Apple Music, Deezer, Google Music,
Amazon Music, Tidal, and evenCdiscount:
the choice is more than wide when it comes to music streaming services in
line. Everyone goes their own way to try to recover the most
subscribers, exclusives, audio quality, discount prices, etc. And while we
hear a lot aboutSpotify, market leader, but also
of Apple Music, some competitors remain rather discreet, includingTidal. What is actually hidden behind this
company, originally Norwegian and bought by the artist and entrepreneur
AmericanJay-Z? This is what we wanted
check :
For my part, I have been a subscriber for a long time
Deezer. The desire to enjoy music content in better quality
audio has had time to make its way. Two choices are then offered
to French users wishing to benefit from a music streaming service
high quality, the French from home
Qobuzand the American Tidal, formerly Aspiro.
While the first promises30 million quality titles
CD, for the second, it is5 million less
catalogue. But having already had an overview of Qobuz, on iOS in particular and
an unappealing app, the test was done on Tidal side in the end.
The good points:
After a few days of intensive use, I did not feel any lack in
my requests, despite the millions of titles of difference in the catalogs
between Deezer and Tidal. However, I am used to searching in genres
very varied and over a time range that can go back to the 1970s, or even
sooner than that. But this will obviously depend on individual tastes.
On the other hand, what should please everyone is
l’interfaceof the different applications, as well as the one on
Mac than that on the web, or even on iOS. They are excellent, difficult
to find big faults in them, everything is very fluid, very classy. Let's note the
CD that spins while playing a song, it's beautiful!
The buttons and tabs are in their place, easy to find, and above all, we
can backtrack easily without getting stuck after having
searched for other music or various information on the artist listening.
In terms of content excluding music, Tidal stands out with a catalog provided with
clipshigh definition,videosvaried and
offilms(documentaries and live concerts especially).
Another interesting feature, the “Videos” and “Social” tabs that we
found on the artist pages, which indicate clips and related videos and
the corresponding Twitter and Facebook accounts. It's empty for some
artists, the oldest in particular, but when it is indicated, it can be
handy for following a singer on Twitter and seeing their latest news.
As for personal and shared libraries, nothing to report
particular. It's classic, with personal playlists, music
and favorite albums or playlists made by Tidal accessible on the page
reception.
Finally, the iOS app demonstratesoptions provided,
concerning in particular the different streaming qualities in reading or in
download. Another good point, then.
About streaming in CD quality (FLAC 44.1 lossless compressed format
kHz, 16 bits), I decided to leave it out of the equation, even though it can
obviously be a major argument for joining Tidal. Indeed, seen
that we pay for this option, almost double the subscriptions
competitors, it should be left out of the comparison in my opinion. To note
all the same as Tidal offers MP3 quality streaming 320 kb/s for a price
similar to Deezer, Apple Music and others, i.e.9.99 euros per
month.
Some regrets
In terms of discovery, so far, Deezer, but also Apple Music
do better than Tidal. Deezer notably offers numerous playlists
directly on the home page, or done by the service, automatically
according to previous listenings, or shared by other users.
The "Flow" function is also a strength of Deezer and the lack of which is
made felt at Tidal. The latter allows you to launch a playlist playing
randomly your entire personal library, practical for being surprised,
but not too much.
Another notable shortcoming, the Hi-Fi mode, which therefore corresponds to streaming
CD quality, is accessible on the web only with the Chrome browser for
the moment. Obviously, it is present in the iOS app and in the app
macOS.
Regarding this mode, finally, let us note that it is not cheap.
19,99 euros, it's twice as expensive as classic mode.
The first service that will offer CD quality music around 15
monthly euros (or less) will probably aim fairer.
Another drawback, rather minor however, is that loading music is
sometimes long due to the size of the FLAC files read. Navigate in a
music playing can therefore cause somewhat long sound interruptions. But
this remains very dependent on the connection of each user.
Tidal offers a free one-month trial, which gives time to get used to it
a good idea of how it works and the catalog offered. For those who
still hesitate between different music streaming services, whether
for compressed quality at 10 euros per month, or CD quality at 20 euros
monthly, Tidal is a great choice. And if in addition urban music is
your favorite genre, needless to say that with Jay-Z as an investor, the catalog
in this style is therefore one of the best on the market.
