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Apple first announced plans to make a dedicated classical music app in 2021, after it acquired Dutch-American start-up Primephonic.
Apple is launching a new app focused on classical music, to support fans of the genre and help new listeners find the essential hits.
The tech giant’s new Apple Music Classical is reportedly launching at the end of the month and will be available for people who have an Apple Music subscription. The app is currently available for pre-order on the App Store for iPhones.
The new app is set to contain a catalogue of more than 5m musical tracks that will include “everything from new releases to celebrated masterpieces, plus thousands of exclusive albums”, according to Apple.
Apple first announced plans to make a dedicated app for classical music in 2021, after it acquired the Dutch-American start-up Primephonic.
At the time, Apple committed to making an improved experience for classical music listeners, integrating Primephonic’s playlists and exclusive audio content. Primephonic said that the decision to make the deal with Apple Music was driven by audience reach.
Users of the new app will be able to search for classical songs based on composer, work, conductor or catalogue number searches.
The classical app will also feature an “essentials playlist” to help get new fans of the genre up to speed on some of the biggest names, along with composer biographies and deep-dive guides.
To let users enjoy the various instruments in their favourite classical performances, the new app will also feature spatial audio, which adjusts frequencies to help give a surround-sound style for users.
Apple first announced spatial audio features in 2021 with a series of Apple Music updates, in order provide immersive audio experiences with multidimensional sound and clarity.
The tech giant has made a number of moves to boost its music offering in recent years. In February 2022, Apple reportedly acquired AI Music, a UK start-up that uses artificial intelligence to create user-tailored music.
Last December, the company announced a karaoke feature for its Music subscribers called Apple Music Sing, to let users sing along to their favourite songs with real-time lyric displays.
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