Last year Apple Music got its very own classical music section, but it seems as if it has languished ever since.
Frustrations with classical music streaming are nothing new, but as Charles tells us, this is a problem that affects nearly every streaming music service, including Apple Music rival Spotify. In an effort to find out exactly what’s wrong with classical music on Apple Music — and what steps could be taken to address these problems — we asked Charles and Rumiz to detail the biggest issues with classical music on Apple Music.
Check It Out: Apple’s Classical Music Problem
Andrew et al:
Classsical music is my staple for music consumption. I can take other genre in small doses but only for a limited time or circumstance. I completely concur with the criticism of the MacRumors piece. Even though I subscribe to Apple Music, enabling my family to consume ad libitim all their music of their preference, I never even attempt to stream ‘classical’ music on the service. I do search for specific recordings, many of which I can find, though not always.
Rather, when it comes to curation, I listen to one of the two local classical music stations that I support or to Sirius Symphony Hall or Met Opera. These are where I discover recordings, and having added them to my library, will simply call that recording up as needed. I have never expected Apple to provide that service, nor, unless the prevalence of classical music listening increases, do I expect them to. Sadly, perhaps.
In short, classical music consumption remains an art form unto itself, including local patronage, that does not lend itself to a popular music consumption model; and given my fondness for my local symphony and stations, I’m not convinced that I want it to.
Let me know when they add “Electro Swing” as a category.
*Parov Stelar would like to know your location*
I listen to Classical Music. I prefer AllClassicalDOTcom. It plays a nice variety curated by people that love Classical. More importantly they KNOW the music. They have no fear of playing the whole of Holst: The Planets or just the Minute Waltz. They understand the difference between an Opera and an Oratorio. I do not subscribe to AppleMusic, and I have no plans to. I’ve never found any reviews of it or comments about it to indicate that it has any concomitant with that group of Genres. My “subscription” to AllClassical (It’s a public radio station so it’s technically voluntary) is less than AM would cost and yet it does a far far better job.