TIDAL Launches Two Enhanced HiFi Tiers And New Ways To Get Artists Paid

Innovative new products and features, including direct-to-artist payments, fan-centered royalties, and enhanced subscription tiers, will allow more music fans and artists to access the power of TIDAL.

Toronto, ON – November 17, 2021 Global music and entertainment streaming service TIDAL announced today a number of new updates to the product experience for music fans and artists alike. The enhancements deliver on TIDAL’s mission to create a sustainable, artist-first and fan-centric business model for the music industry and include enhanced paid subscription tiers, direct-to-artist payments, fan-centered royalties, and more. With support from the vast majority of our record label and distributor partners, TIDAL is going beyond current industry standards to make royalty payments more transparent for artists and rights holders.

“Globally, we’re making the fan experience with TIDAL better with two enhanced HiFi membership tiers available,” said Lior Tibon, Chief Operating Officer of TIDAL. ‘Fans are getting an improved way to support artists as TIDAL extends its support for artists with fairer earning terms and quicker payments. We’re delighted to collaborate with artists internationally to progress our tools to help them create on their own terms and continue to grow.”

Better Options for Music Fans
TIDAL now offers two listening options for fans to choose from: TIDAL HiFi, and TIDAL HiFi Plus. Both tiers are available in all of TIDAL’s 61 international markets. Subscribers have access to the same catalog of over 80 million songs, videos and expertly curated playlists, with each tier having its own set of perks outlined below.

TIDAL HiFi: At $9.99/month, this tier offers interruption-free access to HiFi sound quality. With TIDAL HiFi, members have offline capabilities, access to features like TIDAL Connect and My Activity, which provides individualized daily listening insights.
TIDAL HiFi Plus: For $19.99/month, HiFi Plus features everything the HiFi tier offers, in addition the introduction of fan-centered royalties and direct-to-artist payments. HiFi Plus will also continue to provide access to the best-in-class immersive sound formats (Dolby Atmos Music & Sony 360 Audio Recordings) and Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), alongside early access to exclusive offerings and future features.

New Ways for Artists to Get Paid Based on Fan Streaming
Creating tools that prioritize the artist experience is central to TIDAL’s new transparency and revenue features, including:

• Direct-to-artist payments: Beginning today, TIDAL will launch monthly direct-to-artist payments. This innovative program will give artists access to an additional payment stream, so they can benefit directly from their biggest fans on TIDAL. Each month, a percentage of HiFi Plus subscribers’ membership fees will be directed towards their top streamed artist, which they will see in their activity feed. This direct-to-artist payment is in addition to their streaming royalties.
• Fan-centered royalties: Starting in 2022, TIDAL is taking a different approach on royalties. In this new model, royalties attributed to HiFi Plus subscribers will not be aggregated. Rather, royalties will be paid based on the actual streaming activity of individual HiFi Plus subscribers as opposed to the industry accepted method of aggregating streams, empowering fans to play a larger role in the success of their favourite artists.

TIDAL has linked up with Square, Cash App, and PayPal to help ensure quick and seamless payouts to artists globally. TIDAL also has partnered with leading distributors CD Baby, DistroKid, Equity Distribution, Stem, Symphonic, Tunecore, and Vydia, to ensure artists sharing music through those platforms are able to receive their payments via in-platform registration seamlessly.

All artists must opt-in to access direct artist payouts, either through TIDAL’s invite-only direct registration option or through one of TIDAL’s distribution partners. TIDAL will continue to open access to the program in the coming months, with information being made available for Artists with music available on TIDAL at TIDAL.com/ForArtists.

“TIDAL has been with me since the beginning, providing emerging artists, like myself, with resources to pursue my passion,” said Sam Austins, singer and songwriter. “It’s exciting to see them continue to evolve their streaming platform to better support artists and their fans with new features like direct-to-artist payments. TIDAL was founded by artists, so the importance of economic empowerment is ingrained in what they do, no matter what stage of your career you’re in.”

Music fans can learn more about TIDAL and subscribe to TIDAL.com.

About TIDAL
TIDAL is an artist-led global music and entertainment streaming platform that aims to create a sustainable, artist-first and fan-centric business model for the music industry. With innovative experimental features like direct-to-artist payments and fan-centered royalties, TIDAL is empowering artists to redefine their place in the music industry.

Available in 61 countries, the streaming service has more than 80 million songs and 350,000 high-quality videos in its catalog, along with original video series, podcasts, thousands of expertly curated playlists, and artist discovery via TIDAL Rising. TIDAL is available in Free, HiFi, and HiFi Plus tiers, with the HiFi Plus membership offering access to immersive audio features like Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) recordings, Dolby Atmos Music, and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio recordings.

For more information, please visit www.tidal.com.

About Square, Inc
Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) builds tools to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the economy. Sellers use Square to reach buyers online and in person, manage their business, and access financing. Individuals use Cash App to spend, send, store, and invest money. And TIDAL is a global music and entertainment platform that expands Square’s purpose of economic empowerment to artists. Square, Inc. has offices in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Norway, and the UK.

Media Contact:
Press@tidal.com