Tidal Vs Spotify – Which Is Better ?
Are you unable to decide which one to choose – Tidal or Spotify?
Definitely, these are two of the best streaming services available. You can choose either of these or both depending on your needs. Read below the comparison between Tidal and Spotify to decide which will best suit you.
Free plans and pricing
Here, Spotify takes the lead. It is more affordable and offers better free plans and features on premium plans.
The basic subscription plan for the two is nearly the same but you need to pay some extras to have an access to those sweet FLAC audio files fr om Tidal's HiFi music library.
If you can endure those annoying ads, you can enjoy Spotify's free plan forever. On the other hand, Tidal offers a free plan that only lasts for 30 days. Thus, Tidal's free plan offers hardly enough time to explore even a small portion of its enormous music library.
Streaming Excellence
There is no denying that Tidal's whole business model revolves around providing greater streaming quality, and they uphold that promise.
The fact that Spotify has the greatest user base of any streaming service in the world, makes it unbelievable that it's the best streaming platform and plays only at a mediocre 320kbps. Even some of the tracks in Spotify's music collection are only compressed to 128 kbps, a level of audio quality that hasn't been required of users since the long-gone era of the portable MP4 player.
On the other hand, Tidal offers lossless FLAC files and streams to its premium customers at maximum CD quality of 1411kbps. Any audiophile's dream, Tidal's huge high-fidelity music library is worth the extra money if you're looking for master-grade sound. Naturally, to process the HiFi grade music, you would need decent speakers or headphones.
Music Library
Tidal wins this competition. However, there isn't much of a difference between the two streaming services. While Tidal's streaming quality is miles ahead of Spotify's, it outperforms Spotify's music selection on what seems like a minor detail.
On their respective official websites, Tidal and Spotify claim to have "90 million songs" and "more than 80 million songs," respectively, in their music libraries. With Tidal, you also get access to more than 450.000 high-quality music videos, which is an advantage if you like to watch something while listening to your favorite musicians.
Spotify, on the other hand, has a large podcast library. The Joe Rogan Experience, which has a video feature, is the most popular and possibly well-known even on the mobile app for iOS and Android.
The User Experience
Regarding the user experience, the two streaming platforms have user-friendly interfaces. Browsing Tidal and Spotify is remarkably similar. They are intuitive and attractive designs that should be simple to browse even for technological newcomers. The search and sidebar menus of their desktop apps aren't differentiated in any meaningful sense.
To give credit wh ere credit is due, I believe Spotify should take the lead because its design is definitely inspired by Tidal's. In other words, they arrived first. To avoid splitting hairs, let's simply state that the user experiences of Tidal and Spotify are identical.
Music recommendation and discovery
While Tidal and Spotify's suggestion algorithms are clearly different, they are also fairly similar: they won't always be correct, but they will help you discover heaps of new music if you give them a chance.
Both streaming services often release new playlists and offer fantastic customized mixes such as 'My Daily Discovery' and 'Mixes for You' (for Tidal) and 'Discover Weekly' and 'Release Radar' (for Spotify). It is simple to find new albums, genres, and performers.
Tidal and Spotify playlists may be readily incorporated into the most popular social media sites (Facebook, Instagram, and so on), making it simple to share new musical discoveries with friends.
Compatibility
Tidal and Spotify compatibility should not disappoint, as both streaming services can be used almost anywhere. Both are compatible with Google Chromecast, and Apple AirPlay. They can be played on most smart TVs (the Tidal app is even incorporated into AndroidTV), most smartwatches, and even multi-room audio systems like the Sonos System.
Gaming consoles are the decision factor. While Spotify works flawlessly on Sony and Microsoft platforms, Tidal has yet to make a significant commitment to the gaming industry. If you enjoy listening to your favorite artists while playing PlayStation or Xbox, this may be an issue.
Lyrics
When it comes to lyrics, Spotify has a minor advantage over Tidal, owing to the inclusion of Karaoke Mode, which is ideal for home parties and having fun singing along to your favorite songs. Except for this, both have a good library of lyrics to go with their music. Lyrics may not always be available, operate flawlessly, or fit precisely with the words of the music on each streaming platform. However, this is a forgivable effect of attempting to ins ert text into over 80 million music tracks.
listening offline
Regarding offline listening, there is an absolute tie between Tidal and Spotify. You can download tunes in both cases and listen to them later on your devices without being connected to the internet. However, before you can make downloads, you must first obtain a paid license.
Who benefits the musicians more in terms of money?
The pay-per-stream (PPS) val ue associated with all streaming platforms fluctuates greatly depending on a variety of criteria, but there is no doubt that Tidal rewards its artists more fairly than Spotify. While Tidal pays artists an estimated $0.0125 per stream, Spotify's PPS is relatively low at $0.0043. This indicates that a musician needs 229 plays on Spotify to make $1, whereas a mere 80 is enough on Tidal.
to wrap up
Both streaming platforms have some advantages over each other. It is up to you to select the streaming service that best meets your needs. However, I believe that this comparative guide will assist you in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each streaming platform. As a final note, despite their shortcomings, both Tidal and Spotify are currently among the greatest music-listening apps on the market.
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