Tidal, the streaming platform owned by urban streaming giant Band Block, has just announced a new feature: Live, which allows their subscribers to act as their own DJs for an audience of friends. Subscribers who are on either the HiFi or HiFi Plus plans – which cost $9.99 and $19.99 a month – can use Tidal’s Live feature to create their own music session, curating songs from their own library or pre-curated playlists. From there, they can share the link with their friends and everyone invited can start listening to the session.
Unlike Spotify’s Group Sessions, where all participants control the song queue, Tidal’s Live feature puts one person in charge of the selection – the designated “initiator”. Anything within the session creator’s now playing queue automatically becomes part of the session, however they have the option to edit the list according to the preferred theme. It’s important to note as well that the number of listeners in a session accounts for the number of streams per song – so if five people attending the session then it counts as five streams. Unfortunately, the fun will have to be limited to those in the creator’s country as the feature only works within the same region.
To stay competitive, Tidal is keenly focused on the emerging artist community and plan to capitalise on many of the new trends and features gaining traction, such as NFTs, merchandising and ticketing. Tidal also announced its direct artist payout program has closed, now replaced by ‘Tidal Rising’ which helps emerging artists get funded with recording, workshops, and promotional material.
It’s clear that Tidal is focusing on ways to bring the music listening experience closer to its users and strengthen their desire to stay connected. With the new Live DJing feature, expect to see plenty of people rocking out to their favourite tracks. It’s a great way for anyone interested in bringing their music curation skills to a wider audience and make sure everyone has a great time.