“Tidal” is a music streaming service. In the audiophile world Tidal battles with Qobuz for the top spot relative to loyalty among us audio snobs. Or should I say we battle with each other over which is superior relative to sound quality, file delivery, respective catalogues density and about which service provides the best high resolution sound potential. Both services are great, as are other options, and I do not argue with anyone about it these days. I tried them both and picked Tidal as a matter of familiarity. Again, for high quality streaming either service is excellent. There are of course other protocols (DSD / native files, etc..) which other hi fi passionates claim to be the “ultimate listening experience,” but I have neither the time nor desire to foray in to yet another domain, so to speak.

Today I present yet another market observation. Recently I and presumably millions of other Tidal users received notification about the monthly streaming service rate being increased by $1.00 over the current rate of $10.99 to a new rate of $11.99 per month. Folks I didn’t blink; heck, they’d have to push the rate past $89.00 or more before I’d consider cancelling. Especially if the artists received greater compensation, (Tidal does as well or better than other services in this area.) that’s a discussion for another time. I will say however, musicians would do well to better understand markets in the grand scheme, rather than trusting the “the man” (music producers) whereas negotiating compensation is concerned.

So what’s the big deal? Nothing in my mind, but the online chatter is pretty amusing, somewhat pathetic, and much of it comes in the form of cliché, ignorance, or downright indoctrination.

As is typical of the economically uneducated masses, some incantation about “those greedy corporations…” leads the list of tripe folks are seemingly outraged about. That refrain is typically followed with references as to how unfair Tidal is to artists. Then there are the tightwads — ugh, they are the worst. Most likely those miserly chirpers are not paying for Tidal or any other music service, yet they jump in to vilify for profit providers as matter of course. If one is a miser, high end audio, (the circles wherein I have these discussions) or even mid-fi is not a hobby one should consider. There is also the all encompassing “it’s just not fair” bunch. Go away already, no really– life is not fair. You know what is fair? Producers of cool stuff making money off of their efforts, as they come up with the cool stuff we integrate into our lives. Innovators and producers also came up with the very mechanisms of the information age that we use to interact with each other. Sadly, the online dolts have no compunction whereas their use of the cool stuff other’s made to quibble about how terrible providers of the cool stuff is concerned.

Sheesh… they are an exhausting crew, no doubt.

Well enough, I am betting none of those misguided, economics challenged keyboard warriors know this:

Upon launch, 2015 I believe, Tidal was $19.99 per month because the innovators (Thank you Jay-Z and Co.) knew there was an un-met demand for high resolution streaming. (MP3’s typically suck / on a nice system I can demonstrate that to anyone with decent hearing.) I jumped on board around 2017 at that price. Somewhere along the timeline, driven by market forces / need, Tidal split pricing wherein Hi-Res was $14.99 and non-hi res file delivery could be had for $9.99, which is still a great product for most listeners; really.

Now dig this: Apple was lagging in the high resolution streaming audio world, but when they did go high resolution at a lower price, the market pressure was far too great for Tidal to ignore; particularly given Apple’s already huge user pool. What did Tidal do? Tidal lowered hi-res pricing: The $19.99 HiFi Plus tier was completely merged into the base tier. Subscribers gained full access to high-resolution FLAC (free lossless audio codec) and Dolby Atmos audio for $10.99 per month (effectively cutting the price of premium audio by $9). This was the direct result of another popular streaming service responding to the demand for better fidelity across the marketplace. So, at $11.99 per month, Tidal still rules and I am not the least bit concerned about the rate.

This price restructuring was not the result of regulatory capture, or arbitrary boardroom villain’s trying to screw anyone. In this case, as is always the case with free markets, the consumer is heard and responded to without them or a single Senator, Congressman, President, or wannabe King saying anything. Money talks honestly and accurately when left the hell alone.

DL