great news for classical music lovers.
Apple acquires classical music streaming service Primephonic - Apple
Time will tell if it ends up being " great news for classical music lovers"
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Wow! What does this mean for Qobuz and classical music? Iâm a subscriber to Primephonic, and Qobuz is way behind Primephonic in terms of search functions and catalogue size. And what does this mean for Roon, as their search function has become so inadequate? I would be stupid to keep my Qobuz subscription now, but this also means that Roon will have no added benefit for me any more. Things are moving fast. Great news for classical music lovers, but dire, dire prospects for Qobuz and Roon. A dedicated classical music app for Apple music? Who will be able to compete?
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Primephonic is a very good classical music streaming service, high res, with an excellent search. Theyâve thrown in the towel, and got bought by Apple who will launch a standalone classical app.
Claims include âsearch and browse functionality optimized for classical, premium-quality audio, handpicked expert recommendations, and extensive contextual details on repertoire and recordings.â
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How long before that app is not an app and will be a section in Apple Music only. I would not trust Apple on this at all, they will take what they want , discard the rest and it will be another part of the Apple Eco system not a great thing for music lovers over all, especially if your not an Apple user to begin with, youâll have even less options to play this stuff into your hifi than Primephonic. Hopefully this doesnât start a trend for the big boys to start buying up the few decent independents.
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Primephonic are happy that theyâve been acquired, as they now stand a chance to bring classical music to many more people. I will predict that a special classical music app will work very well in Apple Music: great search function plus possibility to edit metadata.
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Guess not.
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Anyone know how many users Primephonic had compared to Qobuz?
The last big thing that Apple created in the music business was in the last millennium. iPod, iTunes does not bear the signature of todayâs management. 90% of iTunes customers are lost, no more numbers on streaming subscribers, after MOG didnât benefit from the Beats acquisition, Beats didnât benefit from the Apple acquisition either. Why should things be better now?
Someone gives up because it didnât work economically on its own in the music market and Apple makes a big marketing story. If they can keep what theyâve technically created in the market, it would be a win-win for customers and Apple.
So far, things havenât gone so great. Probably Amazon will also pass Apple by the end of the year and Google is currently growing the fastest.
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All I found was âaround 50,000â in late 2019
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Thought this little slice from an article in pcmag was quite apt thoughâŚ
âEventually, it seems, Primephonic might be acquired by one of the larger playersâ
Jun 21, 2019
Looks like the writing was on the wall two years agođ
Primephonic always believed that the best thing that could happen to them (and classical music) was to be acquired by one of the big players. Niche platforms have a hard time turning a profit. Primephonic would have needed 100,000 subscribers over a number of years to make it work.
Unless Apple messes up the integration of Primephonic, we should expect a great product. Primephonic/ Apple certainly has the potential to beat the Qobuz/Roon combo: better search, larger catalogue, better metadata, better bespoke playlists. (This obviously is only true for streaming; large personal collections will always be better served by Roon).
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I donât think I am going to hold my breath .
I donât see Apple doing any classical music fans any favors here.
I stand to be proven wrong of courseâŚ
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Apple still have a way to go with their high res and lossless play. If the Primephonic acquisition means a serious commitment to quality, it might indicate they will continue developing their music service. Itâs hard to envision Apple with that kind of commitment to a specialty high quality area though.
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Letâs just wait and see what they come up with next year. I certainly am a âclassical music loverâ and looking forward to better alternatives to what I have right now. Speculating in favor of or against what Apple will be able to achieve with Primephonic under its hood is just that â speculation. I am optimistic, but not euphoric.
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Downgraded from a great service to an Apple app!?. The fate of most is either they go even more hip, like beats and/or die.
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Apple Music is already the best platform re classical music among the bigger players. Spotify for instance is abysmal in that regard. Itâs also better than Qobuz for my taste (larger catalogue, no missing tracks). If the Primephonic integration is successful (search by period, composer, genre,periodâŚand they provide booklets as well as extensive metadata, and search by labels), the upcoming app does indeed look very promising. Of course, weâll have to wait and see, even though Iâm irked by the fact that just because itâs Apple, some members here are a bit eager to trash it. Iâm just happy that a big player seems to begin to take classical music seriously.
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Maybe some members are still upset over the way Apple renders perfectly good gear like iPad,s and iPhones obsolete overnight.
Just because they canâŚ
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The consolidation of brands begins.
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Apple has acquired a classical music streaming service known as Primephonic, the company announced in a release Monday.
The acquisition adds to the companyâs growing library of more than 75 million songs available to Apple Music customers.