Watch Out, Spotify. There's a Tidal Wave Coming Your Way

Jay-Z’s music streaming service might blow the competition out of the water, with its lossless audio format and curated tracks for the individual. But there’s a price to pay. How much? Find out here.

Image via Pitchfork

Hip hop legend Jay-Z is set to re-launch his newly purchased high-fidelity music streaming service, Tidal. Said to be “the first music streaming service that combines the best High Fidelity sound quality, High Definition music videos and expertly Curated Editorial”, Tidal is being positioned as a rival to Spotify with its tailored music curation and superior lossless sound quality (versus Spotify’s 320kbps format), which is explained in this video.

In addition, Tidal has teamed up with major record labels, making it more exclusive than Spotify. If you recall, Taylor Swift removed her songs from Spotify late last year. Guess what, she has now made her songs available on Tidal. Adding more street cred to the service, the #TidalForAll initiative was started by high-profile artists the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West and Coldplay. All of them changed their social media profile pictures to a plain turquoise, with some even posting about Tidal with the hashtag #TidalForAll.

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https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/582391919218532352

This has sparked off a movement on social media where fans and detractors have reposted the turquoise squares with the accompanying #TidalForAll. The hashtag now has upwards of 4,000 posts, just hours after Rihanna posted her turquoise picture on her own Instagram account (@badgalriri).

Supporters of the #TidalForAll movement

But having lossless quality comes at a price – US$9.99 or US$19.99 per month in fact. Unlike Spotify, Tidal operates on a monthly subscription fee and will not have a free service. Paying US$9.99 gets you standard sound quality, while the US$19.99 plan gives you the full works. Will Tidal change the playing field with its artist exclusivity and superior audio quality, or will Spotify stay on top of the game with its offering of both free and paid streaming? Let us know what you think in the Comments. Tidal re-launches on March 31^st, 5am SGT.