Apple Music Classical Expanding to More Countries Later This Month

[MacRumors]

Apple Music Classical will be available in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao starting January 24, according to a post from Apple on X, formerly known as Twitter. The app can be pre-ordered now on the App Store in these regions.

Apple Music Classical first launched in most other countries last March, offering Apple Music subscribers access to over five million classical music tracks at no additional cost. The app features advanced search functionality, exclusive artwork, extensive metadata, curated listening recommendations, and more.

The app is available on the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. It is built upon Primephonic, a classical music streaming service acquired by Apple in 2021.

In the U.S., a standard Apple Music subscription costs $10.99 per month.

Article Link: Apple Music Classical Expanding to More Countries Later This Month

 

[Motawa]

that's cool but how about fixing that error 180004 (Apple Music on Mac) that hasn't been fixed for years, that users still have? No? Ok.

 

[orbital~debris]

Is one of those countries Mac?

 

[sparkinstx]

Is one of those countries Mac?

Mac n' Cheese.

 

[carswell]

Yawn.

Had such high expectations for Apple Classical, most of them dashed upon release.

Lack of support for lossless and hi-res playback on some Apple and most non-Apple devices, including my Sonos system, ended up being the dealbreaker for me.

Fortunately, Qobuz showed up in Canada soon after AC went live. Switched and haven't looked back, though Qobuz's search engine could be better. Then again, so could Apple Classical's...

 

[flottenheimer]

a post from Apple on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Everyone should know X by now...

 

[freedomlinux]

The app can be pre-ordered now on the App Store in these regions.

I better hurry before the App Store sells out /s

 

[TheBeverage]

Please put it on Apple TV.

 

[erinsarah]

I listen to AM Classical on occasion. Then I discovered that the "My Station" feature in AM (non-classical) now includes classical music mixed in with regular music. Now I'm annoyed.

 

[lexvo]

I have given up on Apple classical.
Apple Classical wouldn't import/show my around 100 classical albums I have in Apple Music (except for 1 or 2). Discussed this on a few forums and it seems the only way to get them in Apple Classical is searching and adding them manually. I won't bother with this, Apple Music works fine for me for classical music which I occasionally listen to.

 

[Snake111]

Please bring it to MacOS!

 

[kiensoy]

Why is Chopin wearing that ugly hat?

 

[groove-agent]

I wonder why classical music specifically requires it's own service. Any ideas?

 

[Shirasaki]

Everyone should know X by now...

Everyone should do the below.

You can just say "Twitter".

And never give the ego Elon musk desperately seek.

 

[svish]

Great to hear that it is expanding to additional countries.

 

[SkydiveGuy]

How about expanding to CarPlay?

 

[carswell]

I wonder why classical music specifically requires it's own service. Any ideas?

This has been discussed ad infinitum in earlier Apple Classical threads but basically boils down to the fact that classical works don't really fit the artist-album-track model used in most streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

For example, if the artist is the performer, where does the composer go (or vice versa)?

These issues are especially problematic when it comes to search engines: how many symphony no. 3s or sonatas in D minor are there and how do you distinguish between them? what if I want to search for a specific movement in a work? what if I want to search by catalogue number (BWV for J.S. Bach's works, K for Mozart's and others, including duplicate catalogues and very obscure ones)? Etc., etc.

It can usually be done in Apple Music and Spotify, though finding a specific album or track may require several different searches before you get it and sometimes you just won't. In Apple Classical, it's better though far from perfect (The New Yorker's classical music critic Alex Ross's takedown is worth reading) and usually excellent in Idagio.

 

[groove-agent]

This has been discussed ad infinitum in earlier Apple Classical threads but basically boils down to the fact that classical works don't really fit the artist-album-track model used in most streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

For example, if the artist is the performer, where does the composer go (or vice versa)?

Ah ... yeah that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.