Music streaming service Tidal has announced the launch of its first free, ad-supported tier in a bid to compete with rivals including Spotify and Pandora. Initially available in the US, anyone signing up to the Tidal Free plan will be given access to the platform’s full catalogue of over 80 million songs with “limited interruptions”, albeit at a maximum bitrate of 160 kbps.
At the same time, Tidal has divided its paid subscriptions into two upgraded premium plans dubbed Tidal HiFi and Tidal HiFi Plus. The former costs USD 9.99 a month for ad-free access to high-fidelity sound quality (up to 1411kbps) as well as offline capabilities and access to features including Tidal Connect and My Activity, which provides tailored “daily listening insights”.
The top-of-the-range Tidal HiFi Plus tier, meanwhile, costs USD 19.99 a month for the company’s “best-in-class immersive sound formats”. These include Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) recordings plus Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Audio recordings. Subscribers will also have early access to exclusive offerings and future features.
The service launched in 2015 with the support of Jay-Z and recently acquired by Square also announced new transparency and revenue features for artists, including monthly direct-to-artist payments and “fan-centred” royalties starting in 2022. The latter means royalties will be paid on the basis of actual streaming activity of individual HiFi Plus subscribers as opposed to aggregated streams.
