Skip to main content

Tidal's new Track Edit feature is fun, but with a few limitations

tidal track edit why is doomed 004
If you ever wanted listen to Prince’s Purple Rain at a slower tempo or Adele’s Hello at a higher pitch, you are in luck. Tidal recently updated its mobile app with a new feature, Track Edit, allowing users to alter any song in the streaming service’s massive catalog.

You can edit a song by long-pressing on a title or clicking on the option button on the upper right-hand side of the song playback screen and clicking the “Track Edit” button. You can select to edit a portion of a song or the entire song by setting the start and end times for your selection. You can make the song’s tempo faster or slower by up to 16 percent, as well as fade the song in and out by up to 10 seconds.

The song edits are fully yours, to an extent. You are not able to share the individual edits you make of songs on social media, but you can share a playlist with the edits. The edited song is labeled “edited” when played on the web app. You can give your edit a name, but when it is played on the web app, the edit’s name is in parenthesis next to the original song’s title. There is also no section on Tidal’s support page to help with the Track Edit feature, so what you see is basically what you get.

Tidal is allowing its subscribers to mess around with thousands of songs a few weeks after it provided them with hundreds of songs with master-quality audio. Apple Music has made big pushes for original content this year, after Tidal debuted original programming such as YouTube hit Money and Violence in 2016. Hopefully, Apple Music and Spotify adopt Tidal’s Track Edit feature and its offline mode for video so more than just Tidal’s 1 million paid subscribers can enjoy these innovations to music streaming.

The Track Edit feature is only available on the mobile app, with no word on when or if the desktop and web versions will receive the same update.

Keith Nelson Jr.
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…
HP unveils new IPS Black monitor with one key new feature
A man uses a HP Z32k G3 4K USB-C monitor.

HP has just revealed several new products, and among them, you can find what seems to be a real gem as far as monitors are concerned -- the HP Z32k G3. The monitor is only the second display to utilize the IPS Black technology, and it's the first such display that supports Thunderbolt 4.

Aside from the monitor, the company has also unveiled a brand-new all-in-one desktop, a webcam that offers 4K streaming, a laptop and tablet hybrid device, and improvements to HP Proactive Insights that could have a positive effect on productivity.

Read more
Spotify wants you to stream socially with the new custom Friends Mix playlist
Spotify app icon on iPhone.

July 30 is International Friendship Day, and Spotify is using the excuse to drop a brand new algorithmic playlist based on your friends’ listening. Available for most users (presumably if Spotify has enough data to confidently curate it), the Friends Mix uses popular listening amongst your friends on Spotify to spin up a regularly updated playlist that recommends new music similar to what you and your friends like.

This new playlist will follow a similar formula as other algorithmic offerings like the Release Radar, Discover Weekly, and Daily Mix playlists that listeners have loved for years. Now, instead of just curated music based on your listening habits, Spotify is aiming to factor in music and genres your friends love to further widen the net.

Read more
Sony updates its Signature Series hi-res Walkman with new features, higher prices
Sony WM1AM2 Signature Series Walkman being held in a hand.

Apple's iPod may be officially dead and gone now that the company has discontinued the last device to bear that name, but Sony's Walkman brand is apparently alive and well. The company has released two new Walkman models: The $1,400 NW-WM1AM2 and its gold-colored sibling, the $3,700 NW-WMZM2, both of which are updates to its original Signature Series Walkman models, geared toward the hi-res audiophile market.

The first versions of these Walkman models debuted in 2016 for $1,200 and $3,200, respectively. So how is Sony justifying the extra cash you'll need for the new models? There are a number of updates for those with a taste for fine portable audio.

Read more