#support small streamers

[yumeiniac]

ARE YOU SERIOUS

[thealexandriaarchives]

Why Switching From Spotify This Week Wasn't the Hassle I've Been Dreading, It's Been a Joy I've Been Delaying

It was my birthday this last week and now for the second time in less than 5 years an international war escalated heavily, so I've been trying to do some of the minor things I've been putting off in my life to avoid giving into Doomerism.

This week was finally switching from Spotify Premium to TIDAL and I'm here for my formal review. I tried TIDAL few years ago when it came out but it wasn't quite ready yet, but oh man since some of the other services have entered the high resolution audio streaming space? They've upped their game dramatically.

I keep finding new unexpected little things to love in TIDAL, like the fact that HD Music videos are all there for artists songs as an option along with their albums, and it's helping me break out of some of the mindset I wanted to lose where I just listen to the same ten playlists and albums and don't really feel a love for music anymore.

I looked at all the competitors but TIDAL won for a few reasons, even if you cut out all the geo-political donations of parent companies:

They're Now The Cheaper Option!

An individual is $11 USD on TIDAL vs $13 USD on Spotify

TIDAL's new Family plan for up to 5 people at $17 USD beat what I was paying for Spotify's $19 USD Premium Duo but also beats their Family plan of 6 accounts for $22 USD.

They also offer a student plan for $5.50 USD, while Spotify Premium's is now $7 USD.

They Pay Artists Better Than Arms Dealers

Even with the massive rise in popularity the platform has had due to Spotify's enshittification, artists are still reporting being paid more than 3x higher royalties per stream than Spotify on Tidal. Still not as good as physical media or concert ticket sales but if you're dabbling to try artists, a great place to start.

I Swear, You Won't Lose Tons Of Your Music. Both their catalog and UI Met Spotify & Passed It.

They've also put a lot of work into upping their game to match Spotify's Playlist functionality so I was able to pull over every single one of my self-made playlists from Spotify and with the growth they've had in their back catalogue the only thing I was really missing was a single EP from one of my favorite bands that got overlooked for being self-released. There are tools that let me dupe the ones I follow by others too, and I'm really liking the profile customizing elements too.

If You Do, There's a Functional Music Request Form?

Unlike Spotify, I found a form that was very easy and clean to fill out asking me exactly what album or artist I was missing and if I happened to know who held the rights. It feels a lot more promising than any interaction I've ever had with Spotify.

Find Artists and Albums, Not AI Slop in the Algorithm

I was getting SOOOO sick of the AI on Spotify and in general I wanted to get back to listening to more Albums instead of Playlists and so far TIDAL is good about that! (Note: I also really suggest AlbumOfTheYear.org)

You Don't Have To Own AirPods For HQ Sound.

If you're getting into one of these companies for higher resolution sound, you're going to need a good quality stereo or wired headphones to make a difference anyways for anything above CD quality. However Apple Music only supports high resolution sound on AirPods. If you have an android or listen primarily on your desktop or a stereo/television instead of just an iPhone, this is definitely for you over Apple Music.

You Can Save Your Own Music Files Much Easier.

TIDAL allows three different formats of files including open source, so you can add almost anything to your TIDAL account that's missing. You can save to your phone or computer offline, but there are also programs that let you save your files directly to your computer to backup offline.

So what are the catches?

If you don't want to spend a few bucks finding a free program to move your music or set it up again you'll spend maybe $6 USD moving your music one time with their suggest program. Remember to cancel it after.

You will have a few more obscure songs or Spotify Originals that aren't on there. These programs will make you a CSV file of everything you missed so you can download them from youtube or add them manually elsewhere if you decide you want them.

You get only one month of free trial with TIDAL, then the prices at the top, which will save me and my household money in the long run. However it's nice that they literally won't take your money even if you try to pay immediately, you get 30 days free no matter what.

It's an hour or three of your life depending on how much music you have in your backlog.

But if you have a log of music in your backlog, I'd find it worth it.

This is great, seriously. I'm loving it. This program felt too deluxe and not quite where it was ready for wide consumption yet a few years ago, but now it finally feels where it wanted to be.

[monabymoonlight]

Debut Announcement

12/21 - 8PM EST twitch.tv/monabymoonlight

[chronicallykiki]

🔴 LIVE 🔴 TMNT: Shredder's Revenge

Watch this video on Twitch Live

Kickin' shell with Kibby and Gooey tonight!! \o/

[sleepywillowo0o]

Y’all this is not a drill.

IEYTD3 STREAM

tonight at 6pm EST.

Firewingwolf on twitch

[oldin-the-cow]

My new schedule! hope to see peoples at the streams! <3

[herb-and-bone]

HUGE thank you to the first couple folks who purchased our Roommate Expense Sharing Calculator! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do - this is the tool we use monthly to keep our relationship free of financial drama.

Just know, you made our day! Thank you for supporting a small business!

[odkosmar]

I just opened up a print shop! Currently the only item I have for sale is a sticker sheet that I made, but I plan on adding more prints to the shop as I build up my portfolio. I'm just starting out as an independent artist, and I'm super excited to start selling my art!

Link to the shop is here - I'm currently only shipping to the US while I figure out what it takes to sell and ship stuff internationally.

Orders are now open, and I would love to sell a few of these for the holidays! Any support is appreciated!