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What Is Apple Classical?
It’s Apple’s dedicated classical music app–but it’s not out yet.
Wondering what is Apple Classical? Classical music fans rejoice have some new hope that classical music on Apple Music is about to get much better. That’s because code has been found in beta software that suggests Apple is about to launch a dedicated app for classical music. Here’s what you need to know…
Classical Music On Apple Music
Apple Music is Apple’s most popular subscription service. For $9.99 a month you get access to over 90 million songs. Those songs cover virtually every genre possible–including classical music.
However, classical music fans have long been dissatisfied with the way Apple Music (and most other streaming services) categorize and sort classical music. That has given rise to many dedicated classical music streaming services – although their subscriber numbers are obviously much smaller than streaming music giants like Apple Music and Spotify.
But Apple wants to make Apple Music the best streaming service for all music fans out there – including classical music fans. That’s why last year Apple stopped up a small classical music streaming service known as Primephonic.
What Is Primephonic?
We’ve covered Primephonic in depth before. In short, it was a classical music streaming service and app that was widely popular with classical music fans due to its wealth of 3.5 million classical music tracks and an app with a killer user interface.
Apple snapped up Primephonic last August for an undisclosed sum. The reason? According to Apple:
“With the addition of Primephonic, Apple Music subscribers will get a significantly improved classical music experience beginning with Primephonic playlists and exclusive audio content. In the coming months, Apple Music Classical fans will get a dedicated 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.”
As Thomas Steffens, Primephonic’s co-founder and CEO said at the time, “Bringing the best of Primephonic to Apple Music subscribers is a tremendous development for the classical music industry. Artists love the Primephonic service and what we’ve done in classical, and now we have the ability to join with Apple to deliver the absolute best experience to millions of listeners. We get to bring classical music to the mainstream and connect a new generation of musicians with the next generation of audience.”
However, it’s that “dedicated experience” that Apple mentioned that really got classical music fans excited…
Apple Classical App
Many have long thought that Apple’s mention of a “dedicated experience” meant Apple wasn’t just going to fold Primephonic into Apple Music, but release a dedicated Apple Music app for its classical music catalog. And now thanks to some beta code, it appears that that’s just what Apple is planning on.
Indeed, in late 2021, Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, revealed, ”We love and have a deep respect for classical music, and Primephonic has become a fan favorite for classical enthusiasts. Together, we’re bringing great new classical features to Apple Music, and in the near future, we’ll deliver a dedicated classical experience that will truly be the best in the world.”
And now thanks to code leaked in the latest beta of the Android music app, it appears that the dedicated classical music app from Apple could be launching soon. As 9to5Google reports, in the latest beta, a sting of code refers to the “Apple Classical” app:
<string name=”open_in_apple_classical”>Open in Apple Classical</string>
This suggests that users will still be able to listen to classical music in the main Apple Music app, but they will also have the option of opening that music in the new Apple Classical app, which should retain much of the features as Primephonic.
It’s unknown when Apple Classical may launch, but it’s possible we could see it at the March 2022 event coming up or whenever the next AirPods Pro launch.
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