Tidal Brings Its Lossless Music Streaming to Roku

If you own a Roku device, chances are you bought it to watch content from the most popular video streaming services. However, Roku just turned their devices into a gateway for high-fidelity audio streams courtesy of Tidal.

Roku has given Tidal its own channel where you can access over 60 million songs, thousands of playlists, and a range of video content including documentaries, original shows, and on-demand concerts. There's also a range of podcasts to listen to. Of course, you'll need to sign-up to Tidal in order to listen, which costs $9.99/month for the Premium tier offering standard audio quality, or $19.99/month for the HiFi tier offering lossless high-fidelity audio. New listeners can take advantage of a 30-day free trial, though, which you can sign up for through your Roku device.

For Roku, getting Tidal on board is a win not only because it makes Roku devices more (premium) content rich, but it's a timely addition seeing as the company's Smart Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer are launching next month for $179.99 each.

Taking full advantage of Tidal's lossless audio streams will require adding some additional audio hardware beyond the speakers your TV offers. Roku will, of course, be hoping that audio equipment is Roku-branded, but there's a huge selection of soundbars on the market and you can spend anywhere from under $100 to over $600 depending on your preferences and budget.

Tidal will benefit from having another audience to sell its service to, which is especially important now that Amazon offers an alternative lossless music streaming service called Amazon Music HD. One of the big draws for existing Tidal subscribers to switch to Amazon is the fact Music HD costs $5 less per month for non-Prime members, or $7 less if you are signed up for Prime.

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