Spotify vs. Tidal: Can a star-studded newcomer upend the current king?

By Joshua Smith May 17, 2015

With music streaming services like Spotify abuzz with more than 10 million paid subscribers, new competitors will have to sweeten the pot to lure them away.

Rapper and business mogul Jay Z is trying his hand at exactly that with the recent purchase of the music streaming service Tidal, Spotify’s latest competition. But will the likes of big-name celebrities and hi-fi streaming be enough to surpass Spotify?

In this episode of VS., we pit Tidal against the “veteran” Spotify to see which streaming service makes the most sense. Take an in-depth look as we compare features, functions, and the prices between both services.

There are millions of songs at hand, but only one service can reign as victor. Check out the video to see who comes out on top.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Just another not so ordinary kid living this thing we like to call life.

Music

Spotify introduces ways for fans to directly help musicians in need

Like almost every industry right now, the music industry is struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak (officially known as COVID-19). Since many concerts and music festivals have been canceled, Spotify has announced new efforts to aid musicians in need.

Musicians will soon have the option to fundraise directly from their Spotify artist profile pages so that their dedicated fans can donate to them or a particular cause based on their request. All donations will go directly to the artist or the artist's organization of choice, and Spotify will not take any cut. We reached out to Spotify to find out when this direct donation feature will be available and will update this story when we hear back.

News

Does your dog love yacht rock? Find out with Spotify’s pet playlist generator

spotify pet playlist generator

If you’ve ever wondered if your dog prefers rap to rock and roll, Spotify has got the answers with a new pet playlist generator that debuted on Wednesday, January 15.

The generator (spotify.com/pets) lets you select what kind of pet you have — everything from a cat or a dog to an iguana, a bird, and a hamster. Once you pick your pet, you’ll have to answer a few questions, like whether your cat is more energetic or relaxed, or more shy or friendly.

News

Spotify is making it even easier to judge your friends’ musical tastes

An unreleased feature on Spotify, called “Tastebuds” is designed to let you discover new music through your friends’ lists by curating a playlist based on your and your friends’ similar tastes in music.

Jane Manchun Wong, an app researcher who unlocks new features before they launch, tweeted screenshots of the unreleased Tastebuds feature on Wednesday, December 18. Based on Wong’s screenshot, the Tastebuds tab would be located in Spotify’s main navigation. The feature’s description says, “Now you can discover music through friends whose taste you trust.”