Youtube Music’s web based interface.
As a DJ, I’ve largely ignored streaming services—my go-to discovery methods are vinyl at record stores, digging through Discogs, and buying straight from Bandcamp. I like having a hard copy (whether vinyl or digital), and I never felt that playlist stats were a necessary marketing tool. Plus, with all the noise about streaming platforms under-paying independent artists, why contribute to that? Yet it seems like everyone else is on one service or another…
State of Play: DJ vs Consumer
Professional DJing
Streaming for live sets is still risky unless you have rock-solid, high-speed internet everywhere you go. Even then, licensing restrictions and region-locking can derail a set mid-gig.Everyday Listening & Discovery
Most people care about:Listening across devices (home hi-fi, car Bluetooth)
Music discovery
A slick, intuitive interface
Playback reliability (offline mode, minimal drop-outs)
Quick “Cheat Sheet” Overview
| Service | Strengths |
|---|---|
| Tidal | Hi-Fi audio tiers, MQA/FLAC streaming, desktop app, curated “Tidal Rising” features |
| YouTube | Vast archive of DJ mixes, bootlegs, live sets, unofficial vinyl rips and left-field content |
| Spotify | Best mainstream discovery (Discover Weekly, Release Radar), easy sharing, massive catalog |
| SoundCloud+ | Underground & grassroots music, direct upload by DJs/artists, robust mixtape culture |
Audio Quality: How Much Does It Matter?
Even if Tidal offers lossless FLAC at 1,411 kbps or MQA-encoded masters, most Bluetooth links cap out around 320 kbps unless you’re using specialty codecs and matching DAC/headphones. For example:
SBC (default Bluetooth): ~200–328 kbps
AAC: ~250 kbps (better on Apple devices)
aptX: ~352 kbps
aptX HD: ~576 kbps
LDAC: up to 990 kbps (Sony devices)
In practice, much of that extra fidelity is lost in the “audio chain” once it passes through your phone, Bluetooth, and headphones—so any theoretical edge from Tidal’s hi-fi tier often disappears.
Discovery & Curation
Algorithm-Powered “Radio”
Most services now let you seed a station from any track:
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Spotify: Discover Weekly (personalized playlists), Daily Mixes, “Go to Song Radio”
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Tidal: My Daily Discovery, Artist Radio, curated editorial playlists
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YouTube Music: “Your Mix” and “Discover Mix” playlists
For a DJ already steeped in a genre, it’s fascinating to see how deep or tangential these algorithms go. Spotify’s Discover Weekly will throw in a few curveballs; Tidal’s editorial picks sometimes spotlight underground jazz and soul you’d otherwise miss.
Human-Curated Playlists
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On Tidal, you can follow DJs’ own playlists—but they’re not always easy to find unless you know exactly what you’re searching for.
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YouTube excels here: many channels run 24/7 live streams, boiler room sets, and vinyl-rip archives, often with community shout-outs on social media. The sheer variety and “underground” feel are unmatched. This playlist by Do Funkk has over 3000 songs and 250k+ views and it has heaps of amazing underground selections that aren’t available on spotify or Tidal.
User Interface & Reliability
Tidal: Polished desktop client, sleek “premium” branding—but I experienced occasional playback stutters on mobile.
YouTube Music: Fast “Add to playlist” (it always drops into your most recent list, which is great for rapid curation), but some users find the two-step UI (Music app vs. separate YouTube site) confusing.
Spotify & SoundCloud+: Generally very stable, with solid offline-download options and robust folder/playlist organization.
Content & Licensing Quirks
While it’s not a classic. Here’s an example of a track that was on Youtube Music but not on Tidal or Spotify.
Region Locking: Tracks can vanish depending on where you set up your account—especially true for niche jazz or indie-label releases.
Missing Classics: I struggled to find The Glass Bead Game by Clifford Jordan on Tidal—its Strata East listing was mis-tagged, resulting in error messages. That kind of glitch is rare on Spotify but still frustrating when it happens.
Unofficial Uploads: YouTube hosts countless DJ sets and bootleg rips that technically breach licensing—but they often stay up indefinitely. That underground archive is gold for crate-digging DJs.
Rise of the Machines: Ethical Concerns
Recently, Hiatus Kaiyote’s bassist Simon Mavin (aka Bender) called out Spotify for hosting AI-generated tracks masquerading as the band’s originals—uploaded without their permission. This highlights a new risk for artists: automated “covers” that siphon streams and royalties away from the real creators.
Conclusion
For everyday listeners, Spotify and YouTube Music strike the best balance of discovery, usability, and reliability. For audiophiles with proper gear, Tidal’s hi-fi tier still appeals—if you can avoid Bluetooth’s bottleneck. And for DJs hunting rare or unofficial cuts, YouTube and SoundCloud+ remain unrivaled. Ultimately, choose the service (or combo of services) that aligns with your priorities: sound quality, discovery depth, interface, or underground content.