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TIDAL vs. Apple Music: Which One Is Better? An Extensive Guide

TIDAL vs. Apple Music: Which One Is Better? An Extensive Guide

Of course, that decision may be a little tricky with two giant players: TIDAL and Apple Music. The unique selling points vary from superior sound quality to the ability to discover music. Let’s get down to brass tacks, highlighting which one best fits your taste and lifestyle.

TIDAL’s Key Features

TIDAL is committed to sound quality and, in equal measure, to the artists. That is why it is very well recognized as a home for audiophiles and fans supportive of musicians directly. Here’s what you get with TIDAL:

  1. Premium DJ Extension: TIDAL offers high-resolution, lossless audio. The quality of DJ Extension is CD-level.
  2. Exclusive Releases: Some albums by big-name artists like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Rihanna debut exclusively on TIDAL for brief periods. In that sense, if you want to listen to music before it hits other platforms, TIDAL is different from the rest.
  3. TIDAL Rising: This goes toward the purpose of showing new, emerging artists. If anyone enjoys finding under-the-radar talent, then with TIDAL, they have access to a few of the next big acts.
  4. TIDAL X: Live concert streams and behind-the-scenes, great for super fans who want more than just music.

Pros of TIDAL:

  • The sound quality is great, especially with DJ Extension.
  • Exclusives from popular artists.
  • Artist-friendly payment model.
  • It does a very good job at discovering new, unknown artists.

Cons of TIDAL:

  • More expensive if you opt-out for the DJ Extension.
  • Smaller library of exclusive podcasts or shows when compared to some of its competitors.

TIDAL

Apple Music’s Key Features

Apple Music hosts several key features, as outlined below. Its brand name has become very popular, and it naturally sits well with other Apple devices such as iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watches. The reasons that place Apple Music ahead of the competition include the following:

  1. Device Integration: Where Apple Music shines is in how perfectly it works on all its devices. This can be an important advantage if you have more than one product from the company, as this means everything will synchronize automatically.
  2. Spatial Audio and Lossless: Apple’s Spatial Audio and Lossless options avail you of the best immersive sound experiences. Spatial Audio, especially when used with AirPods, can even create that surrounded-by-music feeling.
  3. Curated Playlists & Radio: There are great playlists curation in Apple Music, most of which are by the hands of real musicians or radio hosts themselves. This makes the discovery of new music much more to your taste.
  4. Apple Music 1 Radio: This is a 24/7 global radio station presented by top DJs and artists; therefore, only exclusive interviews, premieres, and live shows will be played.

Pros of Apple Music:

  • Superb integration across all Apple devices.
  • Nice collection of playlists and radio from the team.
  • Household features like Spatial Audio.
  • Big song library: upwards of 100 million songs.

Cons of Apple Music:

  • It seriously pays off when you are within the Apple ecosystem—iPhone, iPad, Mac.
  • Paying artists less handsomely compared to TIDAL.

apple-music

Sound Quality

Any real music lover has a point beyond which compromise is not an option, and that’s sound quality. TIDAL makes the cut here, too.

TIDAL’s DJ Extension: TIDAL offers the best possible sound quality. However, that will require high-quality headphones or speakers to make a difference.

While Apple Music, on the other hand, has featured Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio. Lossless enhances the sound quality, although the default quality will be good enough to satisfy any listener. Spatial Audio gives them a 3D effect that, if heard through an AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, can make the listener feel that the music surrounds the listener.

Which one is better?

  • TIDAL: Keeping that in mind, if sound quality is of utmost importance for you and you will pay more for that, well then TIDAL’s sound quality would be a godsend.
  • Apple Music: Still great sound, more so with Lossless and Spatial Audio, but just not to the degree that would satiate die-hard audiophiles as well as TIDAL can.

Offline Listening

They all allow for offline listening, which is a fancy way of saying you can download individual tracks, albums, or playlists to your phone to use when you don’t have Wi-Fi or cellular data. This feature is useful in cases where one travels or commutes a lot.

  • TIDAL: You could download music for offline listening on as many as five different devices simultaneously.
  • Apple Music: Both let you download songs, albums, and even playlists to your device so you can hear them offline.

Among these, the quality of the downloads depends on the subscription plan. For example, if you use TIDAL with the DJ Extension, the music stored offline will be in lossless quality. On Apple Music, you have the option to choose the quality to download.

Audio Settings

Where personalization is vital to the listening experience, TIDAL does have the capability for tinkerers to adjust audio quality based on network connection or device capabilities.

  • TIDAL offers a range of settings for customizing audio quality. On slower connections, you can lower the quality to avoid interruptions.
  • Apple Music simplifies things but still allows you to adjust quality settings based on whether you’re streaming via Wi-Fi or cellular data.

Both platforms automatically adapt to your internet connection, while TIDAL also caters more to users who want to fiddle with the settings themselves.

Pricing and Subscription Plans

One of the biggest factors for many is the pricing. This is what you’ll be paying for each service:

TIDAL Pricing and Subscription Plans

  • TIDAL Premium: $10.99/month-standard sound quality.
  • TIDAL Premium with DJ Extension: $19.99/month-CD-quality, lossless audio.
  • TIDAL Family: $16.99/month for Premium (up to 5 family members).
  • TIDAL Student: $5.49/month for premium. $14.49/month with DJ Extension.

Apple Music Pricing and Subscription Plans

  • Individual Subscription: $10.99/month
  • Family Subscription: $16.99/month up to 6 family members.
  • Student Subscription: $5.99/month
  • Apple One Bundle: Available at $19.95/month for an individual and $25.95/month for a family.

TIDAL offers premium sound, though a little pricey if you consider DJ Extension.

Apple Music is a bit more budget-friendly for the standard user and offers far better value if you’re using other services from Apple using Apple One.

User Interface and Algorithm

The feel and look of an application can make a huge difference in how well one enjoys using an app.

  • TIDAL: The Now interface is minimalist and clean; huge album art, very straightforward layout. It’s built for the ones who want to get right into the music with few distractions.
  • Apple Music: More difficult interface but packed with features. It creates an easy way for you to switch among Browse, Radio, Library, and For You tabs, each with countless personalized recommendations, playlists, and stations. Therefore, it’s somewhat messier but quite deep.

Algorithm:

  • TIDAL: Really fine job with recommendations of pieces according to your history; however, it doesn’t compete with Apple Music regarding personalization.
  • Apple Music: Constantly learns your likes and adjusts suggestions. The For You tab recommends new albums, playlists, and even genres based on history.

If you’re into no-nonsense, more minimalistic experiences, then TIDAL might be more up your alley. However, if you enjoy discovering new music based on your exact tastes, the algorithm of Apple Music does a fantastic job.

Music Discovery

Finding new music is half the fun with a streaming service, and both services excel in this regard.

TIDAL was born from how well it presented new music. That would be through TIDAL Rising, which pinned the up-and-coming artists. You will also find playlists curated by genres or moods, recommendations of the same type, but less personalized options compared to those of Apple Music.

Apple Music invariably features the New Music Mix, perfectly tailored for your exact tastes. Great ways to find new tracks, and you also get playlists featuring work from artists, editors, and experts.

Winner: Apple Music just edges out TIDAL in terms of how powerful its personalized discovery tools are.

Platform Availability

Both services are cross-platform, but there are a few key differences.

  • Apple Music: Ideal for hardware developed by Apple itself; thus, it works best on the iPhone, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and HomePods. It is also available on Android; however, it will be smoother if you have any of the Apple devices.
  • TIDAL: Available on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and a range of smart TVs and audio systems. A bit more platform-agnostic, meaning you will have absolutely the same experience either on your phone, desktop, or even TV.

Library Management

Both services also make it easy to organize your music library, where your favorite tracks, albums, and playlists reside.

  • TIDAL: You can save songs, albums, and playlists in the library. New tracks are easily added and play lists built.
  • Apple Music: Seamlessly integrates into your Apple ecosystem. Add a song on your iPhone, and voilà—it’s on your Mac or iPad. You can also import music you’ve bought from iTunes.

Lyrics

They both offer real-time lyrics so that you can follow along with your favorite songs. Apple’s are a bit more interactive because they actually scroll in real time. For those who like to sing along, this may make it just a little bit too much like karaoke. TIDAL offers lyrics, but they aren’t dynamic like this nor particularly interactive.

Podcasts

If you listen to podcasts, well, there aren’t any on the Apple Music app; you’ll have to head over to the Apple Podcasts app. Instead, with TIDAL, you get some exclusive podcasts, usually music-related and about artists.

Social Sharing

One of the fun ways to connect with your friends is by sharing music. Both platforms will let you share songs and playlists.

  • Apple Music: It can allow following of friends, what they are listening to, and allow sharing playlists to be done with much ease. You can even create playlists with others.
  • TIDAL: You can share, but social features aren’t really developed yet, as can be compared to Apple Music. You cannot follow friends or view their listening history.

Karaoke Feature

Neither has full karaoke mode, but Apple Music’s real-time lyrics come closest, allowing you to sing along to scrolling words. TIDAL does include lyrics, but without the real-time functionality of Apple Music.

Payout

Tidal pays its artists way more than most streamers would. They have much higher royalties, meaning that more of that money goes to the musicians themselves. For those looking to financially support their favorite artists, Tidal certainly goes a long way toward justifying your money. Apple Music pays artists less than Tidal but still at a competitive royalty.

Conclusion

Both TIDAL and Apple Music rank as outstanding music streaming services, but this will boil down to your priorities.

Choose TIDAL if sound quality is serious business for you and you would wish to support artists in a more direct manner. 

Choose Apple Music if you are already living in the Apple ecosystem and you love seamless integration with your devices, including discovering new music through playlists and recommendations that are personalized.

At the end of the day, either service will give you millions of songs, so ultimately it comes down to if you like higher-quality sound courtesy of TIDAL or a better all-around user experience with more personalization on Apple Music.

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