As the name suggests, Apple Music Classical is a music streaming platform. However, what sets it apart from others music streaming services is its largest classical music catalog and a refined search experience that allows you to select categories like composer, conductor, catalog number, etc. These features make a world of difference to people who listen to classical music as it helps them navigate to what they’re looking for. Read along to learn more about Apple Music Classical and how it is different from Apple Music.
Why Did Apple Release Apple Music Classical?
For the uninitiated, Apple acquired Primephonic – a popular classical music streaming platform – back in 2021. Primephonic was a big hit among classical music enthusiasts. A large part of its success can be attributed to its ability to search for music by filling in categories like period, genre, style, etc.
All of this was possible because the creators of Primephonic gave utmost importance to metadata and hand-coded it to deliver accurate search results. Additionally, it also had a massive library of high-resolution classical music recordings.
Apple shut down the service right after a week of acquisition. The primary goal of this move was to bring the best features of Primephonic to Apple Music subscribers and launch a dedicated classical music app (under the Apple brand) by the end of 2022.
Unfortunately, Apple did not meet its deadline for releasing the app last year. However, the Apple Music Classical app has finally made its way to the App Store. And, while you will have to wait until March 28, 2023, to install the app, it can be pre-ordered on the App Store (which is a little weird as the service is bundled for free to Apple Music subscribers).
How Is Apple Music Classical Different From Apple Music?
Apple Music Classical draws inspiration (in terms of features like a huge library, categorized search features, etc.) from Primephonic while offering a user interface and experience similar to Apple Music. However, there are a whole bunch of features exclusive to Apple Music Classical that set it apart from Apple Music.
Let’s begin with the enhanced search capabilities of Apple Music Classical. Now, searching for classical music is not as easy as any other genre of music. Simply because there are multiple variations of the same piece/song of classical music based on the composer, producer, performer, location of the performance, period of the performance, etc.
With Apple Music Classical, you get the option to search for music based on the composer, conductor, etc. It simplifies the process and provides accurate results. As mentioned earlier, this is possible because Apple Music Classical relies on metadata for search results. Moreover, you also get to read thousands of composer biographies, descriptions of key works, etc.
Also, you can only stream classical music on Apple Music Classical. And it has the world’s largest catalog of classical music with over 5 million tracks in which you can find new releases and old masterpieces. There are also thousands of exclusive albums. A large number of these pieces are available in 192kHz/24-bit Hi-Res lossless quality and also support Spatial Audio.
In terms of design, Apple Music Classical uses Apple’s New York font whereas Apple Music uses the SF Pro font. Also, the Now Playing screen on Apple Music Classical has a white or black background, unlike Apple Music which generates colorful backgrounds based on the songs album art. We aren’t sure if the same applies to the full-screen music player on the iPhone Lock Screen.
No matter what’s different in both these apps, you need to subscribe to Apple Music or Apple One in order to use Apple Music Classical. Note that Apple Music Classical is not bundled with the $4.99 Apple Music Voice plan but is available with all other Apple Music plans.
Enjoy Apple Music Classic on Your iPhone
Apple Music Classical is certainly going to make classical music more accessible to the masses. However, as of writing this article, the app is only available for iPhones running on iOS 15.4 or later. It is not available on iPadOS or macOS, let alone Android.
An Android app is in the works, and Apple might release the iPadOS app for the same with the introduction of iPadOS 17. What are your thoughts about Apple Music Classical?
FAQ’s
1. Is Apple Music Classical Free?
A: Apple Music Classical is available for free to Apple Music or Apple One subscribers.
2. Why is Apple Music Classical not available in my country?
A: Apple Music Classical is not available in Pakistan, Russia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Afghanistan, and China.
3. Is there an Android app for Apple Music Classical?
A: Right now, Apple Music Classical is only available for iOS. According to Apple, the Android app is in the works and will arrive soon.
