This TIDAL “hi-fidelity music streaming” thing is actually happening. Not formally acquainted? Well, allow me to introduce you. A group of 16 mega-star musicians and/or musically-inclined entertainers united in a noble effort this past Monday to launch a music streaming service that offers audiences music with CD-quality sound, videos and other "exclusive" content the way artists like Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West and Rihanna originally intended to--for a fee of $19.99 a month, of course. The whole idea is to protect the integrity of the musicians' work, while compensating them more fairly for consumption of the art. That all sounds fantastic, and although Hov, Coldplay and Madonna aren’t your typical charity cases, I extend my deepest sympathies during these horrendously trying times in the music business.
If you are considering a TIDAL subscription, here are 5 things you should know.
Item #1
Item #1
TIDAL does not have a free subscription option.
You can either sign up for the $9.99 standard version which offers music, high-definition music videos, and “expertly curated editorial” content, or you can opt for the $19.99 premium version that offers “lossless hi-fidelity sound” in addition to the music videos and editorial. Unless you're an audiophile, I doubt you can spot a major difference in sound quality, but it all probably sounds the same coming from substandard headphones and sound systems. There are 30-day free trials of both versions, so give them a listen, and decide for yourself.
Item #2
The streaming platform has full offline capabilities.
So, whether you are driving in the middle of nowhere or commuting underground on the subway, be not afraid, for thy faves art with thee. This is an exciting feature that Spotify, Google Play and other players in the music streaming game currently offer as well. In other words, there isn’t much innovation, here. The exclusive content TIDAL boasts may be where things get authentic, however. Jay-Z hopes that the platform will encourage artists to be more creative and break out of standard industry practices.
Item #3
The music offered through TIDAL is still licensed through major labels.
The new music streaming platform, in essence, intends to re-establish some ownership and level the playing field per se to get musician’s a few more bucks (or cents) per stream, but the same industry dealings apply here. The artists involved had to ask for permission to license their catalogs on TIDAL, so as with Spotify and other music streaming services, similar offers were made and the same grubby hands were shaken.
Item #4
Your favorite indie artists probably won’t be getting a piece of the pie.
Jay-Z has revealed that the musicians currently involved with TIDAL will each own a percentage of the company (3 percent), and those who sign on afterward will own less. Monday night’s rollout only focused on the few mega-millionaire elites in the music industry, and TIDAL fails to explain how it’ll accommodate new additions to the platform.
TIDAL could be more than just a music streaming service.
During Jay Z's interview on the launch of the platform with Billboard, the mogul indicated that TIDAL would not only subsist on streaming music like competitors such as Spotify, but would also include videos to stream (high-quality, of course). "We’ll have high-quality videos and hopefully we’ll see something that we haven’t seen before," he said.
In addition, Hov has envisioned TIDAL as more of a creative collective, where artists can come together and test the waters with outside-the-box content, and even release exclusive content through the platform. "I think that now for an artist an album cycle doesn’t have to end. They’re on Instagram and Twitter and all these things, so we’re just talking about ways of extending that album cycle, and it could be anything. What if it’s a video offering tickets to the next concert, or what if it’s audio or video of the recording process? It could be anything. It could be them at home listening to songs that inspire them. Anything they want to offer, you know; just be as creative as possible, that’s the only charge, really," Hov explained.
I’m rooting for TIDAL because any medium encouraging creativity and giving artists more control over their work is more than welcome. But, this just sounds like a quick buck for major parties involved. Only time will tell.
What do you think?
