Jay Z's 2015 purchase of little-known company Aspiro left many scratching their heads, but when the rapper and an all-star squad of singers and musicians unveiled the fruits of the buy, a music streaming service named Tidal, it started to make sense. Tidal is one of many subscription-based music services for Android (there's also an iPhone version), but it differs from Spotify and the PCMag Editors' Choice award-winning Slacker Radio in that it's aimed at music fans willing to pay a premium for exclusive content, quality editorial, and lossless, 16-bit CD-quality sound. A Tidal subscription gets you many cool benefits that you won't find elsewhere, but the service is missing a few features that I expect in a premium streaming music app.

High-End Sound, Exclusive Content

Tidal, compatible with smartphones running Android 4.4.4 and higher, lacks a free, ad-supported option, so you'll either pay $9.99 per month for standard-quality 320 Kbps AAC+ music (Tidal Premium) or $19.99 per month for non-compressed 1411 Kbps FLAC audio (known as Tidal HiFi) that has a higher fidelity than your standard .MP3 or audio stream. Yes, Tidal's top tier is double the cost of Slacker Radio's corresponding Slacker Premium, so take that into consideration before whipping out the plastic. Fortunately, Tidal has a 30-day trial period, so that you can try before you buy. However, you're still required to submit your debit or credit card information for the trial.