Tidal is getting a new competitor in the form of Amazon Music HD

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Amazon is killing it in the music streaming game right now, and now it’s competing at all levels with a new high-quality streaming tier, Amazon Music HD. That puts it in competition with Tidal, but with a much bigger potential market for users.

Amazon says that its Ultra HD option is the highest available quality for any music streaming service, with up to 3730 kbps which is 10x most streaming services. Even Tidal only goes up to 1400 kbps or so with its CD-quality streams.

Amazon Music HD is the Tidal competitor we didn’t know we needed

Now, Amazon is taking on all comers in the music streaming industry. There’s the free plan, for casual listening. Amazon Music Unlimited for access to millions of songs with some other features also offered by other premium streaming services, and now Music HD. Certainly Amazon has the muscle to make this a success, following the same model it used to take over the bookstore industry.

Here’s how it breaks down:

• $12.99 per month for Prime subscribers, $14.99 for everyone else. If you already have an Amazon Music subscription, it’s just an additional $5
• Over 50 million songs in HD (16-bit, 44.1 kHz)
• “Millions” in Ultra HD (24-bit, up to 192 kHz)

The upgrade to HD is free for 90 days, but you’ll still need Amazon Music to listen along, so you’ll pay just $7.99 for those three months.

What do you think? Interested in an HD music streaming option from Amazon? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.