Tidal, a new hi-fi music streaming service launched this week in the U.S. and U.K., marking the first available hi-fi consumer streaming service available in those markets.
For $20 per month, users can stream over 25 million tracks in lossless FLAC format at 1411 kbps, over four times more resolution than the current standard used by Spotify (320 kbps). Music is accessed via a web or app interface that will make any Spotify user feel right at home. And, a free 7-day trial is available right now, which, at first listen, sounds fantastic.
Based out of Sweden, Tidal’s parent company Aspiro has already successfully implemented hi-fi streaming in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Poland through its WiMP Music service. Coming to the U.S. represents a first for the world’s largest music market.
In September, the French-based streaming service Deezer introduced an “Elite” service to U.S. customers that allowed CD-quality streaming, but it only works for users who own a Sonos speaker system.
Since the first appearances of MP3 players, the audio quality of consumer music has taken a big step backward, as technical constraints and market demands valued storage space and convenience over fidelity. Even today’s best quality MP3’s still compress music files down to a resolution that’s 25% of the CD standard.
Convenience still seems to be a key priority for music consumers, though, as streaming services are growing significantly and album sales are dropping.
Tidal looks to tap a growing audiophile market in the U.S. that’s demonstrated a distaste for compressed audio and a willingness to pay more for better sound quality. Vinyl record sales have climbed 42% already this year due to this trend.
While Tidal’s 1411 kbps fidelity doesn’t represent the best current digital formats have to offer (downloads that exceed 4000 kb can be purchased ), it does remove the consideration of quality as a primary reason for fans to still buy CDs.
The current cost for lossless audio with Tidal is $10 per month more than both Spotify and Beats Music. Whether Americans and Brits are willing to pay the difference is something many industry professionals will be watching in the coming months.
As Internet technology and bandwidth gets better, though, it may not be long before all streaming services offer Redbook quality or better and a new standard is established for audio mastering for web and streaming. And that’s a great prospect for anyone who loves their music to sound richer, more dynamic and beautiful.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
- Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
