Love live music? Apple Maps and Apple Music now offer new ways to find concerts. Photo: Apple
Good news for live-music lovers rang out Tuesday. Apple said new concert-discovery features it just added to Apple Maps and Apple Music will help music fans and artists connect in major cultural hubs worldwide.
You can start listening to the Apple Music Classical app today. Photo: Apple/Samuel Sianipar/Unsplash/Cult of Mac
The long-awaited Apple Music Classical application is now live in the App Store. It gives subscribers access to the world’s largest classical music catalog, and is designed to help users find specific recordings of great works almost instantly.
Apple Music Classical is a dedicated app that is great for classical experts as well as anyone who is new to classical, with the largest classical music selection in the world, the very best search and browse capabilities, the most premium sound experience with Spatial Audio, and thousands of exclusive recordings,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple VP of Apple Music and Beats. “We believe this is the very best classical music streaming experience available anywhere, and for us, this is just the beginning.” If you’re looking for classical music songs, you can explore them through Apple Music Classical listening guides.
The FiiO R7 is designed to be the centerpiece of your desktop audio from all sources. Photo: FiiO
If you want to get the most out of your desktop audio — the sound you get from your computer, other devices, speakers, headphones, wireless earbuds and more — an interesting new jack-of-all-trades tool arrived on the last day of February.
That’s when FiiO quietly launched its R7 high-resolution audio player, streamer and headphone amplifier. It packs a lot of functionality into a small package you might expect to cost more than it does.
Get ready for Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Photo: Apple/Samuel Sianipar/Unsplash/Cult of Mac
A preview of Apple Music Classical appeared Thursday on the App Store. When available, the app will offer access to the world’s largest classical music catalog, with more than 5 million tracks. It’s free for Apple Music subscribers.
Apple first promised a standalone classical music app back in 2021. It was supposed to launch in 2022, but is actually coming in late March.
Apple TV+ is just one of the features coming to more smart TVs. Photo: Apple
Consumer electronics maker LG added Apple TV, Apple Music, AirPlay and HomeKit to its webOS Hub Tuesday, making Apple’s core services available to smart TVs from 200 brands that use the custom software.
The update starts rolling out Friday in more than 100 countries and regions. It could provide quite a boost to Apple globally as new users try the features.
Rihanna performs at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show on Sunday, February 12, 2023. Photo: Apple Music
Apple Music trotted out various ways Monday for fans to get into Rihanna ahead of her Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in Glendale, Arizona, February 12.
These include a halftime-show press conference on February 9, her catalog in Spatial Audio on Apple Music, Apple Music Sing karaoke and Apple Music Radio commentary, the service said.
Apple Music is ready to be downloaded from the Windows Store. Screenshot: Apple/Microsoft
Windows 11 users can now download preview versions of the Apple Music and Apple TV applications.
In late 2022, Microsoft committed to getting them into the Windows Store this year.
And a new Apple Devices app is a significant move toward phasing out iTunes for Windows.
Apple's dedicated classical music app is still waiting in the wings. Photo: Samuel Sianipar/Unsplash
It’s 2023 and the standalone classical music app that Apple promised for 2022 is nowhere to be seen. It’s not clear whether it’s late or has been quietly killed off.
The company said its offering will include high-quality audio, expert recommendations and playlists, exclusive audio content, “extensive contextual details on repertoire and recordings” and other advanced features for classical music aficionados.
Joining in with song gets a lot easier with Apple Music Sing. Photo: Apple Music
Apple Music Sing gives you the real-time lyrics you need to sing along to your favorite tracks. The upcoming feature will show the words to songs so you can easily join in. It will even adjust the volume of the original singer so you take the lead.
It’s coming in December to Apple Music subscribers worldwide. The feature will work with millions of songs in the streaming service’s catalog, Apple said Tuesday.
Apple Music noted its most popular song and artists of 2022. Photo: Apple Music
In addition to unveiling the redesigned Apple Music Replay 2022, Apple Music also revealed its year-end charts, showcasing the year’s top songs in various genres, most popular artists, most-common Shazam searches, most-read lyrics and more.
The streaming services noted a growing popularity of non-English-language songs and certain niche genres, plus several breakthrough artists.
Tesla's interface in the museum exhibit showed Apple Music integration. Photo: [email protected]
It looks like a software update might soon bring Apple Music to Tesla vehicles’ built-in systems at long last. And this modern possibility comes to us from, of all places, a museum exhibit.
Folks spotted Apple Music integrated with Tesla prototype vehicles on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and the tweets followed.
In celebration of his chart-topping album and his impact on global pop, Bad Bunny is Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2022. Photo: Apple Music
Bad Bunny is Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2022. The award came because of “the musician’s artistic excellence and influence on global culture,” according to Apple.
After being released in May, Un Verano Sin Ti, the artist’s sixth project in four years, is Apple Music’s most streamed album of 2022 and now the biggest Latin album of all time.
Apple is raising some subscription services costs for the first time. Photo: David Švihovec/Unsplash License/Modified by Cult of Mac
Apple plans to raise the prices of some of its subscription services by $1 to $3 each, reports indicated Monday. The services include Apple TV+, Apple Music price increase and the Apple One subscription bundle.
Users should see the price increases, listed below, with their next subscription renewal.
Apple Music now supports Spatial Audio on select Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Photo: Apple
Apple is partnering with Mercedes-Benz to bring Apple Music’s Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos support to select Mercedes vehicles. The feature will be immediately available to Apple Music subscribers with compatible cars.
Apple Music has been available on Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment system since 2021.
There are now a whopping 100 million songs available to stream on Apple Music.
That’s “more music than you can listen to in a lifetime, or several lifetimes,” says Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s global head of editorial. “More music than any other platform. Simply the biggest collection of music, in any format, ever.”
Tenille Townes performed at Apple Music’s state-of-the-art studios in Nashville. Photo: Apple Music
Apple Music Sessions are newly recorded live tracks and videos available only on Apple’s streaming music service. The recordings will be from current stars and emerging artists.
Sessions are starting off in Nashville with Carrie Underwood, Tenille Townes and others, but Apple promises to expand to other music genres soon.
First-time Apple Music student subscribers can get the Beats Flex earphones for free. Photo: Apple
Apple is giving new Apple Music student subscribers free Beats Flex earphones worth $69.99. The offer is only for eligible students in the United States and the U.K.
The limited-time offer has been running since June 22, 2022.
Students now have to pay a bit more for an Apple Music subscription. Photo: Apple
The cost of an Apple Music subscription for students just jumped 20%. The music streaming service is still available at a substantial discount, but it’s no longer half price.
This follows a similar price increase in other parts of the world.
Waze embraces Apple Music for a happier commute. Photo: Google
Google’s Waze navigation app makes driving a little more fun by building in support for Apple Music. This allows drivers to make changes to the music streaming through their iPhone or Android without leaving Waze.
The app already supports other music streaming services.