Tidal is set to streamline its subscription plans by combining its lossless and high-resolution audio tiers into a new ad-free inpidual plan for just $10.99 / £10.99 / AU$12.99 per month. This is great news for high-resolution audio lovers like me and will also include full access to Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial audio content. The change will align Tidal’s pricing with those of Apple Music and Amazon Music.
The new plan will simply be called Tidal when it launches on April 10. It will combine Tidal’s current HiFi and HiFi Plus tiers, which will cease to exist after that date.
As a paid subscriber to several top music streaming services, I regularly listen to Tidal’s HiFi (lossless audio) tier. I pay $10.99 per month and I already received a notification in my email account informing me of changes to my Tidal subscription. The price remains the same as my current subscription and there is the option to cancel my subscription if I wish.
The new Tidal plan means I’ll have access to Tidal’s entire library of high-resolution lossless music files at no additional cost.
When it arrives, the new Tidal plan means I’ll have access to Tidal’s entire library of high-resolution lossless music files at no additional cost. Previously, I would have needed to subscribe to Tidal’s expensive $20 per month HiFi Plus plan to access its hi-res music content, so this is great news for hi-res music fans around the world and It follows the company’s simplification of its streaming offering that began last year.
Tidal abandons MQA in favor of FLAC
Tidal is known for its high-resolution MQA format. At the time of its release, MQA allowed high-resolution audio files containing large amounts of data to be “packaged” in such a way that they could be easily transmitted from music servers over digital networks with limited bandwidth and ” unpack” via compatible MQA playback. devices in our homes.
However, as digital networks and infrastructure improved, Tidal began phasing out its support for the MQA format and, in June 2023, began offering its high-resolution library in FLAC format.
Current Tidal pricing plans
What you’ll get with the new $11 Tidal plan
1. Full access to Tidal’s high-resolution library: Tidal’s music library features more than 110 million tracks in lossless audio and high-resolution FLAC. Adds around 200,000 new high-resolution tracks every week.
2. Spatial audio content: Two other features included with this new Tidal package are 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmosspatial audio integration.
3. Listen offline: Tide tracks and videos can be downloaded to your phone for offline listening, in any streaming quality.
4. Exclusive content: The amount of exclusive content is among the largest of the best streaming services and consists of concerts, curated mixes, discovery radio stations, podcasts and shows.
5: The best content curation: Algorithm-generated recommendations are personalized to your music and video mixes that favor users’ listening habits, while my Daily Discovery is a solid tool for finding new artists and songs.
As Tidal streamlines its subscription plan to move closer to its market rivals, Spotify is the only streaming service without a spatial, high-resolution or lossless audio streaming tier. I look forward to discovering more at Spotify Stream On 2024 which is rumored to take place later this month.
- Which music streaming service pays artists the most?
- 10 Hidden Tidal Features for the Best Audiophile Listening Experience
- Spotify HiFi could be included in a larger tier not aimed at audiophiles
