But if you’re an audiophile at heart, Tidal’s HiFi Plus tier is worth the premium. It’s brilliant value for a tenner, and offers excellent music recommendations. Whether your poison is podcasts or Bret Michaels, Spotify doesn’t disappoint. But if the playful pipes of Jethro Tull are more your style, The Zealot Gene is on Tidal in all its MQA studio quality frippery. Crisis Of Faith, the new Billy Talent album isn’t 24-bit on Tidal. Remember though that not every new metal and rock release comes in hi-res. Of course, not every song sounds appreciably better, as other factors come into play, but you get the gist.
Tracks can exhibit a greater level of space instruments get more air to breathe. Listen on high quality, hi-res audio headphones and you’ll hear greater resolution with more dramatic dynamics. Tidal Hi-Fi Plus streams up to 24-bit/96kHz, with MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) encoding. Pay for its HiFi Plus subscription tier and you’ll open the door to high-res MQA studio audio, distinguished by a ‘Master’ flag next to each track. Much like Suggs, Tidal goes one step beyond. For everyday use, on everyday headphones, this is fine. Spotify sounds fine in isolation, but doesn’t (yet) offer any 24-bit hi-res audio content, and despite hinting at its arrival, the service has so far been unable to put a delivery date on higher quality streams.Īs a result, Spotify Premium maxes out at 320kbps. So far, it seems like semantics are all that really separate Spotify and Tidal, but there’s a tangible gulf between the two when it comes to audio quality. You do have to make more of an effort to find fresh fodder though, scrolling someway down before you hit new album suggestions and playlists.Īudiophiles will appreciate the emphasis Tidal gives to MQA mastered content and playlists. Tidal is a more overt musical proposition podcasts occupy far less real estate. You can also share Spotify content on Instagram and Facebook, which is cute. Spotify knows what you like, and you’ll find something to listen to in seconds. The Home page showcases your podcasts and Recently Played, and as you scroll down you’ll find playlists and mixes.
With collaborative playlists, excellent content curation and useful new release updates, it always feels nice and comfy. Spotify has the science of usability down to a fine art. Spotify vs Tidal: Usability and interface The Tidal Hi-Fi Plus tier, at $19.99/£19.99 per month, opens the door to High-Resolution MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) Master files, and immersive spatial audio mixes. Tidal HiFi has a comparable monthly charge, but you can’t access hi-res streams. A Student Tier allows you to split the Premium sub. Opt for the latter and up six people can have their own account. Spotify Premium costs $9.99/£9.99 a month, with a Duo tier that supports two users for $12.99/£12.99. You can listen for free, provided you can live with ads. When it comes to accessibility, Spotify has it nailed. A recent partnership with DC means there are original big budget Batman stories coming, and I’m well up for that. As evidenced by the $100 million contract that exclusively secured Joe Rogan’s podcast, Spotify is increasingly looking to dominate the lucrative podcast market – and its exclusivity deals may enough to sway you. Perhaps the algorithm has a sense of humour?Īrguably the biggest difference between the two services boils down to non-music content.
TIDAL VS SPOTIFY FULL
While the service knows full well the depths and depravity of my musical tastes, it still suggests new tracks from Queen Naija. Tidal’s navigation could probably be more tailored. Similarly, both services offer the titular debut by Canadian punks Billy Talent, but here’s the rub - Tidal has it as an MQA Master stream, with more bits to get your teeth into. Spin the same on Tidal, and you’ll be served Autopsychosis and Megalodon.
Play Korpse’s Retaliation on Spotify and the service points you in the direction of Traumatomy and Extermination Dismemberment. The content recommendation algorithms of both Spotify and Tidal are impressive. Whether your tastes are classic rock, metal, punk, prog, alternative, pop or jazz, you’ll be well catered for. That’s not to say the catalogues are identical, but they’re so evenly matched hunting for differences is akin to looking for a needle in a mosh pit. You’ll be hard pressed to find even the most eclectic of metal and prog missing from either. Both Spotify and Tidal boast exhaustive music catalogues: Spotify claims more than 70 million tracks, while Tidal boasts 80 million.
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