The standalone Apple Music Classical app launches on March 28

Apple brings Beethoven, Mozart and Bach to Apple Music with a stand-alone audio app dedicated to classical music.

Called Apple Music Classical, the platform, which the company calls the “world’s largest catalog of classical music,” features more than 5 million searchable tracks, including new releases and famous compositions, as well as thousands of “exclusive” albums.

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To use Apple Music Classical, you’ll need an Apple Music subscription — specifically, an individual ($10.99/month), student ($5.99/month), family ($16.99/month) or Apple One subscription. Not available with the $4.99/month audio-only Apple Music tier.

The app is available for pre-order(Opens in a new window) Already in the App Store before the release on March 28. Currently only available on iPhone and requires iOS 15.4 or later.

The launch comes after Apple acquired (and quickly shut down) Dutch classical music streaming service Primephonic in 2021. As PCMag noted in a 2019 profile of the company, Primephonic was born to keep the classic genre mainstream. It allows people to search for musicians and albums, but also more specific metadata such as composer, conductor, soloist or choir – a level of specificity that sets Primephonic (and now Apple Music ).

Apple Music Classical supports the “highest audio quality” (up to 192 kHz/24-bit high-resolution lossless), sometimes in immersive surround sound, without ads.

“Apple Music Classical makes it easy for beginners to explore the genre with hundreds of Essentials playlists, in-depth composer biographies, in-depth guides to many key works, and intuitive browsing features,” reads the App Store description.

Apple Music Classical will be available worldwide, except for Afghanistan, China, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan and Turkey.

The move comes as streaming audio rival Spotify introduced new scrollable previews for songs, podcasts and books. Available on iOS and Android, the update makes it easier to find personalized recommendations for different forms of sound.

Take advantage of Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation).