[NEW 2022!] Tidal VS Apple Music: Which Music Streaming Is Right for You?

Tidal has been buzzing with a lot of buzz in the music world for the past few days. First, the service was purchased by rapper Jay-Z for $56 million. Secondly, Nikki Minaj, Madonna, Jack White, Daft Punk and a bunch of other famous performers were present at its relaunch. And they all shouted about the same thing: “We are tired of how we are exploited by record companies and we want to change the music industry.” It's a damn strange position, but ordinary users like us only care about one thing: is it worth paying a lot of money for a Tidal subscription and why is it better than others?

Tidal is a music streaming service. The same as Google Music, Yandex.Music, Spotify and others. By and large, only two things distinguish it from the rest:

1. Sound quality.
2. Price.

We will dwell on them in more detail.

Part 1. Tidal VS Apple Music: Comparing the Two

#1 Tidal VS Apple Music: Sound Quality

Tidal

A Tidal HiFi subscription costs $19.99 per month and will give users access to uncompressed (lossless) content and CD-quality streams (16-bit, 1411 kbps, 44.1 kHz FLAC files). Its standard subscription costs $9.99 per month with 320kbps audio quality in AAC formats, which is much better compared to other music streaming services.

Apple Music

Apple Music uses the AAC format with 256 kbps audio quality the same as tracks purchased from iTunes.

Based on our comparison, Tidal is clearly the winner when it comes to audio quality.

#2 Tidal VS Apple Music: Music Discovery

Tidal:

Tidal focuses more on music recommendations and discovery, but in a very simple and gimmick-free way. It provides users with curated playlists, songs, recommended Hi-Fi music albums and top 20 lists, as well as staff picks.

A unique feature of Tidal is its curated playlists . You'll be surprised to find playlists created by various artists like Beyoncé and Jay Z, and playlists curated by the Tidal staff themselves.

Additionally, Tidal has a Genres option that shows recommended albums and playlists. In addition to playlists, the platform also offers thousands of Full HD videos, including interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and music videos.

Apple Music:

In Apple Music you will find 4 main sections below:

• Search engine

It allows artists to connect with their fans so that fans know them better (their inspiration, work, etc.). Artists can post videos and songs to enhance their albums. Users can like or comment on anything the musician has posted and can even share it via email, Twitter, Facebook and messages. In addition, artists can directly respond to user comments.

• New music mix

This is a playlist personalized by Apple Music. It consists of 25 songs that the platform thinks you've never heard before, and is updated on Fridays. Compared to Discover Spotify's Weekly Playlist, which includes both new and old songs, New Music Mix only includes new songs.

• For you

This section recommends albums and tracks to users based on their listening habits. The platform will track each user's search history, music library and preferred songs. This means that the more a user listens to music, the more accurate the recommendations will be.

• Removes 1

Users can find great content here that they have never heard of before, as well as find their favorite artists. This section features a line-up of star DJs such as Pharrell Williams and Frank Ocean, who offer a unique perspective on music, pop culture, entertainment, etc. Moreover, Beats 1 is a channel that mixes things up, providing special shows on music events including new artists, albums, and upcoming/current events.

Apple's most notable exclusive benefit is Beats 1, which other music streaming services can't match. But when it comes to other features, Tidal and Apple Music are equal. Moreover, Tidal's selection of playlists is like a combination of Spotify and Apple Music.

#3 Tidal VS Apple Music: Libraries and Offline Listening

All Tidal and Apple Music paid plans give users access to millions of songs once they sign up. Tidal subscribers can enjoy over 57 million tracks, while Apple Music has over 50 million tracks. So, whichever user chooses between these two, both will still allow them to build a huge music collection.

Tidal

In addition to over 57 million tracks , Tidal also offers over 200,000 HD music videos. It has a much larger catalog compared to other music streaming services. But, of course, YouTube Music Premium is an exception. So for users who want to enjoy music along with video clips, Tidal is a great choice.

Moreover, with Tidal, users can download an unlimited number of albums, songs, and playlists for offline playback. Users can even sync these songs across multiple devices using a single account. But please note that you are limited to 5 devices for simultaneous offline playback. Finally, regarding artist rights, Tidal was the first to acquire albums from Rihanna, Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Apple Music

Tidal and Apple Music have been battling over exclusive artist rights lately. So if this is important to you, know that Apple Music was the first to get albums from Taylor Swift, Pharell Williams, and Drake.

Moreover, Apple Music users can download up to 100,000 tracks. They can also sync these across different devices that use Apple's iCloud music library, as long as they use the same Apple ID.

#4 Tidal VS Apple Music: Mobile, Desktop and Web Apps

Tidal

Tide is available for both Android and iOS users. The mobile application has a laconic interface in a minimalist style. It has tabs where users can view recommendations and new releases, access their music collection, browse Tidal music, and search the catalog. It also offers an offline option where only downloaded content is displayed on the mobile app.

Finally, Tidal has a desktop app for Windows and Mac users. The desktop app is a great recreation of the mobile app, but it's slimmer and easier for users to navigate compared to iTunes.

Apple Music

Users can access the Apple Music catalog using the Music app. It has a white interface and is a built-in app on every iPod touch, iPad and iPhone, but also comes as a downloadable app for Android devices.

The Apple Music mobile app is not as easy to navigate compared to Tidal because it has a lot of hidden options and panels. Its desktop version (also available for Windows and Mac users) is similar to the mobile app format, but it's not quite as good and a little less easy to navigate.

Sound quality

Tidal is the only streaming service that offers users to listen to music in lossless quality. Naturally, this affects the amount of data transferred. I doubt that even with our 3G, listening on the go will be comfortable, so the ability to download music offline is very useful.

Listening to music over Wi-Fi, I didn't notice any sluggishness compared to Google Music, which, unlike Tidal, only lets you listen to MP3s. The tracks load at the same speed and I didn’t experience a single freeze. Tidal's library is as large as other services. I found all the artists I could think of. Of course, with Russian singers and groups everything is much worse.

At a presentation dedicated to the relaunch of the service, Jay-Z said that Tidal focuses on unique content. There are previously unpublished videos of popular artists, exclusive interviews and even documentaries about how different albums were created. This is really interesting.

But let's get back to the main thing. The sound quality is truly better than Google Music. I was skeptical about lossless on the iPhone and even with mediocre headphones, but there is a difference. You also get the feeling that the bass is artificially high - the kick drum seems to be trying to jump out of the headphones directly into your ears.

Overall, even with my $20 headphones, I heard a difference in sound. If you connect cool and expensive headphones to your iPhone, and even an external amplifier, well... The sound will really blow the tower away. It is also worth saying that Tidal is also available on computers, and this is where the sound will develop in full force.

Part 2. Tidal VS Apple Music: Comparison Summary

Below is a brief description of the features of Tidal and Apple Music.

Price

You have to pay for great sound quality. And, it seems to me, too much. Tidal has two subscription options: Hi-Fi and Premium. Premium costs $12.99 and differs from Hi-Fi only in the quality of music - here it will be standard. Hi-Fi will cost $25.99 and will allow you to listen to music lossless.

I'm glad that there is a 30-day trial that removes all restrictions and allows you to try all the functions of the service. By the way, Tidal has an analogue of Shazam, although it still does not recognize music so well.

Once you sign up for the trial, don’t forget to immediately turn off auto-renewal of your subscription, otherwise $26 will be deducted from your iTunes account in a month.

Part 3. Bonus tip: How to enjoy Apple Music for free forever

We recommend using DumpMedia Apple Music Converter to download and convert any Apple M4P songs, albums and playlists to MP3, M4A, AC3, M4R, MKA, AU, FLAC and others for offline listening.

Since you cannot listen to Apple Music on other devices because they are DRM protected, this tool helps in removing the DRM protection of various Apple songs like the following so that you can play your favorite songs anywhere:

• Apple Music tracks
• Purchased M4P songs on iTunes
• Audiobooks iTunes M4B
• AA/AAX Audible Audiobooks

What's more, DumpMedia Apple Music Converter is a powerful Apple Music Converter with up to 16x conversion speed, which maintains 100% original quality of your songs.

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Features of DumpMedia Apple Music Converter

• Convert thousands of audiobooks and songs from your iTunes music library.
• It allows you to listen to Apple Music tracks on various devices offline.
• This will help you keep playing all your Apple Music songs even after you cancel your subscription.
• Stores the IDs of the original songs.
• Supports output song setting.

For instructions on how to use DumpMedia Spotify Music Converter to enjoy Apple Music free forever, please follow the link provided.