What you need to know
- Apple announced Apple Music Classical early this week for its devices.
- It is a dedicated classical music streaming service that requires an Apple Music subscription.
- While the latter is available for Android already, the Apple Music Classical app is said to be coming soon.
Apple Music Classical is a new music streaming service launched by Apple early this week in the U.S. As the name implies, it is a music streaming service with an exclusive classical music collection.
The new app is currently available for Apple devices, but an announcement post from the Cupertino tech giant states it will also be available to your favorite Android devices soon.
Apple already provides its traditional Apple Music for Android phones, with over 100 million downloads so far. The new classical music app will be a new addition to the Google Play Store with a focus on classical music.
The key highlight of the new service is that users who are already subscribed to Apple Music need not pay for the classical music streaming service, and it is entirely free. It will include curated playlists, composer biographies, and a "fully optimized search" that will be able to "find any recording."
Users will be able to find various recordings from different composers when searching for a work or various works when searching for a composer. The app will also support Spatial Audio for compatible devices.
The company further indicates that this new app is aimed at users who seek a more wholesome listening experience. This is undoubtedly an advantage for classical music listeners, as other music streaming services don't have such dedicated music alternatives.
Apple Music Classical contains over 5 million tracks, including celebrated recordings, thousands of exclusive albums, recordings by world-famous orchestras, and forgotten gems. There is also a handpicked Editor's Choice curation similar to what we see in the Apple Music collection.
Moreover, Apple Music Classical is also said to host live performances featuring partners such as Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York Philharmonic, to name a few.
Apple Music Classical is currently available wherever Apple Music is functional. However, some regions are excluded, like China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Türkiye.
While the shared press release mentions that "Apple Music Classical for Android is coming soon," no date was provided on when Android users can expect to download it. Previously, Apple Music was launched for iPhones in June 2015, and Android counterparts were received four months later in November. Going by that timeline, we can expect Apple Music Classical in the coming few months, if not sooner.