Tidal is a subscription-based music streaming service which also offers podcasts and music videos in high definition.
The service focuses on quality, offering ad-free music streams in high fidelity sound (Hi-Fi) and Master quality authenticated (MQA) audio.
With over 70 million tracks, subscribers also get lots of expertly curated playlists matched to their interests.
Originally started by Jay-Z (but now owned by financial services company Square), the streaming service is available in 61 countries worldwide and steadily expanding.
Subscribers can stream on their favorite devices, including mobile phones and tablets with iOS and Android apps, desktop, browser web player, on your TV with Roku, Apple TV and FireTV and even in your car.
To get started with Tidal, they offer a 30 day free trial so you can try the service. There might be longer trial lengths with special offers but the standard trial duration is 30 days with your credit card required.
There are no free tiers available on Tidal as there is with other streaming music services like Spotify.
Below, I’ll show you how to get started with your trial, how to cancel and more info about your Tidal free trial.
Starting Your 30-Day Tidal Free Trial
In order to use Tidal on your mobile phone, desktop or anywhere else, you’ll need to have a subscription.
Plans start at $9.99/month but a 30-day free trial is available for you to try out the service.
You can download and sign up on apps for iOS or Android devices but I signed up on desktop to try the desktop app as Tidal isn’t available in my country. The screenshots below will show the sign-up process on a desktop.
1. Sign up with email or Facebook etc.
After clicking on the “start your free trial” button on the Tidal website, you’ll get this page to create your account. You can sign up with email and password or use one of the social connect links (Facebook, Apple or Twitter) to create your account.
2. Accept Terms and Privacy
To continue the signup process, you’ll need to accept the Terms & Conditions and the Privacy Policy of Tidal. Click on “I accept” to continue signing up for the free trial.
3. Choose your plan
The next step is to choose which plan you would like to free trial. There are two options – Premium which comes with standard quality sound (320 kbps) or HiFi which lets you listen with high fidelity quality (1411 kbps) and Master quality (9216 kbps) when available.
You can also choose to extend your trial to 60 days by paying $2.
On this page you can also choose a family subscription for up to 5 members or get discounts if you’re a verified student, first responder or military personnel.
The prices shown above are for users who want to try the HIFI plan.
4. Checkout with credit card or PayPal
When you’ve decided on which plan you want to free trial, you’ll be taken to the checkout page where you can use with your credit card or PayPal to checkout.
You wouldn’t be billed until after your trial ends in 30 days.
5. Download the app
Once you’ve successfully added your payment method, you’ll be welcomed to Tidal and can then download the app or start the on-boarding process if you signed up in the app.
Getting Started with Tidal
To customize your experience, Tidal gets you started with their on-boarding process. This is where they get to know your likes so they can offer you playlists tailored especially for you.
You can choose as many artists as you want that you listen to from different genres. Then click continue to go to your dashboard which will be populated with artist radio playlists and your welcome playlist.
You can then explore the app to find music videos, podcasts, tracks, albums and more that you can listen to in high quality sound.
On desktop, you can use the app or listen in your browser with the Tidal web player.
How to Cancel Tidal During Free Trial
If you’re not entirely sold on Tidal, you will probably want to cancel your subscription. Tidal promises that you can cancel at anytime during your free trial.
You can cancel in your account and continue to use the service with all the features of the plan until your trial expires.
Here’s how to cancel.
1. Log into your account
In your browser, when you log into your Tidal account, you’ll go directly to this page where the first box is to manage your subscription.
Click on this box to manage your subscription and cancel your free trial.
2. Cancel your subscription
On this page, you have a couple of options. You can downgrade your subscription to premium which is why it’s a great idea to start with a Tidal HiFi plan free trial even if you intend to just do Premium. You can just downgrade before your trial so you wouldn’t get charged $19.99.
However we’re here to cancel and you can find the link to do this in the Tidal HiFi box on the right. Click on the link to continue cancelling.
3. Yes, stop your subscription
Tidal doesn’t want you to cancel so they’ll remind you of what you’ll be losing if you were to cancel and gives you the option to change your mind.
They also offer support just in case you’re having trouble.
And if you scroll down, you’ll be given a special discount offer of 20% off for 3 months.
Of course, if you’re not interested in any of these options, you should click on the “Yes, stop my subscription” button.
4. Complete the short exit survey
Complete the Tidal exit survey to help them understand why you’re cancelling your subscription. The survey is about 4 pages with about 6 questions.
On completion of the survey, you’ll get the following confirmation that your subscription was stopped.
Further confirmation can be found in the subscription page. Your subscription will come to a full stop on the day your trial expires.
Tidal Pricing After Free Trial
There are two Tidal plans you can choose from on signup. Whichever plan you choose determines what you’ll pay when the trial ends.
Tidal Premium gives you standard quality sound (320 kbps) and is $9.99/month. Tidal HiFi gives you access to high fidelity sound (1411 kbps) and master quality audio (9216 kbps) when available. The price for HiFi is $19.99/month.
There is also pricing for family plans. Verified students get discounts of 50% off, first responders get 40% off and military personnel also get 40% off.
You wouldn’t get charged until your free trial ends at which point you’re automatically charged to the payment method you signed up with.
Should You Keep Tidal After the Free Trial
With a host of free and premium music streaming services available, you might be asking yourself the question of whether or not to keep Tidal after your free trial.
This depends on your reason for signing up to Tidal in the first place. Tidal has in the past been a platform of exclusivity for some album releases and artist catalogues.
If you signed up just to listen to a specific album then the decision might be an easy one.
Tidal also has some features that aren’t widely available on streaming services. For example, being able to listen to tracks in master quality authenticated and high fidelity sound is one benefit.
Some other features offered by Tidal to consider:
- 70 million tracks, ad-free with unlimited skips
- 250,000+ music videos, livestreams and events in high definition
- listen offline, in your car or on any device
- thousands of hand-picked playlists, mixes and artist radio
- create your own library and playlists
- family plan for up to 5 users
The 30-day Tidal free trial will help you to decide if it is for you or not so make the most of your streaming for the next month.
