Apple Music Classical adds thousands of booklets to album listings

AppleInsider

Apple Music Classical's new version 2.0 adds a new Recently Added section as well as thousands of album booklets.

Apple Music Classical

Apple Music Classical was introduced in March 2023 as a curated experience for classical music. A year and a half later, the app has finally reached version 2.0.

The update in the App Store on Tuesday introduces a few changes to the app, including a collection of album booklets for thousands of albums on the service.

The booklets, readable in the layout they were published in an containing images, provide more information about the album. This can include lyrics to operatic tracks, details about the orchestra and conductor, and other details.

Users can also take advantage of the Recently Added section of the Library. This shows the selection of music the user has most recently selected to be added to their library, with the newest pieces at the top.

Apple Music Classical is available as a free app for Apple Music subscribers, with it providing an experience specifically geared towards listening to classical music. As well as easier access to albums and tracks in its vast classical music catalog of over 5 million tracks, it also provides features like Spatial Audio, Lossless audio, and AirPlay.



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Cesar Battistini Maziero

We need that, on regular Apple Music too!

On the olden days when you bought an album on iTunes, they came with digital booklets, the same that comes on the CDs.

They where great!

humbug1873

... and still no Mac OS client 

skippingrock

humbug1873 said:

... and still no Mac OS client 

And no Apple TV version either. 

AppleZulu

skippingrock said:

humbug1873 said:

... and still no Mac OS client 

And no Apple TV version either. 

As I've written here before, it made sense initially to roll the classical app out carefully, limiting device types (and therefore variables) in order to iron out the kinks. The reality, however, is that classical listeners are more likely than average to have a room set up with proper speakers and playback gear, and an AppleTV box (or a Mac) hardwired in for optimal listening, taking full advantage of lossless and Dolby Atmos formats. Having a native app on those devices is definitely overdue at this point. Browsing or searching for content on an iPhone or iPad and then adding selections to my library in order to call them up in the regular apple music app on my AppleTV is a manageable workaround, but it's just that: a workaround. I've bought into the Apple ecosystem in no small part because I don't want to do workarounds. Workarounds are not supposed to be part of the Apple experience. That's what Windows PCs are for.

I want to get my coffee on a Sunday morning, browse through some new classical albums on the big screen in my den, pick something and start playing it. Virtually flipping through the new album booklets while listening would be even better. Being able to do so seamlessly via a native Classical app on my AppleTV is certainly a first-world problem, but at this point it's getting harder to imagine why that problem still exists. 

chasm

skippingrock said:

humbug1873 said:

... and still no Mac OS client 

And no Apple TV version either. 

This is a very fair criticism, and I trust both of you have written to Cook with a cc to whoever is in charge of Apple Music with this concern.

That said, let’s bear in mind that classical is a tiny niche compared to mainstream music sales. It’s not the smallest of niche market, but it is a niche market dominated by seniors rather than the more-disposable income youth market.

Even as I say this, I will certainly be writing to request at least an Apple TV client, as Apple Classical would sound wonderful on my twin OG Homepods through Apple TV.

PS. If you’re serious about Ye Olde Musick genres, let me commend to you the website ancientfm.com — PRE-classical music forms! Talk about niche!!

AppleZulu

chasm said:

skippingrock said:

humbug1873 said:

... and still no Mac OS client 

And no Apple TV version either. 

This is a very fair criticism, and I trust both of you have written to Cook with a cc to whoever is in charge of Apple Music with this concern.

That said, let’s bear in mind that classical is a tiny niche compared to mainstream music sales. It’s not the smallest of niche market, but it is a niche market dominated by seniors rather than the more-disposable income youth market.

Even as I say this, I will certainly be writing to request at least an Apple TV client, as Apple Classical would sound wonderful on my twin OG Homepods through Apple TV.

PS. If you’re serious about Ye Olde Musick genres, let me commend to you the website ancientfm.com — PRE-classical music forms! Talk about niche!!

You think pop music fan youts have more disposable income than an older classical music audience? You’re funny. 

The bulk supply of such youts is no doubt cumulatively more, but I’d wager the per-capita number for the classical audience is significantly more. 

Since none of this market involves purchases of music, Apple’s attention is surely fixed on the capacity of music listeners to buy hardware, and that classical music audience is likely prone to buy more devices at the top of the line, and to upgrade them more often. It’s also probably pretty common for the classical listener to be the one covering the Apple Music family subscription that delivers many of the youts in the first place. 

So sure, it’s a niche market, but not an insignificant one.