There are so many options for music lovers in terms of music streaming services. No wonder it's difficult for most users to figure out which service works best. More so considering tech preferences, listening habits, and above all the costing of these services.
Here come Rhapsody vs Tidal as we try to compare the two. Is it right to say that Tidal seems to steal the show? You might be wondering especially having been promoting itself as that streaming service that places artists in the first row. To your shock, Rhapsody was actually the first streaming on-demand music service for unlimited access. This in-depth comparison may help iron out many issues.
Background
Looking back, Rhapsody was the music streaming pioneer in this industry. Initially known as Napster, Rhapsody was founded in 2001. Since then, it continued to build up its catalogue with various music labels.
A sneak preview at Tidal reveals this music streaming service originally begun in 2009 with its original name as WiMP. Currently, Tidal is under new ownership, majorly by renowned musicians led by Jay Z. For this, this service is rebranding itself as the first artist-owned music platform.
Music Library
Tidal offers about 48.5 million songs to its millions of subscribers. This is quite a deep and expansive music library. More so, it brings on board both the old stuff and other new releases every Friday.
Rhapsody had 3.5 million subscribers by late 2015. This figure has gone miles ahead and the service currently boasts of a catalog of 42 million songs with over 3 million subscribers.
Music Discovery
A further look at Tidal vs Rhapsody leaves a tight race between the two. Rhapsody leads you to connect with the artists you love. The service personalizes your music experience such that they recommend curated playlists and artists that you love listening to. Tidal bumps in with its Genres button that when you simply press on the sidebar, it takes you to the curated areas. Here, you get recommended albums as well as playlists for your take. And anything accessible on Tidal is also downloadable. With this, you get to listen to your loved music on the go.
Both Rhapsody and Tidal streaming services are highly compatible with most devices. Just choose from your iPhone, Android, Kindle or Windows OS to use. Furthermore, both services let subscribers listen to an unlimited number of songs both online and offline.
More Tips: If you'd like to listen to Tidal music and playlists on other portable devices, such as MP3 players, you can just use AudFree Tidal Music Converter to download and convert Tidal to MP3, FLAC, WAV, M4A, M4B, and AAC with zero quality loss. No need to install the Tidal app, it's also available to play music and playlists from Tidal with ease.
Audio Quality
Rhapsody vs Tidal sound quality is another major area that needs an insight. Get 'high quality' at AAC 320 kbps with Tidal Premium. A further lossless content that's not compressed is available for the high-end Tidal HiFi at $19.99 per month. With this choice, you'll stream your music in the 16-bit form and 44.1kHz FLAC files at 1411kbps bitrate. When it comes to Rhapsody, the bitrate is certainly low with a higher rate at 192kbps.
See Also: Tidal Master vs HiFi vs Premium
Costing
Tidal has got people of all walks covered by their four subscription rates. Settling on the Family membership will see up to five members on a single account. You need to part with a $14.99 monthly fee for Tidal Premium and $29.99 per month for Tidal HiFi.
The second type is the Student membership that requires users to provide their university details like an email address. Tidal Premium charges $4.99 while Tidal HiFi's rate is $9.99 monthly fee.
There is the standard membership at $9.99 and $19.99 for Tidal Premium and Tidal HiFi respectively per month. Finally, the military membership requires $5.99 per month for Tidal Premium and $11.99 per month for the Tidal HiFi option.
The result is that Tidal offers close to 50% discount for students, militaries and family members. A further 30 day free trial for all plans is good enough for exploring this service.
Rhapsody, on the other hand, gives an unlimited trial subscription for 14-30 days as long as you have put a credit card. Beyond this period, you got to settle for one of its two types of accounts.
The unRadio costs $4.99 every month. With this, enjoy ad-free listening with unlimited skips directly to your phone or web. You can decide to scale your music add-ons with the Premier account type at $9.99 per month.
Apart from the ad-free listening, you get the pleasure to download any song of your choice and stream them on the web or any of your other devices.
Computer Application
There is a slight variation when looking at the Tidal vs Rhapsody user interface. While Rhapsody's screen is white and clearer, making it easy to spot and navigate through, Tidal's interface is rather darker and ambiguous.
Rhapsody features genres at the top right, featured blog posts and charts at the bottom and new releases at the top. A further 'Connect to Facebook' link makes it easy for users to share music with friends. Generally, all taps are fast, including the search for an artist or track. Even though Tidal also has a connect feature to Facebook, the other social features need lots of work to catch up with.
Other Supports
Apple Pay: It's the online world and matters of online payment should be taken into an account. Yes! Tidal has embraced this and does accept Apple Pay while Rhapsody still sits by the fence.
Debit and Prepaid Card: There is indeed a tie in this. Both Tidal and Rhapsody do accept debit and prepaid cards.
Rhapsody also takes into account the safety of your kids. It comes with a parental control feature that you can employ to flag explicit songs from your family. Tidal is no closer to this parental control feature.
Conclusion
Even though it may seem a tight race on Rhapsody vs Tidal, it all depends on what you are looking for. Tidal cannot be beaten when it comes to sound quality. However, it has its downs, especially on the user interface.
So, if it's the sound res or a direct interaction with renowned artists that you want to explore, the take is all yours on Tidal. Or else, there are good taps to spot on Rhapsody as well. It is affordable and got a parental control mechanism to help you keep your young kids at bay.
Miley Swift
Staff Editor
