TIDAL launches in the US and the UK: a first look

Note: it was pointed out after publication that, in what can only be seen as a severe error in judgement, the company has opted to promote TIDAL with a video that appears to exclude all women from its target demographic. The video is titled "5 Things A Man Should Have". One can only hope there is an equivalent video "5 Things A Woman Should Have" in the works.

TIDAL, the high-quality streaming service that was announced last month, made its debut in the UK and the US today.

TIDAL was created by the Norwegian company WiMP, which is a streaming service currently available in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

Keen to avoid entering the US and UK markets as just another music streaming service, WiMP created TIDAL as a premium experience that delivers to listeners CD-quality audio.

TIDAL is available as a web player, as a PC and a MAC desktop client or as an iOS and Android app, making it a fairly comprehensive solution - only Windows phone users are left stranded.

The design of the service is elegant, well thought-out and streamlined. After a generic genre-based setup, a new user is taken to the “What’s New” page. This features four sections: at the top links to seasonal playlists and to articles about recent releases, second a Playlists section (my selection included “First Listen: SXSW 2015” and “London Jazz Festival”), then Albums featuring recent releases and finally Songs, listing the top new songs on the service (in the genres you selected).

The app also takes advantage of the accelerometer on the iPhone by switching to a large playback controller displaying the track’s artwork and progress bar when you turn the phone on its side.

In terms of playlists, the service has the advantage of incorporating years of manual editorial work put in by WiMP, and this is evident as there are hundreds of playlists to match specific situations and moods already available.

A big difference between TIDAL and other services is that it sports thousands of music videos that are available to watch as part of the subscription without being subjected to advertising. The videos can be beamed to an Apple TV with ease via AirPlay and presumably the Android app will be designed to allow similar functionality with the Chromecast. Although the addition of videos is a neat feature, TIDAL needs to do a better job at incorporating them within its search results. Currently they appear to only be available once a user browses to a specific artist profile. Another feature that is limited in access to the artist profile is the “Artist Radio”. Again, TIDAL may see more users taking advantage of this if it was presented as an item in the main menu.

Ultimately though, it’s all about the quality. So how does TIDAL compare with Spotify’s highest-quality format? I tested the two services side-by side on a less-than optimal system: a set of home theatre surround speakers. But even without audiophile-quality equipment the difference was pretty noticeable. I used Michael Jackson’s Thriller as a test track as it has a lot of ambient sounds to begin with where compression is easy to notice, and TIDAL’s version was much more clear and crisp than Spotify’s. This seemed to replicate across the board as I compared rock, pop, and of course classical music tracks.

But where does the service falter? The Search function needs some work: currently whether you are looking for a track or for an artist TIDAL will always land onto the Artist results page by default. Spotify does a better job at this by incorporating Artist, Album, Track and Playlist results into the same, scrollable page. Also, as mentioned before, the search function doesn’t help unearthing music videos.

The most significant issue though is price. TIDAL may well have come to market with a solid foundation to become one of the best digital music experiences out there, but how many people are prepared to pay £19.99 per month for a music subscription? The warm reception to Neil Young’s Pono has paved the way for more companies to enter the audiophile market, but it’s still unclear how much of the Pono’s reception was due to people’s genuine interest in better sound quality and how much of it was driven by the fact that Neil Young was backing the project.

Also, how is TIDAL going to connect with users interested in sound quality? Hardware partnerships - some of which the company has already announced - are going to play a crucial part in this. In addition, TIDAL’s positioning and design would also make it an interesting experience for luxury brands wanting to dip their toes in the music space.

Overall, this is an impressive day-one release with few bugs or serious interface issues. If you’d like to check it out the first week is free.


(Andrea Leonelli)