Tidal saw its supremacy among audiophile users at risk and is making amends. Now, they’ve made a major overhaul to their subscription structure, offering two new, high-resolution streaming subscriptions.

Instead of the previous AAC quality with a maximum of 320 kbit/s, Tidal HiFi now offers the entire music catalog of 80 million songs (and around 350,000 videos) in CD quality. Thus, a data rate of up to 1,411 kbit/s is offered in the lossless FLAC format.

All tracks can be skipped an unlimited number of times, and there are no advertisements. The download of music is free and unlimited.

Tidal HiFi Plus: Can it be a bit more?

If the CD quality is not enough for you, you can also opt for the Tidal HiFi Plus subscription, which costs 19.99 euros. Here, the music reaches real master quality with a data rate of up to 9,216 kbit/s.

In addition, the music is offered in the best possible subscription in MQA format (Master Quality Authenticated) with Dolby Atmos support. Support for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio is also included. Sony’s technology uses a particularly extensive object-based spatial representation.

Individual sounds such as vocals, piano, guitar, bass and even the live audience can be placed in a well-rounded, 360-degree sound field, allowing artists and producers to express their creativity in new ways.

Plus for the artists

In addition, with an active Tidal HiFi Plus subscription, you’re also supporting the artists themselves. In addition to the normal royalties, up to 10 percent of the subscription fees go to the artists you’ve listened to the most in a month.

It also lets you track and share how your favorite artists are benefiting from your listening habits.

Tidal Free: Free streaming as an attack on Spotify

Exclusive to the U.S. for now, Tidal is also testing a free music streaming subscription designed to compete with top dog Spotify. Here, the music is streamed in AAC format, heavily compressed at 160 kbit/s.

As with the competitor, the free Tidal model is refinanced by advertising between the songs. It is not yet known if and when the free version will also be offered outside the USA.

New customers can test the Tidal HiFi subscription free of charge for 30 days to see whether the music catalog offered appeals to them. After that, the monthly fee for the selected subscription model becomes due.