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Tidal class-action

MQA declared bankruptcy.  I smell the fear of a class action lawsuit against Tidal.  We could do that.  Tidal has 8 million subscribers, we don't know how many or how long they all were paying double by subscribing to the 'nobody can prove Tidal has any tracks higher than 44.1khz' plan.  They probably have lots of people on phones who haven't even heard of MQA who trust them and wanted the one that sounds better.  They're right not to have to listen to any talk about MQA if they want the plan that sounds better.

MQA means you can't prove the file is an original copy or not. That Beethoven track you like it says is 192 could actually be Dua Lipa at 11khz.

The bankruptcy move was probably to protect themselves from Tidal, who is the receiver of people's funds.

 

audioisnobiggie
erik_squires
15,670 posts
 

I had no idea it was a separate entity from Meridian:

 

https://www.whathifi.com/news/mqa-is-going-into-administration

erik_squires
15,670 posts
 

PS - I'm not sure what basis Tidal has for suing MQA.  I'm not a fan of MQA at all but I also can't see what the beef is with Tidal.

audioisnobiggie OP
66 posts
 

Tidal's defense against having to give everyone their money back for all this time, would be that they didn't understand that MQA was fooling them, and sure won't want to give all that money back to customers for not even having to spend more on streaming.  They would have to try to get whatever money they gave MQA back in their own separate Tidal v MQA lawsuit.  That's probably what MQA sees coming.

You're right not to be a fan of MQA, though.  You can't prove they have any files over 44.1khz.  You could think you're playing your new favorite Beethoven track at 192 like it says, and think it sounds great, but it's actually Dua Lipa at 11khz.

Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,647 posts
 

I don't see any basis for a suit against MQA. It looks like the company is going through what in the US would be Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is really not that big of a deal. As long as MQA has a revenue stream, it's likely some entity will buy it. It won't matter to me if I'm wrong because I have no plans for MQA in my system.

mitch2
3,688 posts
 

I never liked MQA.

Regardless, please help me understand.  Tidal offers levels of their subscription service.  Their HiFi Plus plan at $19.99 includes:

  • Innovative Audio Formats
  • Up to 9216 kbps
  • Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 Reality Audio, and HiFi

I don't see that they promise every file to be processed using the MQA  format.  I am trying to understand who has been injured/damaged, assuming the people on the HiFi Plus plan (me included) received MQA processed files to listen to.  Are you suggesting that one or the other, MQA or Tidal, knowingly and fraudulently advertised MQA files that were not in fact MQA files?  Even if MQA goes into administration, isn't it possible Tidal can still offer MQA processed music files to it's HiFi Plus members?  Please help me understand who is the injured/damaged party and need for a class-action suit.

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