Trying to find classical music on Spotify is like finding a classy needle in the world’s biggest haystack. Classical music, by its nature, simply doesn’t work well with regular in-app search with Mozart and Beethoven typically steering away from easily searchable titles like Achy Brakey Heart, Crazy in Love or, WAP. And even if you do find the right piece of music, it’s anybody’s guess if it’s the recording you’re looking for.
There was once an excellent streaming app for classical music lovers: Primephonic. Unfortunately, Apple bought it and then shut it down in 2021, which fe;t like a bit of a bullying move from the biggest brand on the planet.
Fortunately, it looks like it’s coming back this month with a whole new look: Apple Music Classical – a separate app to Apple Music, but nonetheless included in the same monthly subscription.
It packs over 5,000,000 tracks, including everything from “new releases to celebrated masterpieces”. It gets around the aforementioned searchability problem by including a whole host of fields that aren’t part of Apple Music – think conductor, composer, work or catalogue number. Which still doesn’t especially smart speaker friendly, but better than sifting through Spotify (or, indeed, regular Apple Music).
But despite talk of catalogue numbers, you don’t have to be an expert in classical music to enjoy the app, with Apple providing “hundreds of Essentials playlists, insightful composer biographies” and “deep-dive guides for many key works.”
As per usual, Apple makes a big deal about sound quality to appeal those with sensitive ears (and those who pretend to possess them for pretentious points): audio is served in up to 192kHz/24 bit with lossless support. And it’ll also come with spatial audio via Dolby Atmos if you have compatible speakers or headphones.
Apple Music Classical is launching on March 28, and you can pre-order the free app in advance here if you’re a super keen bean. A bit pointless given it won’t be a scarce resource, but it does at least mean you won’t forget about it when launch day rolls around.
