Tidal, the streaming music service once co-owned by Jay Z, now has a free subscription tier, bringing it in line withSpotifyandAmazon Music, both of which offer free listening options. Known asTidal Free, it’s only available in the U.S. for now. The company says that the free tier will offer access to its entire music catalog and playlists, with “limited interruptions.” It did not specify if those interruptions would be ads from third parties, or simply promotions for Tidal’s paid subscription options.
Tidal Free joins the $10 per month Tidal HiFi tier, which was previously named Tidal Premium, and the $20 per month Tidal HiFi Plus (previously Tidal HiFi). The $10 per month tier now includes lossless, CD-quality tracks, which was previously only available at the more expensive $20 per month price. This was likely done to keep pace with Apple Music, which addedlossless audio and Dolby Atmos Musicto its standard $10 per month offering earlier in 2021.Amazon Music also includes lossless, Dolby Atmos Music, and Sony 360 Reality Audio (360RA) in its standard $10 per month plan.
The new direct-to-artist payment plan is a monthly program where a percentage of HiFi Plus members’ fees — up to 10%,according to the Tidal website— will be given directly to their top streamed artist each month. These payments are over and above the artists’ expected streaming royalties and create a more direct relationship between listeners and the artists they love. HiFi Plus members will be able to see monthly reports of their streaming histories so they can keep tabs on their top artists.
In a similar move, artist royalties will now be based on the listener’s actual streaming activity. Previously, Tidal used what it claims is the industry norm of aggregating attributed royalties. Tidal calls the new payment system “Fan-centric royalties.”
