April 29, 2024

Tidal Music Streaming Service Gets Ticketmaster Integration, Mac and Windows Desktop Apps, More

Posted June 3, 2015 at 6:47pm by iClarified · 14402 views
Tidal, the music streaming service that relaunched under Jay Z, has received some major updates today ahead of Apple's rumored music streaming service.

Today, Tidal is rolling out new desktop beta apps for Mac and PC. Previously Tidal was only available through the web and mobile apps (iOS and Android). Additionally, Tidal is receiving Ticketmaster integration that will let users access exclusive concert tickets.

The desktop app looks very similar to the web player the company already released, and has other enhancements that were not possible with a web-only solution. Notably, storing music for offline playback is an important feature missing, but Tidal says it will be coming soon.

Tidal, unlike Spotify, is a premium only music streaming service meaning there is no free, ad-supported streams. It currently offers a regular $9.99 subscription as well as a $19.99 "Hi-Fi" audio subscription. It also announced a new $4.99 pricing tier for college students that will be available in in the coming weeks.

Many critics believed Tidal had seen a rough launch, but it now has 900,000 paid users including 200,000 "Hi-Fi" subscribers. Nevertheless, as Apple is set to launch their music streaming service later this month, competition will surely heat up. Apple has reportedly been in talks with big artists including Drake and Kanye West to help launch a service that "blends Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube."

via TheVerge