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Apple Music Classical Begins Launching for iPhone Users Around the World

It's not as good as it could be. The metadata works well. However, the app does not handle saved albums very well. You cannot sort your library by composer. The composer tab just takes you to your favourite composers and those pages to options for streaming their work.

What I want is to sort my library by composer. You would think this would be the basic way that most users would want to sort their classical library (my record collection is sorted this way). There is no way to edit the library list the way there is in Apple Music either.

All I want is my classical collection organised by Composer > Album in the same way my regular Apple Music library is organised by Artist > Album. This allows you to get to what you want quickly. For example, I want to be able to quickly navigate to my library of Bartok to play my favourite 1955 recording of the Concerto for Orchestra, which I have saved. Apple Classical doesn't let me do that.

The fact that you can't seem to organise your library by composer in the app is completely moronic. Already given Apple polite feedback about this.
 
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Agathon said:
It's not as good as it could be. The metadata works well. However, the app does not handle saved albums very well. You cannot sort your library by composer. The composer tab just takes you to your favourite composers and those pages to options for streaming their work.

What I want is to sort my library by composer. You would think this would be the basic way that most users would want to sort their classical library (my record collection is sorted this way). There is no way to edit the library list the way there is in Apple Music either.

All I want is my classical collection organised by Composer > Album in the same way my regular Apple Music library is organised by Artist > Album. This allows you to get to what you want quickly. For example, I want to be able to quickly navigate to my library of Bartok to play my favourite 1955 recording of the Concerto for Orchestra, which I have saved. Apple Classical doesn't let me do that.

The fact that you can't seem to organise your library by composer in the app is completely moronic. Already given Apple polite feedback about this.
Click to expand...

O.M.G.

If that's accurate, then it's a complete fail. Even the standard Apple Music app allows that, but it's useless as I noted earlier if you also have popular music in your collection. This is the most basic thing. I won't be polite in my feedback.
 
Agathon said:
It's not as good as it could be. The metadata works well. However, the app does not handle saved albums very well. You cannot sort your library by composer. The composer tab just takes you to your favourite composers and those pages to options for streaming their work.

What I want is to sort my library by composer. You would think this would be the basic way that most users would want to sort their classical library (my record collection is sorted this way). There is no way to edit the library list the way there is in Apple Music either.

All I want is my classical collection organised by Composer > Album in the same way my regular Apple Music library is organised by Artist > Album. This allows you to get to what you want quickly. For example, I want to be able to quickly navigate to my library of Bartok to play my favourite 1955 recording of the Concerto for Orchestra, which I have saved. Apple Classical doesn't let me do that.

The fact that you can't seem to organise your library by composer in the app is completely moronic. Already given Apple polite feedback about this.
Click to expand...

That's...disappointing. I agree, this should be an option. I sort my music in Roon by composer (I add composer tags to each album and click on a tag and it brings up every album of Beethoven music, for example). Organizing by artist (which in classical means the performer) can be an option, but it shouldn't be the only option.
 
jon3543 said:
O.M.G.

If that's accurate, then it's a complete fail. Even the standard Apple Music app allows that, but it's useless as I noted earlier if you also have popular music in your collection. This is the most basic thing. I won't be polite in my feedback.
Click to expand...

I think part of it is that the app organises music in two ways – by the album a work is on and by the work itself. So, for example, you can add Kleiber's famous Beethoven 5th Symphony with the VPO on its own or you can add the album (where it is paired with the 7th (also very good). But this means it gets saved in a couple of places. One is 'recordings' which is just flat useless because it doesn't let you order by composer.

There needs to be an option so that the click through is like this:
  • Composer > Work > Saved library recordings of that work.
  • Artist > Composer > Work > Saved recordings.
For example:
  • Beethoven > Symphony #5 > Kleiber, Karajan, Harnoncourt, etc.
  • Van Cliburn > Beethoven > Piano Concerto #5 > Van Cliburn CSO Reiner
As it is, it is set up for streaming, not for libraries.

All I really want is to be able to click on a composer, then a work, and then get right to my favourite recordings of that work. This should not be too hard.

And you cannot download music to your phone without going back to the regular Apple Music app. Sigh.

Having said that, the metadata is great and I have it streaming to my living room HomePods right now.

Edit: Also has a bad habit of including any non-classical favourite artists who have had anything to do with an album the record label thinks is 'classical'. Hence, Roger Waters is sitting next to Simon Rattle in my artists lists. Ugh...
 
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Awesome. I actually think it’s a great idea to have a separate app. People can have a separate music algorithm for classical music.

It also makes it easier to discover classical music.
 
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Monty Pavement said:
Time for the Apple Music Classical drinking game.

Take a drink every time someone posts saying -

- why does Classical need it's own app?
- this should just be included in the Music app
- will jazz and other styles be getting their own app as well?
Click to expand...

Another observation is that the classical music app feels a lot smoother. Perhaps an indictment of how bloated the core music app has become?
 
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Is it just me or does the Music Classic App feel much snappier than the normal Apple Music app?
I really hope this is a good sign and they basically took the Music Classic app as a test to rewrite how they communicate with their API and display data in a more performant way and that they will next bring this over to a refreshed standard music app - possible with the next major update in fall! Finger crossed.
 
If you add albums or songs does it only add to the classical library or alto to regular Apple Music?

I want to keep them separate
 
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Edit: Now available to download. SoCal/PST

I’m excited to try this as well.

I wonder if my imported classical cd’s will show up there as well as in Apple Music / iTunes Match or either/or locations

💿💿
 

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No, no, I hope I am wrong. It seems my albums and playlists have moved to Apple Classical (nice) but my folders with playlists (since they won’t let you organise albums 😡) have not and they are shown as one very, very long list. Nor is there a way to organise albums (something they should have added). So when I have hundreds of albums how am I suppose to organise them? I need folders….. 😕😭 this is useless…..will have to stay with the old Apple Music.

Also, no booklet info.
 
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Agathon said:
All I want is my classical collection organised by Composer > Album in the same way my regular Apple Music library is organised by Artist > Album. This allows you to get to what you want quickly. For example, I want to be able to quickly navigate to my library of Bartok to play my favourite 1955 recording of the Concerto for Orchestra, which I have saved. Apple Classical doesn't let me do that.
Click to expand...
How do you figure this? If I organise my AM library by Artist - I end up with Stravinsky under B for the Berlin Philharmonic! Apparently they are noted as the 'artist' and not Stravinsky. The Stravinsky album features next to Joyce Didonato's Eden, where the 'artist' is 'Beautiful Chorus'. The organisation is totally useless and on Apple Classical, as you say, it is even worse. Sorting is not enough (even if it would work, we'd have to scroll like mad) All we need is to be able to create our own folders to organise albums ...
 
Any changes made in the library of AC is also applied in AM - btw....
 
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Kimmo said:
"Apple Music Classical is available for the iPhone only at launch"

+

"The big news is that no model of AirPods earbuds/headphones will support lossless audio. This means that even if you're buying the latest AirPods Pro 2 or the premium AirPods Max, there's no way you can listen to your library of lossless Apple Music songs in any lossless or hi-res format."

=

1. Apple should add newer Bluetooth Codecs that support wireless, lossless audio (like LDAC), and

2. Let's get Apple Music Classical on macOS, so higher quality desktop systems can use it.

www.whathifi.com

Apple Music lossless: which devices will (and won't) play lossless and Spatial Audio

There's still no lossless playback on any AirPods yet
www.whathifi.com www.whathifi.com
Click to expand...
Rubbish. Bandwith Bluetooth is insufficiënt for losless.
 
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