Tidal vs Spotify, in search of the best streaming music platform

Spotify is practically the most used platform in Spain when listening to streaming music. It has a good catalog, price, service … It has many good things but you may have stopped trying other alternatives. Tidal is one of the largest and has managed to stand up to him in recent years.

In this article, we are going to compare them so that you can really know which service best suits you and, incidentally, you know what Tidal offers if you did not know it before. You may like it more (or not), you are the one who judges. 

There is no doubt, Tidal has better sound quality

In this regard there is no discussion, Tidal generally has better sound quality. It offers four different levels:

• Normal: perfect for when you want to save data or have a bad connection. It will be heard well but does not approach others.
• High: 320kbps via AAC. Here we already have a fairly high level and valid for most standard headphones or speakers. It is a good balance between quality and data consumption. Spotify stays here, it doesn’t offer more.
• HiFi: CD quality in FLAC format and audio files in 44.1kHz / 16bit. It will make a difference if you have the right equipment, of course.
• Master: 96kHz / 24bit sound files in FLAC or WAV format. A fool, but you will need a high range of equipment and not all songs to reach these levels.

Remember that these last two plans are part of the Tidal Premium subscription so you will have to pay an extra. Spotify also requires a subscription to reach the highest quality (Very high).

We have tested the difference in a relatively high-end speaker (it is still a Bluetooth speaker) connected by AUX and if the change is noticed a bit. 

The reality is that if sound quality is not your priority, you will be happy with Spotify’s 320 kbps (Premium subscription, of course).

Spotify has more playlists and better podcasts

One of the details in which Tidal sins is that there is not so much “community”. In Spotify you can find thousands of playlists created by them or users, this is another strong point, there are many more people and surely your friends are there and you can see that they listen and use their lists.

It’s also a little better when it comes to discovering music with their “Weekly Discovery” lists. Tidal also has something similar and surely you will not miss more and you can discover new artists but … His rival takes the cake in this regard. Also, their suggestions seem oriented to the United States, don’t ask us why.

Another issue we think they win on is Spotify podcasts, they have over a million and they most likely have the one you’re looking for. 

Tidal, on the other hand, is more useful when it comes to music videos although, to be honest, that matters little in an application of this type. For that, we already have YouTube, although not with so much sound quality or exclusive videos.

Tidal, believe it or not, has a better music catalog

It has 60 million songs and that’s 10 million more than the other service, which is being said soon. In addition, many artists have contracts that allow you to enjoy their music before other places and that is a point in their favor. In fact, it even has exclusive content.

Most likely, do not miss any of your favorite authors and even have more songs at your fingertips in the less typical alternative, nothing wrong here do not you think?

Similar interfaces but Spotify has better integration

The two interfaces are quite similar and work really well. They are beautiful, functional, they can download music, adjust the quality, and more from the settings … Tidal may do better for you to configure the sound quality but, really, Spotify is more useful in our day today.

It has more functions to share music between platforms and, for example, Spotify and Google Maps can be integrated. The truth is that if you are a normal user Spotify offers you many advantages of connectivity and some more options that Tidal does not reach the moment. Who knows if this will change in the future.

A detail to mention is that the two services have apps for most operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS).

Which is better priced, Tidal, or Spotify?

The prices are really similar: the standard subscription is for about 9.99 euros in both and offers similar sound quality. If you want high-quality plans, you will have to pay 19.99 euros a month on Tidal, and Spotify does not offer you this option directly. 

The best thing about Tidal is that with a normal account you can listen to several devices at the same time, and Spotify does not (Spotify allows it, but only locally and offline).

Both have plans for students with a 50 percent discount (stays at 4.99 euros) and family plans. Spotify for 14.99 euros per month and Tidal for a little more, 16.99 euros per month, although it will be 29.99 euros if you want the hi-fi version for all accounts. Here the truth is that there are not too many changes, at least with the same sound quality.

Both are a good option although we opted for Spotify

Tidal is worth it if your favorite artists have some exclusivity or if you really enjoy the quality of music and you have good equipment with support for these types of formats. Even so, the majority of users will do more than well with the 320 kbps of Spotify (which is not bad at all) and prefer to have greater integration between platforms.

Also, details such as podcasts, having so many playlists, or having your friends there tip the balance a bit towards Spotify, at least from our point of view. The truth is that the differences are not crazy and if these details are not crucial, Tidal is an excellent option that works very well.

At least, using both services from Spain, this is our opinion … And you, which one have you chosen? Leave us your opinion in the comments section.