Daniel J SaitDescribed as the first high fidelity lossless music streaming service with HD music videos and curated editorial, TIDAL has been in the news loads of late after transitioning from a niche player to a new level of awareness after its purchase by Jay-Z owned company, Roc Nation.
After some challenging publicity over the cost for the service and changes at the top, better news for the platform is this new partnership which gives Denon HEOS users a new option for high fidelity music streaming.
HEOS wireless multi-room sound system users can access their TIDAL account directly through their HEOS system via the HEOS App, available for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire.
Don Freeman, Denon’s VP of marketing, says: “This is a perfect partnership because we both cater to music listeners who appreciate and understand the quality of music – it is a top priority.
“TIDAL’s high fidelity tracks stream effortlessly through our amazing HEOS products providing listeners with the experience they deserve. TIDAL is offering an exciting new dimension in music streaming; combined with HEOS speakers, high quality digital music delivery is guaranteed!”
TIDAL on HEOS by Denon lets users play all their favourite music wirelessly with high fidelity sound quality in every room of their house, choosing from millions of tracks as well as the chance to delve a little deeper with curated editorial recommendations, album presentations, playlists, articles, features and interviews.
With TIDAL, user’s predefined playlists and favourites are at the forefront, but they can also be searched for by artist, album or track.
HEOS is a multi-room system featuring four wireless multi-zone speakers; HEOS 1, HEOS 3, HEOS 5 and HEOS 7.
The HEOS Link and HEOS Amp can also bring HEOS functionality to Hi-Fi systems and passive speakers.
In fairness some of the earliest criticism of the system could be characterised as egos getting a little bit in the way of what the service was, with already very powerful music artists hoovering up more power and to an extent alienating end users who could not see the value in the system when compared to existing platforms like Spotify.
In truth the platform was not initially designed to be a mass market proposition, with its earliest incarnations being aimed at consumers who were happy to pay for a higher quality of service.
The real challenge for Roc Nation is if it can take what was a solid and very well constructed platform aimed at the quality end of the streaming market and make it appeal to a mass audience.
Its pricing structure for the entry level service is basically the same as its longer established rivals, however it has no free access option (apart from a 30 day trial) which seems to be hurting take up.
Long term if it can offer exclusive content from some its super-star shareholders, this could add traction, or perhaps rather than focus on its more successful acts benefiting from streaming, point out that less successful acts benefit from a service like Tidal and subscribing helps to support a wide range of artists at all levels.
However this would be swimming against the ‘tide’ a little as so many millions of music fans around the world now expect music to be free regardless of whether that is ‘fair’ or not.
So far the jury is still out.
More TIDAL News
Check out the Tidal launch video below