Parents' Guide to TIDAL

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Free to try Music
TIDAL Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Amanda Bindel By Amanda Bindel , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 16+

Jay-Z-fronted music and video service; no content filter.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 16+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 15+

Based on 4 parent reviews

age 12+

Based on 2 kid reviews

What's It About?

TIDAL monthly subscriptions range from $9.99 for regular-quality sound to $19.99 for lossless audio. Users get access to 25 million tracks, including playlists curated by artists. Teens can create their own playlists or mark songs as favorites for easier playback. They can download songs for offline listening too. Selections are browsable by genre and searchable by title or artist. Tidal Rising features content from up-and-coming artists, and Tidal Discovery features independent artists who have uploaded their own songs.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 4 ):
Kids say ( 2 ):

Some music aficionados will love the high-quality sound and video available with Tidal, and they are likely to be the most willing to pay the subscription rates; however, some people feel the sound quality will be lost on the average listener. Some criticize the lack of ad-supported free options, whereas others prefer ad-free listening. Expect increased download and buffering times over wireless networks, since the high-quality files take longer to access. Teens will need to put in some up-front effort to set up their personal playlists, unless they want to listen to featured lists. Discovering other music isn't quite as easy as with other radio apps, but being able to download songs for offline listening is handy. It'd be nice to have some kind of filter for explicit lyrics to make this more teen-friendly.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about their favorite songs and artists and create playlists to share. Look together for more music that the whole family might enjoy.

  • A kids' section in the genres features Kidz Bop albums, soundtracks, and a hearty selection of kid favorites.

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

TIDAL Poster Image

You May Also Like...

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate