Tidal Joins Rivals in Raising Monthly Prices

Following similar moves by Apple, Amazon and other competitors, Block-owned music streaming service Tidal has begun messaging users about raising its prices in the United States and other markets. Starting Aug. 1, the price of a basic HiFi subscription in the U.S. will increase by a dollar to $10.99, while family plan-ers will see their monthly tab go up two dollars to $16.99.

The company offered no reason for the increases in messages to subscribers and it’s unclear whether there’ll be a change for Tidal HiFi Plus, the $19.99 tier that includes immersive sound options like Dolby Atmos Music and Sony 360 Audio and Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) tracks. Tidal also has a Spotify-like free tier, along with discounted pricing for students (50% off) and military members (40% off) that appear unchanged.

A Tidal spokesperson did not respond to questions regarding the scope of the price increases — the company says it is currently available in over 60 countries, and prices vary from region to region. So far, the increases appear to be far-reaching, if not officially across the board — in a Tidal-focused forum on Reddit, users from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Mexico and Argentina said they received new pricing notices.

Subscription revenue in the U.S. took a dip in 2022, to 7.2% growth from 22.2% in 2021, according to the RIAA. With subscriptions now accounting for 58% of all U.S. recorded music revenue, overall revenue growth slowed to 6.1% from 23.2% the prior year. Revenue totals for this year, however, should get a boost from price hikes in the last 12 months by Apple Music and Amazon Music, as well as Deezer. Industry leader Spotify raised prices on family plans in the United States in 2021 but has kept the individual plan at $9.99 since the platform launched in the U.S. in 2011. That’s expected to change soon after founder and CEO Daniel Ek signaled in an April earnings call that they’re “ready to raise prices” in its biggest market, pending label negotiations. Spotify is also reportedly planning to launch a high-fidelity subscription tier later this year, which would bring in more revenue.