New Apple Music Classical listening guides launched Tuesday are streaming app’s most significant update since its 2023 debut, Apple said. New updates introduce three innovative features designed to enhance the classical music listening experience: Listening Guides, Personalized Recommendations and Editorial Stations.
“The features in this update are the most significant additions to Apple Music Classical since launch. They each turn a normal listening experience into a wonderful journey that enhances the listener’s experience, catering to curiosity and creating new interactive ways to learn about favorite pieces of music,” said Anjali Malhotra, Global Director of Apple Music Classical.
Apple Music Classical adds learning features
Following news that Apple Music Classical is now on the web for all to access, the centerpiece of this new streaming service update is the Listening Guide. The interactive feature provides real-time commentary and explanations as users listen to classical compositions. The groundbreaking tool breaks down notable works phrase by phrase, identifying instruments, explaining musical structures and providing historical context as the music plays.
“Apple Music Classical’s Listening Guide expands accessibility to music in a new way,” noted composer and pianist Philip Glass, whose work on the service features a guide. “To harness and embrace this will always be a good thing in the continuing evolution of how people listen to music.”
Listening Guide offers true immersion
At launch, the Listening Guide includes over 100 classical works paired with landmark recordings from renowned artists and ensembles. They include Martha Argerich, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel. You can experience the feature now in six languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese. Apple plans to expand to more languages and musical works, as well.
“Music is a universal language that speaks to our souls and the deeper our understanding of it, the more powerful the impact,” said conductor Gustavo Dudamel. “This Listening Guide from Apple Music Classical invites everyone, from newcomers to lifelong listeners, to truly immerse themselves in the music.”
Personalized Recommendations and Editorial Stations
The update also introduces Personalized Recommendations. The feature uses users’ listening history to suggest new works and recordings that align with their musical preferences. It aims to make classical music discovery more intuitive and tailored to individual tastes.
Additionally, Editorial Stations offer continuously playing music organized by instrument, composer, period and genre. Apple Music Classical’s editorial team curates that stations to provide cohesive listening experiences.
Apple Music Classical launched in 2023
Since its 2023 launch, Apple Music Classical positioned itself as the premier streaming service for classical music enthusiasts. The app features the world’s largest classical music catalog. Its optimized search functionality serves classical music’s unique cataloging needs. It offers high-resolution lossless audio and immersive Spatial Audio. And it provides expertly curated playlists, composer biographies and digital album booklets containing in-depth liner notes and translations.
Acclaimed violinist Janine Jansen praised Tuesday’s update. She noted that “context is so important in classical music. Offering listeners the opportunity to delve deeper into the music can only enhance their listening experience, whether that be helping a new listener to identify the instruments they are hearing or allowing an expert to notice something new for the first time.”
The update is available now to all Apple Music subscribers, who can access Apple Music Classical at no additional cost. The app can be downloaded from the App Store or accessed at https://classical.music.apple.com/.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
