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The long-awaited classical music version of Apple Music has been announced and a new app is coming on March 28.
Originally promised for 2022, and constantly rumored to be about to launch, Apple Music Classical has finally been officially announced.
“Apple Music Classical makes it quick and easy to find any recording in the world’s largest classical music catalog with a fully optimized search feature,” Apple said in a statement, “and listeners can enjoy the highest quality audio available and experience many classic favorites in a whole new way with immersive spatial audio.”
“[It] is the ultimate classic experience with hundreds of curated playlists, thousands of exclusive albums, enlightening biographies of composers, in-depth guides to many major works, intuitive browsing features, and much more.”
“Apple Music Classical will launch later this month,” the company says, “and Apple Music subscribers can download and use the Apple Music Classical app for free as part of their existing subscription.”
Although the service is not yet available, the new Apple Music Classical app is already available for pre-order on the App Store. It’s a free download – mention it’s iPhone only, and oddly enough not even iPad yet – and pre-ordered automatically downloads upon release.
Apple Music Classical requires iOS 15.4 or later and any Apple Music subscription except the Apple Music Voice subscription. It will be available at launch wherever Apple Music is located except China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
What’s included
When the app launches, it will include “hundreds of Essentials playlists, insightful biographies of composers, in-depth guides to many important works, and intuitive browsing features,” Apple says.
It will contain “more than 5 million songs” ranging from “new releases to celebrated masterpieces, plus thousands of exclusive albums.”
Searching for classical music has always been a criticism of Apple Music, given the complexity of multiple versions of works. Apple says the new app will allow users to search “by composer, work, conductor, or even catalog number.”
“Take advantage of complete and accurate metadata to ensure you know exactly what and who you’re playing,” the app’s listing continues. “Learn as you listen, with thousands of composer biographies, key works descriptions and more.”
Apple Music Classical was originally announced in 2021 when Apple bought its existing classical music subscription service, Primephonic.