In today's competitive music streaming market, Tidal and Amazon Music stand out as two prominent platforms. Both offer extensive music libraries, high-quality audio, and unique features, but which one is the better choice for you? In this article, we'll dive into a detailed comparison of Amazon Music and Tidal. Since Tidal is only for premium now, we mainly focus on Tidal vs Amazon Music Unlimited, covering pricing, audio quality, catalog size, and standout features.
Part 1. Overview of Tidal and Amazon Music
First, let's have a look at what is Amazon Music Unlimited and what is TIDAL (the name of Tidal's plan). We will specially list their benefits and downsides.
🔵 What Is Amazon Music
Amazon Music Unlimited is a premium music plan of Amazon Music. It allows you to explore 100 million songs and most of them are in Amazon Music HD/Ultra HD quality. Beyond this, it provides a growing catalog of tracks with spatial content such as Dolby Atmos. Amazon Music can seamlessly integrate with other Amazon services, such as Alexa and Prime Video, enhancing the user experience.
See also: How to Link Amazon Music on Alexa
Also, there are four different services within the Amazon Music Unlimited subscription: Individual plan, Family plan, Single Device plan, and Student plan. You have a free period before renewal and a discount for students. However, please note that the Single Device plan does not offer spatial sound, Amazon Music HD, and Ultra HD quality.
Now, let us talk about the benefits and downsides of Amazon Music Unlimited below.
👍 Pros | 👎 Cons |
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🔵 What Is TIDAL
TIDAL is the combination of the previous Tidal HiFi and Tidal HiFi Plus. It features HiFi and Max quality music, Dolby Atmos effect, and DJ extension. Similar to Amazon Music Unlimited, TIDAL offers three plans: Individual plan, Family plan, and Student plan. It also comes with a Tidal free trial before renewal. Additionally, TIDAL provides students with over a 50% discount. The discount for military and first responders has been canceled.
Here are the pros and cons of TIDAL.
👍 Pros | 👎 Cons |
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Now, you already have a general idea about Tidal vs Amazon Music. See the detailed comparison of the main aspects below.
Part 2. Amazon Music vs Tidal Sound Quality
Sound quality has to be the paramount aspect whenever you decide to go for a music streaming service. When talking about Amazon Music vs Tidal sound quality, you should never miss this part. A comparison table displays Amazon Music HD & Ultra HD vs Tidal HiFi & Max.
Bit Rate | Format | Dolby Atmos | |
Amazon Music HD | 850 Kbps | FLAC | ✔ |
Amazon Music Ultra HD | 3,730 Kbps | FLAC | ✔ |
Tidal HiFi | 1411 Kbps | FLAC | ✔ |
Tidal Max | 2,304 - 9,216 Kbps | HiRes FLAC | ✔ |
See also: How to Download Tidal HiRes FLAC Music
✨Verdict: Tidal wins on account that it provides much higher music quality.
Part 3. Amazon Music Unlimited vs Tidal: Subscription Plans and Cost
When talking about the price plans of Amazon Music and Tidal, the stand-out aspect about both of these streaming platforms is the generosity to offer discounts for students. Both of them give subscribers a 30-day free trial and over a 50% discount for students. But their subscription prices are different for different detailed plans. Here is a clear table to see which is more customer-friendly.
Plan | Free Plan | Individual | Student | Family | Single Device |
Amazon Music Unlimited | ✔ | $10.99/month Amazon Prime: $9.99/month |
$5.99/month | $16.99/month | $ 4.99/month |
TIDAL | ❌ | $10.99/month DJ extension: $9.00/month |
$5.49/month DJ extension: $9.00/month |
$16.99/month | ❌ |
From the chart above, it indicates that the price of Tidal and Amazon Music is similar, while Tidal doesn't provide a free plan.
See also: Best DJ Apps that Work with Tidal [Online/Free]
✨Verdict: Amazon Music provides more plans and discounts while Tidal offers the unique add-on DJ extension.
Part 4. Tidal vs Amazon Music: Availability and Compatibility
As for the availability and compatibility of Amazon Music Unlimited vs Tidal, both are compatible with web, mobile, and desktop devices. They both allow you to listen to downloaded music in their respective apps due to copyright protection.
It would be a wise decision to use a smart speaker if you're opting for Amazon Music Unlimited. Connecting with smart speakers like Echo Studio will greatly enhance your sound quality. Moreover, you also can opt for Google devices to listen to Amazon Music HD and Ultra HD quality audio, but you'll get pretty limited features going in this route.
On the other hand, you can cast Tidal music to Google devices, Nest, Sonos, and Echo via Tidal Connect. Tidal partners with many popular devices and players, including Amazon Alexa. If you want to check if your device supports playing Tidal music, please visit this web page: https://tidal.com/supported-devices.
✨Verdict: Amazon Music wins since it supports downloading music on both mobiles and computers.
Note: If you want to download Tidal music on your desktop device, you can use AudFree Tidal Music Converter. It is a tool for Tidal subscribers to convert and download Tidal music on computers. This converter allows you to convert Tidal audio format to MP3, FLAC, AAC, WAV, M4A, and M4B for offline use anywhere. And it can save the lossless quality of Tidal songs after conversion. Most importantly, with this AudFree tool, you can play Tidal music on all devices and platforms bypass the copyright limitation even though you cancel Tidal subscriptions.
Part 5. Amazon Music Unlimited vs Tidal: Music Library
The music library size of Tidal subscribers and Amazon Music Unlimited users is also a significant factor when comparing these two platforms.
Amazon Music Unlimited covers over 100 million songs in HD/Ultra HD quality. You can easily find curated playlists, podcast, top stations and Audible audiobooks. Distinct from Tidal, Amazon Music lacks music videos and synced lyrics for its subscribers.
See also: How to Listen to Amazon Music Audiobooks
Tidal includes over 110M ad-free tracks. Besides, you can access 650K+ exclusive music videos, including documentaries, concert streams, music videos, and more.
✨Verdict: Tidal wins because it provides more music resources and curated videos.
Part 6. Tidal vs Amazon Music: User Experiences
Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal offer distinct user experiences tailored to different preferences.
Amazon Music Unlimited provides a user-friendly interface with seamless integration into the broader Amazon ecosystem. It also supports downloading music on the desktop app, which Tidal cannot do. Tidal emphasizes high-fidelity sound, offering lossless audio and high-resolution options that appeal to audiophiles. Tidal's shared link feature allows users to share music links with friends and family across different streaming services, including Amazon Music and Spotify.
✨ FYI: Tidal: Sharing music links across streaming platforms
✨ Verdict: /
Part 7. Amazon Music Unlimited vs Tidal: Offline Download
When comparing Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal in terms of offline download capabilities, here are the key differences and similarities:
Amazon Music Unlimited: Offline Download
The download function of Amazon Music Unlimited is supported on mobile devices (iOS and Android), tablets and desktop through the Amazon Music app. It supports downloads in high-quality formats up to HD (CD-quality) and Ultra HD (better-than-CD-quality) for eligible tracks. And downloads can only be played within the Amazon Music app due to copyright protection. If the subscription expires, offline content becomes inaccessible.
💡 You can convert Amazon Music to MP3 via AudFree Amazon Music Converter. After that, offline Amazon Music MP3 files are saved on your computer locally and you can transfer and play them on all devices as you like.
Tidal: Offline Download
Tidal's download function is only available on the Tidal mobile app. Tidal supports downloading music in three quality levels: Low, High, and Max. Like Amazon Music, Tidal downloads are copyright-protected and playable only within the Tidal app. Offline content becomes inaccessible if the subscription ends.
Fortunately, there are some ways to keep Tidal music forever. If you are using a Tidal subscription, you can get help from AudFree Tidal Music Downloader. This tool endows you with the ability to download and convert Tidal music as local files instead of cache files so that you can listen to them permanently.
✨ Verdict: Amazon Music wins for its desktop download option.
Part 8. Comparison Table: Amazon Music vs Tidal
Tidal or Amazon Music? Here is a concise table for comparing them.
Tidal | Amazon Music | |
---|---|---|
Free Trial | ❌ | ✔ |
Subscription Plans | Individual, Family and Student Plan; Add-on DJ extension | Individual, Family, Student and Single Device Plan |
Audio Quality | Maximum in Max option of 9,216 Kbps | Maximum in Ultra HD of 3,730 Kbps |
Music Library | 110M+ tracks; 650K music videos | 100M+ tracks |
Downloading Music | Only for mobile | Mobile and desktop |
Partners | Less | More |
Part 9. Bottom Line
Tidal vs Amazon Music Unlimited, which one is worth it? It is hard to decide as both provide extraordinary services. However, if you've got Amazon's Prime membership, you can take priority to the Amazon Music Unlimited option. But, if you're an audiophile and looking to enjoy music with extraordinary sound quality, you can give a shot to Tidal.
These platforms come with 30 days of the free trial version, don't forget to explore their features for free. We're hopeful that this review will help you make a better decision.
Miley Swift
Staff Editor