Tidal is going a step further in making sharing music with friends as easy as possible. With the latest update available for the service, Tidal is introducing universal links, so once your friend sends you a song to listen to, you can choose your preferred music streaming service.
This idea isn’t new, but seeing a major player opting for usability rather than exclusivity is nice. I’m a long-time Apple Music user, and I find it frustrating to send songs to my Spotify friends to listen to – and I know the feeling is mutual.
Thankfully, my sharing experience got easier with NowPlaying, which, early this year, added the same feature to its app. With a universal link, you can simply press the Share button with a song on the app, and you can share it on Messages, WhatsApp, or any method you prefer. If your friend has the app installed on their device, the link will automatically open in the application.
If they don’t have the app, it’s also fine. A webpage shows the different platforms they can listen to that song. Now, Tidal is doing the same. According to a Redditor who spotted this change, Tida release notes say:
“We figured out that sharing music should be a whole lot easier. Now, with just a couple of taps, your friends can play any Tidal track, artist, or album you share on their preferred streaming service – no fuss or feeling left out because they’re not on the same platform. Just your friends enjoying your latest musical obsession, regardless of where they listen. To the friend using that ‘you’ve probably never heard of it’ platform, good news: we’re working to add your preferred service, too.”
With that, I hope Apple Music and Spotify follow this idea and also start supporting universal links, as users aren’t going anywhere. Still, what Apple Music seems to be really working on is the ability to easily bring Spotify songs and playlists from a user to its own service.
BGR will let you know about the upcoming features and changes of the most famous music streaming services.