Tidal Increases Subscription Fees for HiFi, Family Memberships: HiFi Plus Tier Remains Unaffected

Tidal has recently decided to raise its prices, following some other popular streaming services. This comes as some of its competitors including Apple Music, Amazon Music, and even Deezer have also decided to increase their base price for a certain subscription.

Tidal to Raise the Prices of Its HiFi Subscription for Individual and Family Plans

According to the story by Engadget, this would specifically affect the HiFi subscription, wherein Tidal is following the other companies which are all raising prices. It was announced that by August 1, subscribers would experience an increase in their subscription fees.

This would be effective for individual members of the HiFi subscription, who will have to pay $11 monthly in the US. This was up by $1 compared to its original price of just $10.

Aside from the individual members, the price hike would also affect family plans, which would result in subscribers having to pay $17 monthly in the US. This was reportedly up by $2 from its original price of just $15.

The Only Tidal Plan that Won't Raise Its Prices is the Tidal HiFi Plus Tier

An article by Billboard reports that the company would also be raising its prices in other markets as well, not just in the US. However, it was also specified that there will be one particular tier that would remain unaffected by the price hike.

Specifically, subscribers of the Tidal HiFi Plus tier would be paying the same price of $20 monthly. This would be for access to features like Dolby Atmos Music, Master Quality Authentication (MOA) tracks, and Sony 360 Audio, which are some of the company's premium features.

It was also noted that there wouldn't be any changes for subscribers of the company's free tier. Aside from that, the company has also not made any changes for two other types of subscriptions, namely its student plan and discounted membership for military personnel.

Tidal Follows Deezer, Apple Music, and Amazon Music in Terms of Raising Its Prices

This comes as many of the company's rivals have already increased their prices over the recent months. For example, Deezer and Apple Music in late 2022 have already raised their individual plan prices to $11 monthly.

In February, Amazon Music followed this move and decided to raise the price of its individual plan as well. It was noted that there was one competitor that didn't want to raise prices, and this was Spotify.

Spotify is Still Expected to Raise Prices in the Future

Despite this, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek once said in the company's Q1 2023 earnings call that they would like to raise prices this year, according to Digital Music News. So far, Spotify has retained its $10 monthly price for individual plans since 2011 in the US.

Aside from potentially raising its prices, rumors are also coming out regarding what was described as a long-awaited high-fidelity plan from Spotify. This would reportedly be including audiobooks and as per the rumors, is expected to arrive sometime this year.