I wanted to start this discussion just in case it doesn’t have people wondering about signing on this partnership which essentially changes Plex and brings the company as a full to a new place.
If users participate and add Tidal, with the recent setbacks the streaming music service has had, what guarantees does the user have that this whole experience will last? Tidal could be bankrupt tomorrow and all of a sudden Plex, like with Plex Cloud, will have no grand music experience, going back to their standard premium music service.
If Plex employees or moderator chime in on thoughts, that’d be great. Why didn’t the company go with Spotify which would have been a home run?
Maybe spotify wasn’t interested? Or wanted too much of the cake? Why should Tidal go bankcrupt and Spotify not?
Do you know that Spotify still loses 300 Million Dollars per year? That’s a hell of a business model there…
So long story short: any of the music streaming services can die tomorrow just like this. You probably pay per month, so the risk is manageable for the user.
And by the way: imagine that Plex could also go bankcrupt… You never have any insurance against bankcrupcy of a company, whose products you use. Never.
I couldn’t disagree with you, great points. As it regards to streaming music, Tidal has been at the forefront of various financial setbacks. This is the reason why I had mentioned them. Spotify, which now has an IPO, is losing less money overtime. Because they now have financial backing because of this IPO it isn’t so much of a risk for them.
One very important view to look at from Plex is to wonder why they decided to integrate this? People port their own music onto the platform. Why would you need a streaming music component as part of platform? What will be next, a video service like Hulu or Netflix?
Well, I guess I would agree that the chances for Spotify to survive the next years are greater than those of Tidal. Still, I wanted to point out that neither of the companies are making any money. So surviving is a question of new money and hope which is set into a turnaround (which might never come).
Well, to be honest I wouldn’t find it too shabby, if my media and streaming media would be at the same place in the same app. Here in Germany, recently Sky and the number one TV/internet provider did similar moves: integration of several differnt platforms into their own, in this case Netflix et al into the TV receiver of the provider.
It would be great to have a combination of own media and streamed media seamlessly joined together. If your band, from which you own the mp3s, is not present at Tidal, but you want to listen into the newest Justin Bieber tune, which you don’t own, you can listen to all of it at the same place.
I mean no one is forced to make a purchase with Tidal. And an integration of Netflix would be great imho. All media, one place = Plex. Wondeful.
there’s a reason Tidal is doing this, they’re desperate. Tidal has been lying to their investors and the media about their subscriber numbers, that’s never a good sign. This is to bolster their numbers, and Plex probably gets a cut of the subs they bring in.
Either way, more content that’s not mine = don’t care.
All of the comments are valid and true. I want to hear from at least one Plex employee explaining the decision to do this. Doesn’t defeat the point of Plex in the first place? Sure, you get an added library to work with, but one of the several points in making Plex yours was music curation. This move seems like to me as if they’re trying to be a mixture of different things for everyone.
In any case, I find it an interesting turn of events. As a long time user of Spotify, I find their method of integrating my local music content/files with their service extremely clunky at best. The approach that Plex is taking is a lot more appealing to me.
I’ve been a subscriber to Tidal HiFi for a couple years now. I’m more than willing to pay extra for the ‘Masters’ quality audio, for times when I’m really listening to my music.
The bonus for me is that I get a Plex Pass FREE of charge just by linking my Tidal account to Plex.
I was never willing to pay extra for a Plex Pass but this combo works for me.
I appreciate all of the responses so far on this topic.
Honestly and members think about this, I’m not sure why Plex decided to go in this direction. Think about this, Plex which is supposed to be a place for your personal media is now serving its first place of media you don’t own and can lose at anytime.
Check out this metaphor:
Isn’t this Plex and Tidal the same as building a man cave just for you, no wive and no baby allowed. It’s your place for your free time. You’ve got your pool table and 4K TV set up. But then, your wife looks at your cave and appreciates the space you have, but insists to add a crib and couch for her and your baby.
I’ve built a great collection of movies, tv, and most importantly for music. It’s my personal collection and even though it can stay my collection without Tidal, I do feel that in adding this feature is weird.
Any thoughts about the metaphor? I think it makes sense.
Change is inevitable. Plex cannot stand still in this space AND they need to generate revenue (probably more than they have been or can on Plex Passes alone).
Personally, I think more choices are better; you don’t have HAVE to use Tidal (or News or Podcasts or Webshows) but for those that want them, they can and from their favorite media player to boot.
I’m giving Tidal a try and may drop my Apple Music sub if it works out well enough. If Plex had been able to do this with Spotify, I’d be in heaven. I can’t afford to own all the music I listen to, honestly.
The problem for me is that these have been added to the neglect of core functions. There are some serious playback bugs on Android/FireTV that are almost a year old! (and audio issues that are 2+ years old) And most of these features have been added in that time.
Honestly this integration is useless for me. I am using Spotify premium part with contract ( mobile phone). ( Spark New Zeland). However for me this integration is useless as I don’t need this to stream audio and pay for subscription as I can use it directly from Spotify through Chromecast to TV or play through pc. Instead to make integration of multiple media stream services into plex they did only one, and force you to pay. Huge disappointment.
but you are right, forgot that there is even a Spotify plugin…