On March 28, Apple Music Classical, a standalone app focusing on the genre, will go on sale. The company had initially planned to launch a classical-focused app by the end of the year after purchasing the music service Primephonic in 2021. Although it didn’t hit the mark, the service is now almost here. It will be made available in the App Store as a standalone release rather than being integrated into iOS natively. Any regular Apple Music subscription grants access to the app.
With fully optimized search and the highest audio quality available, listeners can enjoy many classical favorites in a completely new way with immersive spatial audio, according to a press release from Apple. “Apple Music Classical makes it quick and easy to find any recording in the world’s largest classical music catalog,” the company said.
One of the best applications for spatial audio is classical music, which gives recordings a stronger sense of presence. Also, the app will have “hundreds of carefully curated playlists, thousands of exclusive albums, perceptive composer biographies, in-depth analyses of many important works, straightforward browsing capabilities, and much more.”
Apple Music Classical will have “thousands” of spatial audio recordings and stream at high to 192 kHz/24-bit hi-res lossless, according to Apple. You can search “by composer, piece, conductor, or even catalog number, and identify specific recordings instantaneously.” It will give comprehensive and accurate classical metadata, which is a challenge for services that jam all music genres into one location.
It’s important to note that the app will be available on the iPad natively, and Apple confirmed to me that Apple Music Classical would only initially support offline downloads.
As the firm strives to erode Spotify’s lead in subscription music, going above and above to appeal to classical enthusiasts could help differentiate Apple Music. Spotify has unveiled a new user interface that takes design influences from TikTok and other social media apps.
Apple Music Classical will initially only be available on iOS, but a version for Android is “coming shortly,” according to a press statement from Apple. It makes sense for Classical to adopt the same multi-platform strategy as the standard Apple Music service. The company states that it will support iOS 15.4 and newer and be accessible “globally where Apple Music is offered,” however, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan will be added later.
