# Tidal's Algorithms Suck Now



## Theslaking (Oct 8, 2013)

I switched to Tidal full time a couple years ago because using it here and there I rarely ever heard the same song in a day. The last 7-8 months I've noticed that I hear the same songs and sometime 20 of the same artist in one of there random playlist throughout a day. I have one playlist that I made with over 500 songs and I hear the same songs within a couple hours of listening. To add to that every time I go back to a playlist I'll hear most of the same songs in a very similar order as the last time I played it. I'm getting annoyed.

Anyone else agree with my recent findings?


----------



## preston (Dec 10, 2007)

I've been on Tidal for about a year and I feel that in general their suggested music algorithms and overall user interface aren't as good as the 1 week I spend on Pandora and the month I spent on Amazon music. Not sure why, and it would be hard to describe exactly but it just seems like i have a hard time finding the stations and playlists I like.

However, sometimes when I do get the "right" playlist, it can actually be a really rewarding experience to hear some new and different stuff. I listen almost exclusively to Jazz though, so that's a litle different than more pop style genres. 

I live with it because I believe Tidal has the highest potential fidelity, and because I can download and store music in non-DRM wav formats using aftermarket software.


----------



## seafish (Aug 1, 2012)

Theslaking said:


> I switched to Tidal full time a couple years ago because using it here and there I rarely ever heard the same song in a day. The last 7-8 months I've noticed that I hear the same songs and sometime 20 of the same artist in one of there random playlist throughout a day. I have one playlist that I made with over 500 songs and I hear the same songs within a couple hours of listening. To add to that every time I go back to a playlist I'll hear most of the same songs in a very similar order as the last time I played it. I'm getting annoyed.
> 
> Anyone else agree with my recent findings?


They must be using the same randomizing algorithm that my iPod uses in shuffle mode!!!! LOL/JK


----------



## Theslaking (Oct 8, 2013)

I remembered those ipod days. What upsets me the most is it wasn't always like this. I listen to music about 14 hours a day most days. I've done 100 gigs of listening. I can listen at work and I don't sit in my house at night usually. So I get hearing some she songs but there shouldn't be a single repeat in my opinion per day ever in my opinion. Shoot with as much music that's out there we shouldn't hear a song in the same week. They have permission to use our storage they could use a little for tag data. 

When they randomize our personal playlist there should never ever be a repeat until it runs through the whole thing. This doesn't seem like a difficult task to accomplish. Population of a list and marking it as read is something I learned 20 years ago in computer class.


----------



## Eatmore Bacon (Dec 17, 2020)

I may be in the minority here but I switched from Amazon to Tidal for a few months due to their claimed lossless hifi. I have switched back to Amazon. Tidal didn’t offer any clear sound advantage compared to Amazon and, as stated, their algorithms are not up to par compared to others


----------



## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

Tidal is infuriating when it comes to finding anything new or unusual. I have 4 streaming services right now as I'm trying them all... Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD and Apple Music. Apple Music came free with my Verizon Unlimited plan but they don't have anything better than CD Quality but hey, it's free. Amazon App is a PITA as it doesn't always recognize outboard USB connections or when I switch between USB Audio and internal Analog but I like their Algorithm by far the best. Qobuz has some really neat stuff that isn't found other places with maybe the best Classical selection of any of them I've tried so far but they don't have much of the new stuff that's on the other three. Tidal is the most infuriating of them all to find things and if you like something other than Rap, R&B or Pop Music it acts like you're an idiot for searching for things like Bluegrass or Texas Swing as there's virtually nothing available. But the MQA function on Tidal does have some benefits if you've got the system to support playback at 24/192.

For me the Amazon HD is winning right now between 24/48 content, cost/year and casual listening for not hearing the same songs over and over... and I'm still downloading from HDTracks for really critical listening or driving in the mountains with spotty cell coverage.


----------



## drphilb (Oct 23, 2014)

Interesting no one is mentioning Rhapsody which is now Napster. Personally I love the service and have not experienced any of the issues your mentioning. I have the service on my phone and also through Sonos which is on my home system and love it


----------



## Eatmore Bacon (Dec 17, 2020)

daloudin said:


> Tidal is infuriating when it comes to finding anything new or unusual. I have 4 streaming services right now as I'm trying them all... Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD and Apple Music. Apple Music came free with my Verizon Unlimited plan but they don't have anything better than CD Quality but hey, it's free. Amazon App is a PITA as it doesn't always recognize outboard USB connections or when I switch between USB Audio and internal Analog but I like their Algorithm by far the best. Qobuz has some really neat stuff that isn't found other places with maybe the best Classical selection of any of them I've tried so far but they don't have much of the new stuff that's on the other three. Tidal is the most infuriating of them all to find things and if you like something other than Rap, R&B or Pop Music it acts like you're an idiot for searching for things like Bluegrass or Texas Swing as there's virtually nothing available. But the MQA function on Tidal does have some benefits if you've got the system to support playback at 24/192.
> 
> For me the Amazon HD is winning right now between 24/48 content, cost/year and casual listening for not hearing the same songs over and over... and I'm still downloading from HDTracks for really critical listening or driving in the mountains with spotty cell coverage.


Tidal’s focus is on hip hop and rap because JayZ bought the company a few years back. Doubt it ever meets its full potential now.


----------



## Theslaking (Oct 8, 2013)

I used Rhapsody since streaming started until I switched to Tidal. Rhapsody was the first to stream at 320 way before Tidal even came to the US. Rhapsody also pioneered the way music are. They are awesome but I started experiencing exactly what I am now with Tidal. That's why I made the switch.


----------



## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

drphilb said:


> Interesting no one is mentioning Rhapsody which is now Napster. Personally I love the service and have not experienced any of the issues your mentioning. I have the service on my phone and also through Sonos which is on my home system and love it


I looked at Napster (Rhapsody) but it seems like they are more interested in licensing for integration in to APKs and commercial use and they max out at 320kbps which is what Apple Music runs at which I get for free, so Napster was a no starter for me.


----------



## Theslaking (Oct 8, 2013)

It's weird that they did 320 like 12 years ago but haven't stepped it up since. I knew that but anything higher makes no difference driving down the road or on my job site so it didn't bother me.


----------



## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

Theslaking said:


> It's weird that they did 320 like 12 years ago but haven't stepped it up since. I knew that but anything higher makes no difference driving down the road or on my job site so it didn't bother me.


Agreed for the most part - I can tell the difference between 16 and 24 bit just because of the dynamic range and 24/48 runs around 990 which keeps me from using BT for the most part. My kids run BT 320 when they're riding with me but at the volume we run with a carful of people, you really don't lose much for just background music. If they want to crank it up I make them use my phone cause it's just the principle. LOL 😁


----------

