Apple Music Classical Releases Second Version, Featuring 50,000 Album Booklets

Users will now be able to read more about composers and performers, in addition to follow along with libretti or song texts

The second version of Apple Music Classical, the company's flagship classical music streaming service, is now available as part of the release of iOS 18. The streaming service boasts the largest classical music catalog available and features curated playlists, composer biographies, discussion guides for certain pieces, and thousands of exclusive albums.

The newest version has also added a rich catalog of liner notes, with more than 50,000 digital album booklets currently available. Many of these are available in multiple languages and allow listeners to learn more about the composers and performers featured on each disc. Libretti and song texts, as well as their translations, are also available. Another new feature is the Recently Added section of each user's Library.

Apple Music Classical is unique among streaming services in that users can search by composer, work, conductor, or catalog number — rather than the standard "Artist" or "Title" categories available elsewhere. Tracks are also available in high-quality audio of up to 192 kHz/24-bit Hi-Res Lossless.

The app is also integrated with the music recognition service Shazam, which allows users to identify unfamiliar recordings they hear out in the world.

In July 2024, Apple announced the launch of the Apple Classical Top 100chart, which uses data from the app's users.

Access to Apple Music Classical is included in the price of a regular Apple Music subscription.