| Cult of Mac

Today in Apple history: Apple goes to war with The Beatles again

By

Beatles
The Beatles' clash with Apple ran for almost 30 years.
Photo: Apple Corps

March 30: Today in Apple history: Apple goes to war with The Beatles again March 30, 2006: A court case begins that once again pits Apple Computer against Apple Corps, aka The Beatles’ record label and holding company.

The lawsuit caps a long-running legal battle between the two wealthy companies. It’s the final fight in an epic legal battle over music, technology and money.

Here’s your introduction to Apple Music Classical

By

Class up the joint
An elegant streaming service for a more civilized age.
Image: Public domain/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple Music Classical is a new app for iPhone specifically designed as a great experience for browsing and listening to instrumental music. Its catalog of 5 million tracks has been carefully curated and tagged by composer, work, movement, instrument, orchestra, artist and more.

Why does there need to be a separate app for classical music? Apple says it succinctly on its support page: classical music “has longer and more detailed titles, multiple artists for each work, and hundreds of recordings of well-known pieces.” This app “is designed to support the complex data structure of classical music.”

This is how to discover, find, add and listen to music in Apple Music Classical.

Apple Music Classical app steps onto the conductor’s podium

By

Apple Music Classical
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.”

Boost desktop audio with the new all-in-one FiiO R7

By

The FiiO R7 is designed to be the centerpiece of your desktop audio from all sources.
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.

Apple Music Classical finally makes its debut performance

By

Apple Music Classical
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.

LG software update brings Apple services to hundreds of smart TV brands

By

Apple TV+ is just one of the features coming to more smart TVs.
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.

Apple Music goes big on Rihanna ahead of Super Bowl performance

By

Rihanna performs at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show on Sunday, February 12, 2023.
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 and Apple TV apps launch for Windows 11

By

Apple Music and Apple TV apps launch for Windows 11
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 classical music app misses its 2022 deadline

By

Apple buys Primephonic: Apple Music's classical catalog will get a big boost from Primephonic.
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.

Use Apple Music Sing to throw your own karaoke party

By

Now you can sing along!
Apple Music now has a karaoke feature for singing along.
Image: Ronyyz/Wikimedia Commons, D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple Music just added a great feature for people who love to sing along as they listen. Apple Music Sing lets you turn down the lyrics so you can karaoke to your favorite hits with just one tap.

In fact, I’m using it right now to listen to some of my favorite music without the lyrics distracting me from reading and writing. Let me show you how it works!