Apple Music Classical is offered on the App Store as a standalone app, launching later this month
After appearing in the changelog for public betas of iOS 16.3, Apple has finally announced its classic music service in the form of a new app called Apple Music Classical. The new app is currently available on Apple’s App Store for pre-order and will give users access to a vast library of high-quality classical music tracks. According to the App Store listing, the app marked “coming soon” will be available for download on March 28, but users can tap the “Get” button to schedule an automatic download whenever it becomes available.
While it was previously suspected that Apple could integrate the classical music service into the existing app, it appears that the company has decided to launch the service as a separate app already. Now it’s clear why Apple took this approach, since the Apple Music Classical app looks a little different and even comes with its own font.
Inside, users will be greeted by an interface with a slightly different design that classical music requires. For example. The in-app search has been modified to find music by composer, conductor, catalog number, and more. There is plenty of information available on it along with editorial notes and detailed descriptions. Apple has also commissioned exclusive new artwork including a series of high-resolution digital portraits of some of the world’s greatest composers.
In terms of features, the company claims to offer more than five million tracks and works, along with new releases as well. It will provide high quality audio (up to 192 kHz / 24-bit Hi-Res Lossless), which also includes recordings in spatial audio, along with complete and accurate metadata. Apple claims that it is also working closely with some popular classical music artists and music organizations to offer listeners exclusive content and recordings at launch. As in the regular Apple Music app, there will also be dedicated playlists of classical music.
Apple explains that all users currently subscribed to an Apple Music subscription (individual, student, family, or Apple One) will automatically have the same access in the standalone app. The classical music streaming service will be available worldwide except in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, but the company says the same will be available in those markets at a later date.
The company also made it clear that the Apple Music Classical app for Android is “coming soon” as the regular Apple Music app on Android has been available for a long time. Apple Music Classical was announced in late 2021 after Apple acquired classical music streaming service Primephonic. The service shut down its servers and went offline on September 7, 2021.