Tidal vs SoundCloud: Detailed Comparison

Tidal or SoundCloud, which one to choose? Tidal and SoundCloud are both two great music streaming services in the market. In this case, you may have no idea how to pick it up.

Don't worry. Today, we will introduce Tidal and SoundCloud to you in brief. Also, we will compare Tidal vs SoundCloud to you in some aspects. Now, please have a look at the post and find out which one suits your needs.

• Part 1. SoundCloud and Tidal: Brief Introduction
• Part 2. Tidal vs SoundCloud: Differences
• Part 3. SoundCloud vs Tidal: Commonality
• Part 4. Comparison Table of Tidal and SoundCloud
• More Tips: Download Tidal Audio for Playing Offline
• Conclusion

Part 1. Tidal and SoundCloud: Overview

First, let us introduce both SoundCloud and Tidal to you in brief. Please check them out below.

Tidal was launched in 2014. It is a music streaming service that can provide HiFi audio quality. On this platform, users can explore plenty of song tracks and music videos. Besides, Tidal offers free and paid services and lets you enjoy music with different sound qualities.

SoundCloud was started in 2007 and it is a music and podcast streaming platform. In it, users can find and play unlimited songs. It is also a social network platform for music lovers. Artists and DJs can upload their music and share it with others. And users can listen to the new tracks and discuss them.

After learning about Tidal SoundCloud, then move on to check the differences and commons between them. In the following parts, we will compare them among music libraries, audio quality, prices and so on. Please check them out now.

Part 2. Tidal vs SoundCloud: Differences

"Is Tidal better than SoundCloud?" To know the answer, then the following features will help you. Please have a look and find out from the given comparison and make your decision.

1. Music Library

Tidal is available in 53 states, and has 60 million songs and over 250,000 videos in its catalog. They also provide podcasts, and thousands of playlists organized by professionals and artists.

SoundCloud has a more extensive music library. That's because it guides many independent artists to upload their original music on their websites. If you search for a free music streaming service that has plenty of songs from different artists and encourages new talent, then SoundCloud is a better choice for you.

See also: How to Get Tidal Premium for Free

2. Audio Quality

When it comes to comparing SoundCloud Pro vs Tidal, the major issue with SoundCloud is its audio quality. Most of the music on SoundCloud streams in 128kbit/s and 256kbit/s AAC format, and even these are available only for SoundCloud Go+ subscribers only.

While Tidal offers excellent streaming quality. Most of the music here gives you a significant bitrate of 1,411 kbps with FLAC format, so the one with HiFi can make the most out of the audio experience as the artists decide to deliver. With the Tidal HiFi plan, streaming quality can be up to 9,216 kbps and MQA quality. The free version of Tidal allows you to access the songs available here with 160 kbps AAC.

3. Music Discovery

If you want to discover new music with new artists, there is no other option better than SoundCloud. This platform depends on its creative users to upload cover songs or original ones. With this advantage, you can upload music in multiple ways. And the one who is searching can gain access to it without any trouble.

Tidal provides you with more range in rap and hip-hop music genres. It has a lot of music range, and you will find older music for quite a long time. You can gain easy access to the music based on your previous listening history through Tidal. You can try it for a few weeks, and its algorithm helps you serve something that will amuse you in the best sense. Here you can also find favorite playlists, mood-based playlists, and from its rising section. Besides, you will discover new artists.

4. Price and Subscriptions

In this section, we will talk about Tidal vs SoundCloud GO/GO+ price and subscription plans. Both SoundCloud and Tidal have a free version. Also, they provide paid plans for different services.

In SoundCloud, you can access a tremendous amount of music. You can visit SoundCloud official website, and you can cherish the best music experience from it. The only downside of SoundCloud free music is that you have to watch ads. Besides, it offers two subscription plans: SoundCloud Go and SoundCloud Go+.

If you are a new user, you can have a 7-day free trial for SoundCloud Go and 30 days for SoundCloud Go+. And they will cost you $4.99/month and $9.99/month separately. With both of these subscription plans, you can access offline playback and try them without seeing ads. Also, SoundCloud Go+ lets you access an entire catalog without previews and high-quality audio. If you are a student, you can enjoy a 50% discount to get the SoundCloud GO+ plan.

Tidal also offers free music to its users and you can avail of its 30-day free trial on all subscription plans. Users can have Tidal for free for a specific period. Its HiFi subscription costs $9.99 a month, while Tidal HiFi Plus costs $19.99/month. There is a plus for students as they can get a discount at $4.99 and $9.99 per month after verification. Besides, they have to verify every 12 months. With Tidal HiFi, you can use songs with HiFi sound quality and HD music videos. The other one is Tidal HiFi Plus, where you can enjoy songs at up to 9216 kbps and MQA as well as Tidal 360 Reality Audio.

5. Availability

Here comes the availability of SoundCloud vs Tidal. SoundCloud can work on the web, iOS & Android devices, Windows & Mac computers, Sonos and Windows phone.

While Tidal works with the web browser, Windows, Mac, some speakers, TVs, Android & iOS devices.

It is noted that neither Tidal or SoundCloud allows you to download music for use anywhere with ease. But don't worry. For Tidal music, you can rip limits by the tool introduced in the Tips part.

Part 3. Tidal vs SoundCloud: Commonality

From above, we got the differences of SoundCloud or Tidal for DJ. Following are the commonalities that we can see in SoundCloud and Tidal. Now, take a look at them below

Music Sharing

SoundCloud and Tidal both have some common characteristics for sharing music. Both services have embedded Facebook and Twitter. So, you can share songs with your friends and family. On SoundCloud, you can share songs on Tumblr and Pinterest. On Tidal, you need to copy the URL to the song to share it with others via text messages on social media platforms.

Lack of Advanced Search and Loading

In SoundCloud, users can never go for an advanced search and check out the popular songs they are looking for. This kind of issue is relatable in Tidal as here you can't find many songs by new artists. And if you search for them, it will take a while to upload the music.

Part 4. Comparison Table of Tidal and SoundCloud

Here you can see the comparison between Tidal vs SoundCloud for DJ clearly.

Extra Tips: Download Tidal Music for Playing Anywhere

For users who use Tidal and want to save budget, then you can try to download Tidal music offline. Tidal music has limits and can't be played outside its app on other devices. So, to break that, you can use DRmare Tidal Music Converter.

With your Tidal account, you can download and convert Tidal music you want with this tool. And it can convert Tidal songs with the original quality and save them as local files on your computer. Then you can use them on any device you want without a Tidal subscription and even the Tidal app.

Now, let's see how to use this tool to download and convert music from Tidal as local audio files.

Step 1. Click on the 'Download' button to download and install DRmare Tidal Music Converter on your computer.

Step 2. Open the program, you will see its main interface. Also, you will see the Tidal app shown at the same time.

Step 3. Head to the Tidal app and find the tracks you want to download. Then drag it to the main screen of the DRmare tool. Or you can get Tidal track's link and insert it into the search box on the DRmare program. And then touch the 'plus' icon.

Step 4. Hit on the Menu icon on DRmare and choose 'Preferences'. It will then open the 'Preferences' window. And then you can start to set the audio format, bit rate and more for Tidal songs. To make Tidal compatible with most devices, you can select to change Tidal to MP3 audio format. After that, click 'OK'.

Step 5. Press the 'Convert' button to convert and download Tidal songs to MP3. After the conversion, you can find the local Tidal files via the 'converted' icon on DRmare. And then you can get them on your computer and move them to other devices for offline playback. You can also move Tidal to SoundCloud playlist for listening offline.

Final Words

Above are the detailed comparisons that we show to help you choose Tidal or SoundCloud. You can now decide which tool you would love to try out.

If your primary preference is to try out free music that doesn't cost you much, then SoundCloud is your best call.

If you need to find all the popular music genres and artists, then Tidal is the best shot you should go for. And it offers the highest quality music if you subscribe to its HiFi or HiFi Plus plan.

Besides, with DRmare Tidal Music Converter, you can use it to convert Tidal to FLAC and more plain audio formats. Then you can enjoy Tidal songs anywhere and anytime.