It looks like not even the impressive list of musicians backing Tidal is enough to help the music streaming service. Since it can’t rely on exclusive music videos and sheer celebrity popularity to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify, Jay-Z’s troubled music steaming service has been forced to take a more business-like approach to competing: family plans. What’s funny is that, being a “premium” service, even Tidal’s family plans are more expensive than what Apple Music and Spotify offer.
Exclusive Rihanna videos apparently were not enough, so Tidal has begun cost-cutting to lure in new listeners. The celeb-owned streaming service has introduced a family tier to its Premium and HiFi subscriptions. Starting today you can add a family member to your account for half the price of the original subscription cost. For Tidal Premium, this means that adding a family member will cost $5 extra a month, in addition to the $10 monthly subscription cost. Tidal has a limit of five family members in its new family plan. The Verge notes that the Tidal Premium family plan is more or less the exact price of family plans offered by Spotify and Rdio, although Spotify has signaled that it will lower its price to remain competitive. Apple Music is still the most affordable option for a household full of audiophiles. It offers a $15-a-month plan for up to six family members. For Tidal HiFi, the $20-a-month subscription that offers “lossless” audio quality, adding a family member will cost an additional $10 a month. Tidal’s the only streaming service to offer this high-fidelity, CD-quality sound. But as my colleague Caitlin McGarry previously noted, many listeners don’t care enough about “lossless” audio quality (or can tell the difference) to justify the $20 subscription tier. And even paying half that much to bring in a new family member may be too much considering said family member will just be listening to “Let It Go” on repeat.
