Dear Spotify and Apple Music, please take notes.
TIDAL’s 2024.03.27 version update introduces a new feature that makes sharing music with friends who use different streaming platforms easier. With this, TIDAL users can now share tracks, artists, or albums and have someone else open them on another streaming service, such as Spotify or Apple Music, seamlessly.
TIDAL’s Universal Links Feature
Before this update, sharing music links from TIDAL only worked for other TIDAL users.
If someone wants to share a song with a friend using another platform, they often had to share screenshots. Or, the recipient had to manually search for the content on their preferred platform.
Universal links get rid of this friction, making it easier for friends to enjoy shared music no matter which streaming service they use.
The feature currently supports major streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music.
But, the company also said they are working on adding support for more streaming services in the future.
Aside from making music sharing simpler, Tidal has fixed small issues to ensure a smoother user experience in the recent update.
As they mentioned, they have been “squashing bugs smaller than a speck of dust”. So, if users didn’t notice, it’s because the bugs “vanished without a trace”. However, they didn’t release an official list of the bugs that they have addressed.
How the New Feature Works
To share a song using a universal link, TIDAL users can click the three dots next to a song’s title, hover over Share, and select Copy Track Link. The sender can then share this link with their friends.
When the recipient opens the link, they will be directed to a special TIDAL web page.
There, they can choose their preferred streaming service. Then, the recipient will have to wait a few seconds for TIDAL to connect to the third-party app.
Once connected, the song will open in a web browser.
Comparison to Other Similar Tools
Universal music links on streaming platforms aren’t new.
Tools like Deezer’s Shaker offer similar features for playlists. However, these only work on user-curated playlists. On the other hand, TIDAL lets users share individual songs and artists without having to create playlists.
There are also other third-party tools that provide the same functionality.
For example, Music Link, a Chrome/Microsoft Edge browser extension, can automatically open all song links in the user’s preferred music app. And, Odesli.co is a website that has a database of songs and albums and their locations on all streaming platforms, including YouTube.
But, since these are third-party services, the steps to use them are more complicated than TIDAL’s native feature.
TIDAL is the first major streaming service to add this feature directly to its platform.