Tidal writes: “At TIDAL, we’re working to create a place that is better for artists and their fans. Because we love music. And the artists who create it. And the fans who crave it.”
“Today we’re sharing progress on some new stuff: TIDAL Free, $10 HiFi, Direct Artist Payouts, and Fan-Centered Royalties.
New tiers: Free, HiFi, and HiFi Plus
TIDAL now has three listening options for U.S. fans to choose from, each with access to the same catalog of 80+ million songs & videos. These new tiers are an important step allowing us to continue building products that empower both artists and fans.
New: TIDAL Free
We believe in the value of music. To remain competitive — and continue connecting artists and fans — we’re introducing a free tier. Fans can now try TIDAL at no cost, with access to our entire music catalog and playlists. All with limited interruptions.
New: $10 TIDAL HiFi
Starting today, everyone can access HiFi sound quality at our $10 tier — which we’re calling HiFi to make it easy. Today’s loyal TIDAL listeners at this tier will have their audio quality upgraded and will see a new activity feed so they can track their streaming.
New: TIDAL HiFi Plus
Fans at TIDAL’s HiFi Plus tier will have access to Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) audio and two completely new benefits for artists: Fan-Centered Royalties and Direct Artist Payouts. HiFi Plus listeners will also get access to exclusive content and even features before the rest of TIDAL’s listeners.
New: Direct Artist Payouts
This innovative program will give artists access to another payment stream by allocating 10% of monthly subscriptions at the HiFi Plus tier to each listener’s most streamed artist. Direct Artist Payouts will allow artists to benefit directly from their biggest fans on TIDAL, and a new activity feed will show fans exactly where their money goes.
New: Fan-Centered Royalties
With TIDAL HiFi Plus, artists will see a significantly higher per-play-rate than the standard rate of other streaming services (you know the ones). Fan-Centered Royalties will not be aggregated. Instead, royalties will go to the artists that TIDAL users actually stream, so fans can directly support the artists they love. (What a concept, right?) Fans will start to see their streams add up in their activity feed in January 2022.