SPOTIFY VS TIDAL : Which Is the Best Streaming Service for Hip Hop Fans
Last year, I was gifted a membership for Apple Music by the company. After spending a couple months on the service, I decided : screw this, I’m reactivating my Spotify account. Apple Music was glitchy, it’s interface confusing, and my obsessively groomed album library has never been the same… But that’s not why I gave up on the streaming service.
After a couple months on Apple, I realized the lack of playlists - editorial or crowd-sourced - had a real impact on my listening habits. Apple just took it’s position at the top of the digital music industry for granted. They failed to understand the importance of editorial content for too long. In other words, Spotify was more my speed.
Being a hip hop fan, I was still curious to know if there was something better for me out there, namely TIDAL, the streaming platform helmed by Jay Z. In the name of journalistic integrity, I enrolled for a Tidal 30-day free trial and I compared the service to Spotify so you don’t have to.
Credit : medium.com
PLAYLISTS
This was my first stop. I was curious to hear TIDAL Rising: Hip Hop playlist. Was I going to discover a bunch of unknown SoundCloud rappers that would become the stars of tomorrow? I didn’t. The artists they feature are pretty much established (by my standard at least), even though I have to admit their selection went deeper than Apple’s Up Next. Also - and maybe that’s just because I’m in Mexico while I’m writing this - TIDAL has a bunch of really specific Latin playlists, which is cool.
Still, the service just can’t compete with Spotify. Playlists like Are & Be and RapCaviar have had an actual impact on urban culture, and even if that’s not your jam, the user-generated curation should hit the spot.
Credit : TIDAL
EDITORIAL
I guess Apple is still synonymous with podcasts, but you have to admit the company has treated their clunky Podcast app like an afterthought for too long. It’s as if they never realized the raw potential of the medium, which in hindsight was myopic!
Not only Spotify is a much better podcast aggregator, but the company has also started creating its own content. Hip Hop fans should enjoy Dissect, a pod that takes apart albums by the like of Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar. Also, Ebb & Flow is a short form interview show focused on young rappers like J.i.D. and Skinny Mars.
For it’s part, TIDAL also offers awesome urban-centric podcasts like Rap Radar and Coca Vision. Both these podcasts are absent from Spotify, but can be found on Apple and YouTube, so you don’t have to be a TIDAL subscriber to enjoy them. Still, they seem to have understood the importance of podcasts before everyone else, so I’ll give them this one!
INTERFACE
Apple failed when they tried to phase out iTunes and merge the app with Apple Music. I’m not going to bore you with this, but let’s just say I have a lot of thoughts about what Apple is doing wrong. So, Apple, what I guess I’m saying is… call me? We need to talk.
Tidal interface is well designed, but in the time I’ve been using it, it’s been glitchy and awkward at times. Also, it’s too similar to Spotify to really stand out, although I was a Spotify user first, so maybe Spotify copied Tidal and I just don’t realize it.
But, hey Tidal! Everytime I go to resume listening to a podcast, you’ve lost my spot. That’s a BIG no-no.
Anyways, Spotify is constantly evolving, and although I would enjoy a dedicated playlist manager and a sorted-out Following function, I have to admit my complaints are trivial.
Credit : Digital Trends
Which one should you choose?
Go with Spotify.
I think there’s still room for more than one streaming service, but for the moment, Spotify is my #1.
On a side note, as an artist, I have to say I would much prefer people listen to my music on Tidal or Apple because they pay artists way more. But then again, Spotify features me on their playlists while other services are asleep at the switch. So I guess it’s a bird in the bush kinda thing.