Tidal is condensing its plans in a bid to compete with fellow music streamers. The platform is eradicating its HiFi Plus and HiFI tiers to create one particular person plan, aptly known as Tidal. The brand new choice will supply the whole lot Plus customers paid $20 month-to-month for however for $11— the identical worth as Spotify and Apple Music’s one-person plans. It appears Tidal may not justify asking individuals to pay an additional $9 when its rivals provided related perks for much less (the corporate notably laid off 10 p.c of its workers in December).
The brand new solo tier will embrace Dolby Atmos, HiRes FLAC and lossless audio for over 100 million songs. Apple Music additionally provides lossless audio, however this places Tidal forward of Spotify, which has but to roll it out. There’s a small catch for present HiFi Plus subscribers: Tidal’s DJ integration characteristic is changing into a DJ Extension — which is able to price subscribers one other $10. Anybody who has used DJ integration within the final 90 days will robotically have the extension added to their new plan when the tier overhaul takes impact on April 10. Notably, Tidal’s household plan may also condense into only one choice, a $17 supply moderately than the HiFi Plus’ $30 a month price ticket.
Whereas the adjustments are general an excellent deal for Tidal subscribers, the music streamer is eliminating a number of choices — together with its free tier. As of March 4, Tidal additionally eliminated its low cost for newly subscribing navy personnel and first responders. Current free tier subscribers must pay full worth beginning April 10, whereas navy personnel and first responders who already use Tidal must make the swap beginning June 10. College students who use Tidal will maintain their $5 month-to-month charge.