Spotify is the most popular streaming service globally, offering high-quality audio and a vast library of music and podcasts. Tidal, on the other hand, has a competitive edge with lossless audio, podcasts, and video content. Both services allow users to stream music, create playlists, download songs for offline listening, and discover new tracks. However, there are significant differences between them, including audio quality, pricing, music discovery, and social features.
As a result, it can be difficult to decide between the two services that appear to be comparable. Therefore, to make it easier for you to decide, we’ve examined each app’s various features to determine which one is the best value. Let’s start now!
What Is Tidal?
Tidal is a global music streaming platform that brings fans closer to artists through unique experiences and the highest sound quality.
What Is Spotify?
Spotify is a global music, podcast, and video service offering millions of songs and content. It offers basic functions for free, but users can upgrade to Spotify Premium for enhanced features like personalized recommendations, music collections, and more. Additionally, Spotify is available on various devices, with seamless transitions through Spotify Connect.
Tidal vs Spotify: Music Discovery
Both Spotify and Tidal offer excellent music discovery features, allowing users to browse genres, moods, and activities. Spotify offers a Discover Weekly feature, a curated playlist with 30 tracks, and creates up to six daily mixes based on listening habits.
Furthermore, Tidal Rising connects users with up-and-coming artists worldwide, offering up to six playlists and a TIDAL Rising feature. The “Top” feature provides access to Billboard’s top songs by genre and the best tracks, albums, and songs of the last decade.
Furthermore, Spotify offers more playlists for almost every genre, while Tidal has fewer hip-hop playlists and more top charts. While Tidal users are satisfied with their music discovery features, they would like to see a similar feature to Spotify’s Discover Weekly and more playlists.
TIDAL vs Spotify: Content
Tidal has recently surpassed Spotify in terms of music streaming, offering over 100 million songs and matching it with 100 million songs. However, Tidal excels in exclusives, with many famous artists like Beyonce and Rihanna releasing albums and songs on the platform.
Furthermore, Spotify is particularly good for podcasts, with nearly three million podcast titles available. Tidal offers over 650,000 videos, including music videos, live performances, and exclusive movies and documentaries. The app also offers a dedicated section for videos, but it lacks a dedicated section for videos.
Unfortunately, Spotify also has videos, but it doesn’t play as significant a role as Tidal, as there is no dedicated section for videos.
Tidal vs. Spotify Sound Quality
Tidal offers three audio settings: Normal, hi-fi, and Master. Normal is suitable for limited data plans, while HiFi and Master are more expensive plans. HiFi recordings are CD-quality lossless FLAC files, and Tidal Connect allows casting to connected devices. Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) offers high-resolution 2,304–9,216 Kbps audio, but not all songs are available. High-quality headphones are required for HiFi and MQA settings.
Spotify offers five audio settings, with a high quality of 320 kbps (the Very High setting), but lacks lossless streaming like Tidal, making it unsuitable for audiophiles.
Tidal wins this one hands down, but if you’re not a hardcore audiophile, you’ll be happy with streaming at 320 kbps on Spotify. It sounds excellent, and you don’t need expensive headphones to take advantage of the quality.
TIDAL vs Spotify: Plans and pricing
Tidal offers a free plan, but it has limitations such as shuffle mode, skip tracks, and offline listening. To upgrade, users must upgrade to a premium plan, which costs $9.99 per month or $4.99 for students. The pricing strategy is similar to Spotify, with a basic HiFi subscription costing $9.99 per month, a family plan for six accounts for $14.99 per month, and discounts for students. Tidal also offers a discount for those who have served in the US military, with a basic subscription costing $5.99 and a HiFi plan costing $11.99 monthly.
People prefer Tidal for its cost-effective audio streaming, while basic plans cost the same. However, higher-quality streaming requires a double payment.
Spotify offers more social features than Tidal, allowing users to discover new music, share favorite songs on social networks like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and compare artists’ monthly listeners. It also provides information on followers and playlists, helping users choose which ones to try.
On the other hand, Tidal only allows users to share songs on social media, with no additional features. This may be a positive or negative aspect, depending on personal preferences.
TIDAL vs Spotify: Other differences
Spotify and Tidal are two music streaming services with different features.
- Spotify offers a sleep timer, Crossfade, and gapless mode, while Tidal only supports Waze.
- Spotify also allows users to play local files on their devices.
- Furthermore, Tidal has better Credits pages for songs and pays artists more, although not everyone cares about this.
- Tidal’s user interface is better, with a dark mode and striking blue accents. It also connects users with their favorite artists through live-streamed concerts and events, offering first dibs on tickets during the pandemic.
- Spotify’s search capabilities are better, with the app being smart enough to show relevant results if an artist or song is misspelled.
- Spotify also offers app support for game consoles, smartwatches, fitness wearables, and car platforms.
- Tidal’s app support is limited, with no game consoles and wearable support for the Apple Watch and Samsung Gear.
- Spotify is available in more countries than Tidal.
Spotify vs. Tidal: Which is best?
It’s questionable whether Tidal’s curation and discovery algorithms are comparable to Spotify’s in terms of social media savvy and broad integration. However, Tidal is the best place to subscribe if what you care about most is the music.
Tidal vs. Spotify vs. Apple Music
Tidal, Spotify, and Apple Music are popular music streaming services with varying levels of quality.
- Tidal offers high-fidelity, lossless audio quality, while Spotify and Apple Music have lossy audio quality.
- Spotify is freemium, while Apple Music is a paid subscription service. Tidal offers exclusive content, music videos, and concert footage.
- Spotify and Apple Music offer a variety of playlists and curated stations, while Apple Music focuses on music discovery.
Therefore, the best music streaming service depends on individual needs and preferences.
Does Tidal Have All the Music?
Although Tidal has a huge music library, not every song is available there. Some musicians opt not to have their music available on Tidal, and some albums might not be offered everywhere.
How Much Is Tidal Compared to Spotify?
Spotify’s pricing is more affordable, with a free trial available. Additionally, a 30-day free trial of Spotify Premium is available. If you live with others in the same house, the family plan offers up to six premium accounts for a monthly fee of USD 15.99.
How Much Does Tidal Pay Per 1,000 Streams?
Tidal, an artist-centric streaming service, pays significantly higher rates than other platforms, with streams costing $0.01284 per stream and $12.84 per 1000 streams.
Is Spotify Better Than Tidal on Android?
Spotify and Tidal are popular Android music streaming services with different features. Spotify is a freemium service with ads, while Tidal is a paid subscription service. Spotify offers features like playlist creation, offline listening, and music videos, while Tidal provides a higher-quality audio experience. Therefore, the best streaming service depends on individual needs and preferences.
How Many Streams Is $1 Tidal?
Tidal, an artist-centric streaming service, pays $0.01284 per stream, compared to $1 per 114 streams on other platforms.
Do People Still Use Tidal?
Tidal claimed 3 million subscribers in 2016, with 61 countries as of March 2021.
Who Has More Songs: Tidal or Spotify?
Tidal and Spotify both have extensive music collections, but Spotify has over 50 million songs, while Tidal has 40 million, with a higher percentage of exclusive content.
Who Pays Artists More: Tidal or Spotify?
Tidal pays 100% of its revenue to record artists, while Spotify pays 70%. Additionally, Tidal also allows listeners to give back through PayPal, Venmo, and Square.
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