Move over, tidal
 

How much music do I listen to that's on Chesky vs Warner and Sony on TIDAL?

The old dog isn't dead yet methinks

This is good news. Tidal is already there. Now HDtracks is getting in the game, and Spotify is still making noise about getting in the hi-res game. I certainly hope the market will bear many entrants. That would be a positive sign for our hobby/obsession. If we are going to continue to attract a lot of new participants to this game, streaming is important.

Looking forward to hearing what folks think about the service, what the download rates are and what the format & resolution will be.

This development is welcome but poses many questions. They will have to offer many more titles than the limited number of hi-rez offerings on their current site. IMO they are going to take a hit on the current site since you will probably get a month of hi rez streaming for what they currently charge for 1 to 2 downloads. (Sure there will always be audiophiles who prefer to "own" rather than rent their music, but that number is dwindling.)

I think this shows if you want to survive or participate in the music market beyond that which caters to the niche audiophile segment, streaming is a must for the future.

I agree but it makes me wonder what the y-t-y and last 3 year growth rates are for the current list of hi-Rez streaming subscriptions (like Deezer, Tidal Hi Fi), Pandora/Spotify etc low res subscriptions as well as physical media and download purchases.

The last numbers I saw showed continued decline in CD and download sales. Not sure how Hi-rez downloads fit in with those numbers. Streaming services continue to add paying customers but Spotify still is mostly ad based listeners. One issue for audiophiles is that Apple, Google and Amazon have others sources of revenue to support their streaming services. It seems like us audiophiles prefer Tidal, Deezer, Spotify etc who are in more precarious financial positions.

:lurk:

Yes it is but only a few services will survive.

As I noted. Apple, Amazon and Google all have the financial wherewithal to survive BUT do they have any incentive to provide CD quality or higher?