Tidal Review | PCMag

Tidal entered the streaming music scene back in 2014, and it was promoted with a comically pretentious video featuring Jay-Z and his musician friends touting the service as the future of streaming music. Despite all the pomp and circumstance, Tidal’s superb sound quality and artist-empowering support saw it make good on that promise. In addition, the ever-evolving service offers a trove of welcome features that aren’t common in the category, such as music-focused editorial and exclusive backstage content. All of this makes Tidal an Editors’ Choice winner for streaming music services.

(Credit: Tidal)

Tidal’s Plans and Prices

Tidal offers several listening tiers, as well as a 30-day free streaming trial that lets you access its full catalog (more than 110 million songs) and curated playlists. However, the service no longer offers a free tier. If you want free music listening, a YouTube Music subscription offers a similarly tremendous musical catalog, plus video and lyrics, all for the cost of an email signup. Granted, Tidal’s audio quality and expansive music catalog are nothing to sneeze at.

The former HiFi and HiFi Plus plans have been consolidated into a single plan. For $10.99 per month, this new, Tidal Individual plan streams in lossless format, including Dolby Atmos and HiRes FLAC. In addition, you can read lyrics while you listen, access more than 650,000 videos and live streams, play tracks offline, and experience zero ads.

This is extraordinarily high-quality audio, but not every musical selection has a hi-res version. Keep in mind that Amazon Music Unlimited also features music at HD and Ultra HD quality for $10.99 per month ($9.99 per month if you’re a Prime member).

Tidal also offers a Family Plan ($16.99 per month) that covers up to six people, similar to family plans from Apple Music and YouTube Music. It also offers a student plan at $4.99 per month with a valid SheerID account. As mentioned, Tidal has a 30-day trial period, so you can give the premium services a test run before committing (however, you must submit your credit or debit card information for said trial). Tidal no longer offers discounts for military personnel or first responders.

The new pricing update is a boon for casual listeners and audiophiles. One major caveat, however, is the removal of DJ software integrations from all plans. If you want to access Tidal’s expansive catalog on software like Djay Pro or Serato, you must pay an additional $9 for the DJ Extension.

One of Tidal’s core tenets is artist support. The service no longer offers fan-centered royalties for artists. Instead, it has shifted focus to Tidal Rising, an artist program that offers direct funding, educational support, mentorship, and industry connections to artists who enroll.

(Credit: Tidal)

Premium Content

Tidal has great, original feature-length articles on its magazine page, such as “Jay-Z’s Blueprint for a City’s Rebirth” and “Requiem for Warped Tour.” These have embedded music, so you can learn more about artists while listening to their tunes. The service also features a selection of music and art-related podcasts to enjoy alongside its musical offerings. We like Tidal’s move to embrace the music’s faces and histories; LiveOne does something similar with its informative Artist DNA stations. It also has exclusive video content that doesn’t appear on competing services.

Tidal’s exclusive video content consists of music videos, music video outtakes, sneak peeks, and backstage concert footage. Subscribers also get Tidal-exclusive streaming concerts.

Note that Tidal doesn’t let you record its streaming audio. If you want that unique feature, check out SiriusXM Internet Radio, our Editors’ Choice winner for streaming audio services focused on live audio.

Catalog and Playlists

Tidal’s interface isn’t radically different from those of other music streaming services. You can scroll through the panel-driven Explore section to see the latest tracks and albums, such as Aurora’s Midas Touch or David Bowie’s Master-quality compilation album, Brilliant Adventure. There is no shortage of suggested listening, either; the Discover tab is packed with rising Tidal stars from all genres of music, whereas Hits and Classics is loaded with beloved jams from yesterday and today. 

Tidal has dozens of themed playlists categorized by moods, time of day, and events, like the holidays. It’s reminiscent of Songza, a defunct, playlist-based music service that inspired many imitators, which is not at all a bad thing. Tidal’s playlists may not be as quirky as LiveOne’s “Yacht Rock” or “55 Songs You Think Suck,” but Tidal’s “Denim & Leather” will take metal heads back to the heavy metal mania of the 1970s and 1980s. For something a little smoother, “Jazz Got Soul” is packed with Soul- and R&B-infused music, from Nina Simone to Gregory Porter.

Other sections highlight new albums, individual tracks, and the aforementioned video content. You can discover music by browsing the genre categories (a feature Pandora lacks) or using the search box. Tidal’s Android and iOS apps let you cache music for offline playback.

Overall, the service’s music catalog is stacked. Tidal has struck agreements with Sony, Universal, and Warner, plus many indie labels. We’ve found popular artists like Arcade Fire, Michael Jackson, and Led Zeppelin, as well as indie faves such as The Dirtbombs and Harlem. Tidal even features a solid selection of film and video game soundtracks, so you can mellow out to Vangelis’ “Blade Runner Blues.”

Tidal has steadily improved its playlist functionality to keep the service competitive and current. Sharing playlists is a cinch now with the inclusion of user profiles. Previously, saved music content was stored in the My Collection section. This has been replaced with profiles. All previously saved content is transferred over when making a profile, and once created, you can publish your playlists for other Tidal listeners to enjoy, much like Spotify.

(Credit: Tidal)

The Tidal Listening Experience

Tidal utilizes FLAC to deliver more than 110 million lossless tracks (16-bit, 44.1kHz audio files) that are significantly higher quality than standard definition MP3s or the basic, compressed streams of most rivals.

For example, Steely Dan’s “Black Cow” sounded extremely clean in testing, making it easy to discern and appreciate the individual instruments at work, which was especially evident during cymbal crashes. On the other hand, there wasn’t much improvement in Kavinsky’s “Nightcall.” The stream quality was good, but we couldn’t detect a noticeable audio boost over LiveOne’s “Nightcall” stream.

It was D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” that sold us on Tidal. The song carried a fresh energy so addicting that it warranted several replays. You may initially find the lossless sound a bit unusual compared with an MP3’s compressed muddiness, but once you spend time with it, it’s hard to return to standard streams.

If dazzling audio quality is what you’re looking for, Tidal is the gold medalist. That said, Tidal is also not an ideal service for the ordinary listener; serious audio quality requires serious audio equipment. High-quality headphones are integral to your listening experience. The better the sound reproduction, the better the sound. And you cannot purchase this hi-res music, as you can with Qobuz.

(Credit: Tidal)

Become the DJ With Live

Tidal Live is a premium feature that puts you in the DJ booth by letting you create live listening sessions for other subscribers. At any point while you’re enjoying a track, simply tap the Live button to begin a session. Name the playlist, hit Confirm, and whatever you have in your Now Playing queue is broadcast to everyone who tunes in. You can modify your playlist during the session, pause the broadcast, or end it whenever you see fit. Note that subscribers can only start and listen to sessions in their registered region.

Although an interesting spin on traditional playlists, Live is still in its infancy and lacks key elements that make it stand out from competing offerings. Stationhead, for example, pairs its DJ feature set with a comment system that lets listeners chime in during your session. You can also hop on a mic, cut the music and talk, or even add listeners to the show as guests. Tidal Live lets listeners respond with emojis, but that’s about it.

That said, each listener counts as a unique stream via Tidal, which is appealing to rising musicians who depend on stream counts for income. Since that’s one of Tidal’s core tenets, Live is a good addition to the ecosystem. We hope to see it fleshed out more in the future.

(Credit: Tidal)

Verdict: Ride the Tidal Wave

Tidal offers an excellent listening experience. Curated playlists, exclusive albums, video content, and master-quality audio make the service a stellar choice for audiophiles. Budding DJs also have plenty to work with thanks to Tidal’s impressive feature set. In short, it’s an easy Editors’ Choice winner for streaming music services.