Tidal is a new premium music streaming service with an equally premium subscription fee but one that promises “lossless” quality playback.
Via: Yahoo Music
The service, which goes live this week in the US and the UK, will cost users $19.99 or £19.99 a month. That’s pretty much double what most streaming services, from Spotify to Rdio, charge.
However Tidal believes that the promise of 16-bit files at 1411 kbps will be enough to snag serious audiophiles who currently turn their noses up at and ears off to digital music because of its tiny compressed sound.
And to highlight this focus on music quality, Tidal has signed deals with a number of the world’s top hi-fi makers, including Denon and Harman.
As well as a 25-million-track catalog, those who sign up to the service will also be able to access music videos (75,000 and counting) and editorial content. Tidal has an editorial department charged with creating features on musical genres, doing interviews with emerging artists and generally finding other ways to engage with users.
Like Beats, it will help subscribers discover new music via pre-created playlists and via content curated by music fans and experts rather than just algorithms. New playlists are easy to create and edit and can be saved for offline listening at the same high-quality levels.
Tidal isn’t the only company offering higher definition music streaming. Deezer has also launched a premium service — Elite — in partnership with Sonos in the US and with Bose in parts of Europe.
However, unlike its competitors, Tidal won’t be offering a cheaper, low-quality streaming service, nor will it be offering an ad-supported free tier.
The service is available as an app for iPhone, iPad and Android and on the desktop and on networked and connected hi-fi systems.