One of the main alternatives to Spotify in music streaming, Tidal, has announced a major change in its strategy to obtain users.
Until now, Tidal has focused on sound quality above all else; was the first service to offer songs in high definition and with much higher bit rates than the competition. In return, the subscription is slightly more expensive, but the service, created by rapper and producer Jay-Z, is aimed at enthusiasts and audiophiles who want to enjoy music as the musicians envisioned it.
That turned out not to be enough to conquer the market. Also, Tidal is no longer as special as it used to be, and competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music already offer music in high definition. Changes were expected after Square, the payments firm founded by Jack Dorsey (yes, the one from Twitter), acquired the service for $ 302 million last March, and they have arrived.
Tidal has announced the launch of a new subscription, completely free ; just by creating an account, users will have access to the catalog of 80 million songs, although at the moment, it is available only in the US. This type of free account has certain limitations, of course; the main one is the sound quality, which stays at 160 kbps, worse sound than many MP3s. They also won’t have access to additional features like the ability to listen offline.
Interestingly, this service will not have third-party advertisements , so Tidal will not receive additional income for each user it reaches this way. In return, from time to time it will interrupt the playback with messages offering the jump to one of the paid subscriptions. The idea is to convince those who were unsure of the service to give it a try, and then offer them an easy way to start paying.
In addition, the rest of the subscriptions have received some changes. The basic one is still HiFi, with audio quality up to 1411 kbps, offline playback and connectivity with our devices, for $ 9.99; As a novelty, “My activity” is added, with daily usage data.
HiFi Plus will bring many changes, specifically in the way the money is distributed among the artists. Instead of using the traditional method of allocating payments based on the number of total views, the $ 19.99 subscription for HiFi Plus users will be shared only among the artists who have listened; In addition, 10% will be assigned directly to the artist who has listened to the most.
These two new subscription plans do reach Spain, although at the moment, there is no information about the arrival of the free plan.
