Listening to classical music on streaming services can be a pain, to say the least. Sure, regular streaming services are fine if you only want the occasional hit of the Moonlight Sonata when you’re feeling emo, but most streaming services just aren’t built for the way classical enthusiasts regularly search for and listen to music.
Apple wants to fix that. The companyannouncedthis week that it boughtPrimephonic, a streaming service that sought to address many of the common grievances classical music lovers have when they’re just trying to get down with some Mahler.
Apple said it would start by curating classical music experiences with Primephonic playlists and exclusive audio content and that it would deliver “adedicated experience with the best features of Primephonic, including better browsing and search capabilities by composer and by repertoire, detailed displays of classical music metadata, plus new features and benefits.”In 2022, it plans to release a dedicated app for classical enthusiasts.
It seems like a logical move for Apple. The company shook up the industry when itannouncedit would introduce both lossless music and spatial audio as a free upgrade for existing subscribers. If I had to guess, I’d say the intersection of audiophiles who care about lossless audio and classical musical enthusiasts is greater than most other genres. Catering to these listeners gives Apple additional clout to steal a few users from competing platforms.
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Now, maybe you think it’s silly that classical music would need its own app. How elitist! But as one of those classical music lovers, so let me walk you through some of the common grievances I’ve suffered over the years from the more mainstream music platforms.
Many of these are things Primephonic sought to address, and joining Apple Music only gives them more power to do so. As the startup mentioned in itsannouncementabout the acquisition, part of the limitation with its service was that it simply couldn’t reach enough people, especially those who listened to more than only classical:
As a classical-only startup, we can not reach the majority of global classical listeners, especially those that listen to many other music genres as well. We therefore concluded that in order to achieve our mission, we need to partner with a leading streaming service that encompasses all music genres and also shares our love for classical music.
With Primephonic’s features embedded into Apple Music as well as a custom app, classical music lovers will theoretically have the option to get a proper listening experienceandenjoy other genres too. Plus they’ll have access to Apple’s cool new Spatial Audio tech in one of the categories of music in which it makes the most sense.
While I’m not personally interested in entering the Apple ecosystem, proper classical music integration may just be enough to get me to consider switching to Apple Music.
Story byNapier Lopez
Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in(show all)Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time. Follow himon Twitter.
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