tidal
Latest
Tidal under criminal investigation in Norway over 'faked' streams
High-fidelity music streaming service Tidal is under criminal investigation in Norway for allegedly inflating album streams for Beyoncé's Lemonade and Kanye West's The Life of Pablo. The alleged faking of streaming numbers was exposed last year by Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), which said it had obtained a hard drive with the tampered data. Around 1.3 million accounts were supposedly used to lift the play counts of said albums by "several hundred million", with Tidal paying out higher royalty fees to the two artists and their record labels as a result.
I want Sony's 360 Reality Audio to be the future of music
Sony's CES press conference didn't offer many surprises, aside from a lot of discussion around Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and a cameo by Pharrell Williams. The singer and producer was on stage to discuss the company's biggest announcement during the brief evening event: 360 Reality Audio. With this project, Sony is taking high-resolution music to another level by adding a spatial dimension. The goal here is to create something that "makes listeners feel as if they are immersed in sound from all directions." Or to put it another way, to make you feel like you're at a concert any time you listen to music. To do so, the "experience" depends on a lot of things lining up.
Tidal brings master-quality audio to its Android app
At CES two years ago, Tidal enabled studio-quality music streaming on desktop through a partnership with MQA. The feature later arrived on Essential Phone and LG V30, and even more people will be able to access Tidal's master recordings, as they're now available on all devices running Android 5.0 or above.
Tidal adds Spotify-like personalized 'My Mix' playlists
Tidal is getting into the personalized playlist game. The music streaming service is now offering its users personalized "My Mix" playlists that take into account their listening history as well as input from Tidal's human-curated playlists. Subscribers can have up to six 50-song My Mix playlists, which will be separated by artists and genres and updated frequently. Tidal says some of the most active listeners will receive updates daily and the service will improve the more users listen.
Serato adds SoundCloud, Tidal and more to your DJ toolbox
Serato DJ's latest Pro 2.1 and Lite 1.1 software updates have been in public beta for a couple of months, but today those final versions go live. Included with these updates are the addition of SoundCloud and Tidal streaming services right from your library, which is a big step forward for expanding your repertoire on-the-fly. The Serato Play expansion pack ($39) is also now an option, which provides controller-like tools on your keyboard, four decks, a row of filter knobs and headphone splitter capability, so you can finally do proper sets without connected hardware (if you really need to).
Music streaming is fueling vinyl's resurgence
Streaming has been blamed for killing off the CD, but industry experts agree it's helping bolster the growth and quality of another physical music format: vinyl. Since 2015, streaming income has eclipsed CD sales, and the likes of Apple Music and Spotify have become major players in the music industry. This year the Recording Industry Association of America reported that 75 percent of music revenue in the United States came from streaming services. In the past three years, vinyl sales in the US have steadily risen about $2 million annually.
Plex now bundles Tidal's high-quality music streaming service
Going beyond your personal library of tunes, Plex is now offering access to high-quality music streaming service Tidal. Those willing to fork out $9.99 per month (or $8.99 for paying Plex Pass subscribers) will see Tidal's music catalog of 60 million tracks and 240,000 music videos available alongside their own Plex media files. Plex and Tidal are also seamlessly integrating their recommendation and discovery features, so you'll be shown new and old tracks, and albums, you may have missed.
Tidal music streaming is now available on Amazon's Echo speakers
Amazon's Echo speakers have been gradually improving in quality, and it looks like Tidal wants to seize on that opportunity. The streaming service is now available on all Echo devices in the US through a dedicated Tidal skill. Link your account and you can play that Beyoncé or Jay-Z exclusive with a quick voice command. You can set it as your default music option if you'd like, but you can always add "on Tidal" to a command if the service remains secondary.
Tidal's music library is now available on Samsung smartwatches
You now have another major choice for workout music on Samsung wristwear. Tidal has launched an app for Samsung's fitness trackers and smartwatches, ranging from the Gear Fit 2 to the shiny new Galaxy Watch. You can search for tunes and podcasts (including with your voice) and access playlists. And yes, you have access to offline music -- you can blast a Beyoncé album at the gym while leaving your phone in your locker.
Tidal will now stream to your Samsung TV
Just weeks after it announced a partnership with Spotify, Samsung is now bringing Tidal to its TVs. Music Business Worldwide reports that the Samsung TV Tidal app is "just the beginning of the partnership," according to Tidal, and that the app will prioritize the streaming service's visual content. Last year, Tidal announced apps for Apple TV and Android TV, following that up with Amazon Fire TV support in March.
Bikini Kill's riot grrl punk is available to stream for the first time
Prince, The Beatles and other well-known artists gave into the siren's call of streaming music years ago, but not Bikini Kill -- you still had to get the iconic riot grrl group's music the old-fashioned way. Until now, that is. The feminist punk group has posted its small but influential catalog on streaming services, including Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal. Why now? If you ask singer Kathleen Hanna, it's about accessibility.
Sprint's newest Unlimited plan includes Amazon, Hulu and Tidal
Virtually every major US carrier offers one or more free services (however temporary) with at least one of its plans, so how is Sprint going to compete? By including more services, naturally. The carrier has launched an Unlimited Premium plan that, for $90 per month, adds Amazon Prime and Lookout Premium Plus security on top of the Hulu and Tidal services you get with the Unlimited Plus plan. You're ostensibly saving about $480 per year versus subscribing to all those extras on your own. The wireless access itself has been upgraded, too.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Tidal exclusive lasted less than two days
Beyoncé did a Beyoncé thing (along with her husband Jay-Z) over the weekend and released her (their) new album on Tidal with no prior warning. The pair are part-owners of Tidal, which was also the exclusive home of her previous album, Lemonade. But Tidal's sole dominion over the Carters' Everything Is Love didn't last long; it's already available to stream on Spotify Premium, Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. The album will hit Spotify's free tier in two weeks.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z take digs at Spotify in latest Tidal exclusive
Beyoncé and Jay-Z aren't keeping quiet in the wake of Tidal's scandals around inflated numbers and late royalties... if anything, they're ramping things up. The power couple have released a joint album exclusive to the service, Everything is Love, that includes a not-so-subtle dig at Spotify. It's clear they're not having second thoughts about their streaming music choices.
Tidal's new desktop app makes it easier to find the music you want
Tidal's desktop music app has never been a particularly strong selling point compared to its rivals, but the company might change your mind. It's releasing revamped Mac and Windows apps that promise far simpler home screens that borrow a page from their mobile counterparts. The stripped-down page focuses on new music and exclusive content, your recommendations and favorites from both Tidal's editors and your friends.
Tidal investigates possible data breach amid streaming stats allegations
Tidal recently came under fire for allegedly inflating play-counts on Lemonade and The Life of Pablo, which in turn resulted in higher payouts for Beyoncé and Kanye West, respectively. The streaming service vehemently denied the allegations, but now it's doing something rather curious: hiring a third-party data security company to investigate a possible breach.
Tidal is reportedly months behind on royalty payments
Remember how Jay-Z relaunched Tidal with the promise of treating artists more kindly than Spotify? If you believe Dagens Naeringsliv, just the opposite is true. The Norwegian newspaper is continuing a string of exposés with claims that Tidal is behind on payments to at least some labels, including the big three (Sony, Warner and Universal). Indie labels and artists have complained that they haven't been paid for months, with Propeller Records noting that it hadn't received Tidal royalties since October.
Tidal will debut an unreleased Prince album in 2019
Tidal and Prince's estate are done battling it out in court, ending things in good terms and with a new album, to boot. Jay-Z's streaming service has announced that it's debuting a new Prince album with previously unreleased songs in 2019. It will stream exclusively on Tidal for 14 days and will be available as a download seven days after it launches. Prince's estate will also release a physical version worldwide following Tidal's exclusive.
Tidal reportedly inflated streaming stats for Beyoncé and Kanye West
Tidal is under fire once again for allegedly inflating its streaming numbers. This time, it's for misreporting the amount of plays Beyoncé's Lemonade and Kanye West's The Life of Pablo had by "several hundred million" false plays. According to a report (translated) from Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), there's no way that the streaming numbers could've been that high without Tidal manipulating its data. More plays meant that the two artists garnered higher royalty payments. The publication received a hard drive brimming with Tidal play data including play times, song titles, user IDs and country codes.
Tidal now streams music to both Amazon Fire TV and Android Auto
When last we heard in December, Norwegian publication Dagens Næringsliv reported that music streaming service Tidal had enough cash to last about six months. But the company is evidently still around and has more to announce: Tidal now has a new app for Amazon's Fire TV products and is compatible with Android Auto.
