Tidal VS. Amazon Music: Which One Should You Choose?

By Adam Gorden Posted on August 31, 2023
I prefer the sound quality from Tidal over Amazon but only slightly, AM does sound really good as well but the app is terrible. I really like Tidal's artist approach and the UI is nice and clean with great recommendations. But AM is cheap with my Prime membership and even cheaper with the annual subscription they offer in Canada.

-- From Reddit.com

tidal vs amazon music

There are many music streaming services in the market and all of these platforms have their own strengths and comparative weaknesses. Maybe you want to choose one that satisfies your demands in some aspects like price, audio quality, music library, and more. If you are still hesitating to choose and decide, this article will give a reference for you to compare Tidal and Amazon Music in all aspects. Please read on and hope it will help you to make a decision.

Part 1. Amazon Music vs. Tidal: Comparison Table

What do you know about Tidal and Amazon music? You can read this section to learn more about Tidal and Amazon Music before a detailed comparison of the two music streaming services.

What Is Tidal Streaming Service?

Tidal is a Norwegian-American music streaming service with audiophile-friendly audio, a large catalog, and excellent curated content. It is a digital music streaming service that gives you access to 100 million songs and 650,000 videos from music artists all over the world. As many other streaming services, Tidal is accessible on a wide variety of devices like smart speakers, smartphones, tablets, desktops, and more. Overall, Tidal stands out among all streaming services with its excellent audio quality.

Pros
Offer excellent sound quality of HiFi and HiFi Plus.
Support playing many videos and music-focused podcasts.
Access exclusive backstage content, live streams, and concerts.
Compatible with several DJ software like Serato DJ.
Cons
Free trial version with ads.
Mobile offline playback only.

What Is Amazon Music Streaming Service?

Amazon Music is a music streaming platform and online music operated by Amazon. There are 100 million songs and a wide range of popular podcasts for you to listen to. It also offers recommendations according to your listening habits. Additionally, Alexa voice control is provided for you to do some voice commands like skip tracks, pause, and ask it to play something easily.

Pros
Offer high audio quality like HD and Ultra HD.
Interface and controls are easy to use.
Work with Alexa voice control on the interface.
Cons
Absence of Internet radio.
Listen to lossless and ultra-high audio tracks on the app only.
Not available around the world.

Here will show you a tabular overview of Tidal and Amazon Music. From this table, you can get a comparison of the two streaming services and make a preliminary choice.

A Brief Comparison Table of Tidal and Amazon Music

Tidal Amazon Music
Subscription Plans HiFi and HiFi Plus Amazon Music Prime or Amazon Music Unlimited
Available Titles Songs, podcasts, videos, FM radio stations, backstage content, live streams and concerts Songs, playlists, podcasts, and radio stations
Audio Quality Maximum in HiFi Plus of 192kHz Maximum in Ultra HD of 192kHz
Free Streaming Service No ad-free No ad-free and unlimited plays
Offline Listening On mobile only Mobile and desktop
Radio Stations 96 tracks of music radio stations Access millions of songs offered by Amazon Music Stations
Music Videos 650,000 videos ×
Supported Formats HiRes FLAC, MQA, FLAC, AAC FLAC, AAC

In fact, in general, there is not much difference between Tidal and Amazon Music in these aspects of comparison and the end result is just a tie. You can also read more specifically below to understand them more to make your choice.

Part 2. Tidal VS. Amazon Music: Comparison in Detail

After roughly understanding the two music streaming services, this section will take you a look at the detailed comparison of them in various aspects. You can learn about both streaming services in terms of subscription price, music library, sound quality, device compatibility, and interface design. Now, take a look at the following content that interest you.

1. Tidal vs. Amazon Music: Subscriptions and Price

In terms of subscription plans, Tidal offers both HiFi and HiFi Plus to users. Amazon Music's individual subscription plans also have different prices for those who are Prime members or not.

Tidal Amazon Music
Individual Plan HiFi: $10.99/month HiFi Plus: $19.99/month Prime Member: $9.99/month Non-Prime Member: $10.99/month
Student Plan HiFi: $4.99/month HiFi Plus: $9.99/month Amazon Music Unlimited: $5.99/month
Family Plan HiFi: $16.99/month HiFi Plus: $29.99/month Amazon Music Unlimited: $16.99/month
Plans for First Responders 40% off ×
Plans for Military 40% off ×
Single Device Plan × $4.99/month access to 100 million songs on a single eligible Echo or Fire TV device

All in all, the subscription and plan of the two steaming services are similar. But in terms of subtle differences, it appears that Tidal is a bit more selective in terms of subscription plans, so maybe you'd prefer Tidal.

2. Tidal vs. Amazon Music: Music Library

Aside from the subscription and price, you may also be concerned about the number of music libraries that the streaming music service has. It is wonderful that Tidal allows you to enjoy over 100 million tracks, exclusive releases, and more. Besides, you can watch over 650,000 high-quality videos and live streams. Tidal also shows you featured content, albums, and playlists.

Amazon Music Unlimited also allows you to enjoy 100 million songs in HD and over 7 million songs in Ultra HD. However, Amazon Music is not available for video content.

Tidal Amazon Music
Music Library Size 100 million songs 100 million songs
Radio Stations 96 tracks of music radio stations Thousands of radio stations
Podcasts Lack of updated specific data About 70,000 podcasts
Music Videos 650,000 videos ×


In this case, it seems that Amazon Music is the better choice when it comes to the music library, which one would be the better choice in your opinion?

3. Tidal vs. Amazon Music: Audio Quality

Now this section will talk about the audio quality that is essential for music lovers. You can get specific information from the following comparison. It's worth noting that Tidal has more expensive HiFi and HiFi Plus options for people who have high aspirations for the sound quality of music.

Tidal:

Plan Available Free HiFi HiFi Plus
Audio Quality Low High Max
Bit Rate Up to 320 kbps Up to 16-bit, 44.1 kHz Up to 24-bit, 192 kHz
Format Available AAC FLAC HiRes FLAC, MQA, FLAC, AAC


Amazon Music also has plan tiers for hi-resolution lossless audio that is called HD and Ultra HD.

Amazon Music:

Available Plan Amazon Music Free Amazon Music Prime Amazon Music Unlimited
Audio Quality SD HD Ultra HD
Bit Rate up to 320kbps 44.1KHz up to 192 kHz
Supported Formats AAC FLAC FLAC


It's also worth noting that Tidal HiFi Plus and Amazon Music Unlimited support Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio. In a word, the two music streaming platforms are provided with a wide selection of sound quality and subscription plans that you can choose from. In terms of audio quality, this comparison between the two should be draws.

4. Tidal vs. Amazon Music: Availability and Compatibility

You can enjoy Tidal Music and Amazon Music on almost all your devices like iPhone, desktop, Apple TV, Android devices, and more. Just take the following content as a reference. You can check more Tidal support devices at Tidal Support.

Tidal Amazon Music
Audio Sonos, Bluesound, Roon, Naim, Denon, Audirvana, Yamaha, Onkyo, HiFi ROSE, and more Echo devices, Sonos
Auto Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Volkswagen, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto Apple CarPlay
Desktop & Mobile MacOS and Windows, iOS, Android iOS, Android, macOS and Windows
Wearables Apple Watch, Samsung Gear Google Wear OS
DJ Software Denon DJ, djay Pro, Pioneer DJ, Serato, edjing, VirtualDJ, DJ it, DJUCED, DEX 3 ×
Game Consoles Xbox One Xbox Series X

Looking at the chart above, Tidal is definitely more compatible than Amazon Music. If you are looking forward to playing music on multiple devices, Tidal will be a better choice.

5. Tidal vs. Amazon Music: UI Design

In fact, both streaming services have a lot of subscribers, and their user interfaces are relatively simple and easy to use. The main function buttons are provided at the bottom of the interface. You can choose the Library or Music Collection to play the songs. You can also select the Find or Explore button to search for new songs. One difference is that Amazon Music's interface has an extra Alexa button so you can play music by voice command. You can get a general look at their interface for mobile phones below.

tidal vs amazon music on mobile

Of course, in addition to the mobile app, the desktop apps are also different in some small details. In short, both desktop apps for Tidal and Amazon Music are still relatively simple and useful. Respectively as shown in the picture below.

tidal vs amazon music on desktop

The web player's UI design is also shown below. You can probably observe which of the following cover and typography designs is more aesthetically pleasing to you.

tidal vs amazon music on web player

Part 3. Bonus Tips: Download Tidal Music to MP3

Now, which one should you choose after you have read the comparison of Tidal and Amazon Music? As mentioned earlier, the price and functions of the two streaming services are similar so you can enjoy a good experience no matter which one you choose. If you choose to use Tidal, there is a bonus for you to download your Tidal music to MP3. In other words, you can play your Tidal music as MP3 on many other devices to play offline forever.

The splendid tool is ViWizard Tidal Music Converter, which can download any Tidal track, album, or playlist without a subscription. Moreover, you can get the converted files with original audio quality and ID3 tags. After the conversion, you can transfer the converted MP3 files to your phone, tablet, MP3 players, and other supported devices to enjoy them without interruption. You can convert Tidal music easily as the following steps.

tidal music converter

Key Features of ViWizard Tidal Music Converter

Free Trial Free Trial

* Security verified. 5, 481,347 people have downloaded it.

  • Download any Tidal content, including songs, albums, playlists, and artists
  • Support exporting Tidal music to MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A, and M4B
  • Preserve a whole set of ID3 tag information in the downloaded Tidal songs
  • Handle the conversion of Tidal music up to 5× faster speed and in batch

Step 1Upload Tidal music to ViWizard

add tidal music

Install and launch ViWizard Tidal Music Converter, then copy the relevant links from Tidal to the search bar of ViWizard. Or you can drag and drop your desired music from Tidal directly. Check all the target music is selected for the converter, then you can start the next step.

Step 2Personalize the Output Format

select output format

After all the Tidal music is uploaded to the converter, you can click the menu bar given in the top right corner. Choose the Preferences and Convert tab. Now you can configure the output format, channel, sample rate, and bit rate according to your requirements. Then click the OK button to complete the setting.

Step 3Download Tidal Music to MP3

conversion

You can start to download Tidal music by clicking the Convert button. After that, the music you selected will download to MP3 on your device so you can transfer it to your phone or other devices by USB cable.

Conclusion

After reading this article, you may learn more information about Tidal and Amazon Music. Which is the ultimate choice for you? In terms of prescription price, music library, sound quality, compatible devices, and UI design, if you favor high sound quality and multi-device compatibility, Tidal would be a better choice comparatively. If you favor low prices and a wide variety of libraries, Amazon Music would be a better choice comparatively. Still, find it hard to choose? Then you can try out both music platforms specifically for a month.

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