Tidal first launched back in 2015 and is now finally available in the UAE. It brings with it a massive music catalogue of over 80 million high fidelity songs that will appeal to music fans and audiophiles. For artists, Tidal offers new ways to get paid allowing them to create on their own terms with fan support.
Alongside its broad catalogue, Tidal members will get access to regularly updated playlists. These will showcase local artists including new music across genres like pop, dance and electronica.
Tidal will have two subscription tiers along with a Family option that lets you connect up to six accounts.
Tidal HiFi: At $5.50/month, this tier offers interruption-free access to HiFi sound quality. With Tidal HiFi, members can connect Tidal to speakers including cars, download music to listen offline, and see individualised daily listening insights with the new My Activity feature.
Tidal HiFi Plus: For $11/month, HiFi Plus features everything the HiFi tier offer. It adds fan-centered royalties and direct-to-artist payouts. HiFi Plus also provides access to the best-in-class immersive sound formats (Dolby Atmos Music & Sony 360 Audio Recordings) and Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), alongside early access to exclusive offerings and future features.
Tidal Family: Lets you enjoy music on up to six accounts for $8.50/month for Family HiFi or $17/month for Family HiFi Plus.
Tidal touts itself as an artist-first platform and offers a couple of tools to boost the artist experience. There will be a Direct-to-artist payouts program that provides artists an extra way to earn revenue from streaming. Every month a portion of HiFi Plus subscriber fees will go to the top streamed artist.
Later this year, artists will be able to earn fan-centred royalties. This means that royalties get paid out based on actual streaming activity of an individual HiFi Plus subscriber rather than the industry standard of aggregating streams.
“The UAE is multicultural, has a strong music culture, and is a leader in bringing world-class entertainment to music fans, said Chief Operating Officer of Tidal, Lior Tibon. “Fans can now listen to music and support their favourite artists at the same time as Tidal continues to extend support for artists with new ways to get paid. We’re excited to support the music culture in the UAE and further put fans and artists’ experiences first”.
Tidal is available for download for Android devices through Play Store and iOS via the App Store.