(Hypebot) — TIDAL has added millions of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) tracks from Warner Music Group to its masters catalog.
Included in the deal are iconic albums from artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Missy Elliott, LCD Soundsystem, Madonna and more.
TIDAL says that it now offers the largest MQA catalog outside of China.
“TIDAL Masters offer the best sound available. As consumers’ expectations of high-quality experiences increase, TIDAL’s audio innovation sets the bar for music listening,” said Lior Tibon, TIDAL COO.
Key to the technology is MQA’s built-in authentication to confirm that the listener is getting the exact sound created in the studio. Additionally, MQA addresses the issue that when analog sound is turned into digital, the process introduces time-smearing artifacts that blur sounds unnaturally. MQA solves these problems, and then the MQA decoder in the TIDAL app ensures the conversion back to analog preserves the music’s pristine clarity.
Bob Stuart, MQA Founder, explained, “By paying great attention to the nature of sound and the way we hear, MQA opens a clear window and delivers all the detail and nuance of the original song. The music industry’s catalog contains millions of significant performances from the early days of CD where, sometimes, the recording was created in 44.1kHz 16bit and where no alternative existed. We are delighted that Warner Music Group is bringing this content to TIDAL.”
