It’s been a busy two years since our 2021 article about classical music streaming. One of the two dedicated classical music platforms, Primephonic, has been acquired by industry giant Apple – and they have just released the new Apple Music Classical, based on Primephonic’s technology. The other, Idagio, has announced important initiatives outside their core streaming business. A third platform has been launched by Presto Classical, a UK retailer of CDs and sheet music.
Meanwhile, the music streaming market has come under intense scrutiny from a UK parliamentary committee. Spotify has come under similar pressure from members of the US Congress. And not a week goes by without someone making an announcement about concert or opera video streaming. It’s time for a refresh.
Once again, I’ve chosen six platforms to compare, each of which has an extensive collection of classical music recordings available on a “full catalogue” basis. From the list last time, I’ve added Presto Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. (Primephonic has merged into Apple, and I’ve omitted Qobuz.) I’ll also comment on various platforms that I haven’t included in the main comparative review.
Here’s the list:
Idagio – the original app which set the bar for classical music streaming, with extensive classical-oriented metadata allowing you to search by composer and work. Its user interface is unashamedly aimed at packing in as much information about each recording as it can into the available screen space.
Presto Music – launched this year by this long-standing retailer of CDs, downloads and sheet music. The service also contains extensive classical-oriented metadata. Its distinguishing feature is that many recordings have press reviews and awards information attached to them, to help you find your way through the maze of options for much-recorded works.
Apple Music Classical – a newly launched free app which bolts on to the paid-for Apple Music service. The main Apple Music app covers all genres; the bolt on provides classical-oriented metadata and curated content. For now, it’s only available on iPhone/iPad, with an Android version to follow at some point in the future.
Spotify – the original all-you-can-eat music streaming app. It’s included here because it’s still the largest and has the most extensive hardware compatibility. However, it has no dedicated classical features, and some users (myself included) won’t touch it because of its links to the far-right Joe Rogan podcast.
Tidal – in my opinion, the best of the Spotify equivalents and the one that I use daily. It has options for higher quality audio and a substantial list of curated playlists, including classical ones.
Amazon Music Unlimited – worth investigating to see what another tech giant provides. Its distinctive feature is relatively large album cover artwork in its search results: if the thing you remember about a recording is how the original cover looks, its search works well.
All of Tidal, Idagio and Presto claim to remunerate artists more fairly than Spotify, Apple or Amazon.
A reminder before we start...
For classical listeners, the big issue is metadata: the format of the information your service keeps about each recording. The traditional format for streamed music metadata is “Artist, Album, Track”. If you are looking for “Taylor Swift, Midnights, Anti-Hero”, that works fine. But if you’re looking for Maria Callas’s 1955 recording of Bellini’s Norma at La Scala, or to pin down a specific recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, Op.37, “Artist, Album, Track” isn’t going to cut the mustard: the concerto has been recorded by over a hundred different pianists, orchestras and soloists in hundreds of combinations.
The selection process
I’m going to cover six questions that should help determine your choice.
- What music do you listen to?
- Is it compatible with your platform and any need for offline use?
- Does the audio quality meet your aspirations?
- How effectively can you find a selection of recordings for a given piece (and a recommendation, if available)?
- How easy is it to find a specific recording?
- Can it help you learn more about the music?
Question 1: what music do you listen to?
- Idagio only does classical music
- Presto Music only does classical music and jazz
- Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify and Tidal do all genres
Assuming that you only want a single subscription:
- If you listen to classical only, you can choose any of the six. Idagio is slightly cheaper than the others, in the UK.
- If you listen to classical and jazz only, you can choose any except Idagio
- If you listen to all genres, you can choose any except Idagio and Presto
- If you listen to all genres and you insist on dedicated classical metadata, your only current choice is Apple
If you can afford two subscriptions, a viable option is to have a subscription to Idagio or Presto for your classical needs, plus one to Amazon, Apple, Spotify or Tidal to use for other genres.
Question 2: is it compatible with your platform and any need for offline use?
You can use all of these services on iOS and Android phones and on your desktop browser, with one exception:
For now, Apple is iPhone/iPad only. An Android version is coming, but they haven’t said when. You can’t use Apple Classical on your desktop computer (although you can use the main Apple Music app).
If you often use music when you’re out of range of decent Internet (e.g. on a plane or train) or if you’re worried about data plan usage, you’ll want to download tracks to your phone while you’re safely in WiFi range. This works on all six platforms, but Apple makes you jump through some hoops, switching between Apple Classical and Apple Music. The process is clunky, to say the least.
Idagio, Tidal and Spotify all have desktop apps (for MacOS and Windows). The others don’t.
Question 3: does the audio quality meet your aspirations?
Several platforms offer different maximum quality levels for different recordings. I’ve just looked at one relatively recent recording (Rachmaninov 2 with Khatia Bhuniatishvili and the Czech Phil) across all the platforms to see what was on offer.
- Spotify’s highest quality is equivalent to 320 kbps compression
- Idagio offers 320 kbps compression for all paid subscriptions; they charge extra for HiFi quality
- Apple offers HiFi quality
- Tidal offers HiFi quality; they charge extra for 24-bit quality
- Presto offers 24-bit quality
- Amazon offers 24-bit quality
“HiFi quality” is the quality you get from a CD – lossless compression at 16-bit resolution and 44.1kHz sample rate. “24-bit quality” is also lossless, at 24-bit resolution and 96 kHz or higher sample rate.
How much any of this matters to you is down to your ears and the quality of your listening equipment.
One complaint that has been made about streaming in the past concerns audible gaps between tracks. On the Krystian Zimerman recording of the Beethoven Emperor Concerto, the second movement runs into the third – you can hear the steady pp horn note and Zimerman’s breathing as he limbers up for the big theme of the rondo.
I tried this transition out on all six services: all passed without a hitch, except Amazon and Spotify, where a clear break was audible.
Question 4: how effectively can you find a selection of recordings for a given piece (and a recommendation, if available)?
- Mahler Symphony no. 2 “Resurrection” (much recorded symphony)
- Janáček Jenůfa (well known to opera buffs, but not one of the genre’s greatest hits)
- Pärt Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten (key work by important living composer)
When finding out what’s available, Idagio on the desktop is the clear winner here. You can navigate to the work, showing significant details such as what language an opera is sung in, or whether the work is performed in a non-standard arrangement. The desktop platform provides a sidebar listing ensembles, conductors and musicians of various types. Idagio on the phone isn’t bad, but you’re missing that crucial sidebar.
Presto and Apple both perform perfectly well in giving you a variety of recordings for a given work. Idagio, Presto and Apple all had reasonable selections (Presto’s list was slightly shorter).