This article was originally published in our Autumn 2023 issue. Click here to subscribe to our quarterly print magazine and be the first to read our January 2025 issue features.

There’s an image of a cassette and pencil that pops up regularly on social media, posing a challenge – to those of a certain age – to explain the relationship between the two. Music technology has seen huge progress since cassette tape required winding. As vinyl makes its comeback and rumours that cassettes could be the next big thing (again) abound, it’s easy to take for granted the almost infinite number of recordings and live events provided by streaming companies. A living, portable catalogue of musical history is instantly available at our fingertips for a monthly subscription that is often a fraction of the cost of a concert ticket and little more than the price of a single CD. Indeed, many streaming platforms offer a free basic service or, at least, a ‘listen-and-like’ trial. Some classical music feathers might be ruffled by the description of every movement of a symphony by some providers as a ‘song’, or the way that once a streamed track closes you are instantly offered another, which ‘you might like’ – but possibly don’t.

Alongside the big streaming names – Spotify, Amazon Music, Sony, Tidal, YouTube and many others – record labels are increasingly streaming their entire catalogues. Hyperion, for example, became a recent convert, while many ensembles and individuals stream their own performances. Berlin-based Idagio has also discovered that – to its own astonishment – teenagers are listening to significantly more classical music: 30 per cent of its audience is under 35, according to MIDiA. Perhaps that trend attracted the attention of Apple, which took over Netherlands-based streaming service Primephonic in 2021 and launched its own platform earlier this year.

According to Spotlight, published by US media analysis company Luminate, classical music fans tend to be older – 22 per cent of those surveyed were aged 65- plus – but are ‘Twenty-four per cent more likely to use a music streaming service than baby-boomer country music fans and ten per cent more likely to stream than baby-boomer pop-music fans’. They also spend 34 per cent more per month on music. Analyst Noah Elwell stressed the importance of content: ‘Given this audience averages 56 hours of music listening per month, three hours more than the average music listener, the service’s library is of utmost importance.’ So, with the renaissance of classical music owing a great debt to streaming technology, who provides the best service?

Take a bite: Streaming services like Apple Music offer thousands of recordings

Big names

Some of the biggest names can be found on STAGE+, Universal Music Group’s new venture. Its partnerships with opera companies, orchestras, festivals and concert halls allows it to provide not only live premieres, full concert and opera performances, music videos, documentaries and behind-the-scenes interviews, but also the extensive catalogues of Deutsche Grammophon and Decca. There is a considerable emphasis on new music and a vastly enhanced search function, which helps alleviate the issue plaguing the classical offering on most streaming services. DG claims ‘optimised metadata will enable classical fans to search via title and access individual works, movements or opera scenes’.

STAGE+ has a massive rival, however. After Apple took over Primephonic, it launched Apple Music Classical – an app that is free to anyone subscribing to Apple Music. It claims to support in excess of five million classical tracks, double the classical catalogue of Spotify and Tidal combined and aims to ‘demystify’ the various versions, interpretations and recordings of renowned performers. It promises exclusive content from the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic, as well as Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera.

Sony Classical also promises big names, embracing the revered Columbia and CBS Masterworks labels, themselves producing recordings by some of the biggest names from the 1920s to the present day. It also has a major presence in the field of film soundtracks.

Relative newcomer Presto Music launched earlier this year and is powered by sizeable classically oriented metadata (the format in which information about each recording is stored). On other streaming platforms, a search for Beyoncé’s Break My Soul will find the track by inputting four words while a search for Grieg’s Piano Concerto will list dozens of recordings in no particular order. Presto’s more refined site makes these searches considerably easier.

Track notes

While digital booklets are available on Apple, they are only offered if downloads are actually bought. Alternatively, the French platform Qobuz includes PDFs of CD booklets as well as full libretti for operas. Idagio provides listeners with copious amounts of information about each recording while Presto Music includes press reviews and information about awards relating to the various tracks it offers and, in its articles section, includes track notes for more than 70,000 of the albums uploaded. Amazon Music and Spotify provide no programme notes or information, other than the name of the composer and performer and the title of the piece.

Sound quality

For anyone wanting high resolution sound, wires are essential. Mark Swed, writing in the Los Angeles Times, said: ‘Alexa get lost… with your atrocious sound and fake recommendations. Bluetooth is a hi-fi disease. Wires still matter.’ What is also essential is an external DAC (digital audio converter) which can be attached to a computer or digital device. While most sound-producing devices already have a built-in DAC, it tends to be very basic, so audiophiles are encouraged to invest. DAC can be found for around £100 but range in price to around £100,000.

With that in mind, Qobuz is almost universally acclaimed for its sound quality. For anyone purchasing a download, there is a choice between CD quality or higher resolution (for a higher price). Its streaming compatriot Deezer is also recommended for improved audio quality.

Primephonic – now part of Apple – was renowned for its sound quality, though that relies on a fast download speed, thus ruling out a number of listeners with slower broadband. Apple Music Classical boasts high-resolution Lossless quality and spatial audio with Dolby Atmos.

Hidden gems

There is doubtless much to commend on STAGE+. DG is, after all, the world’s oldest record label and access to its back catalogue is priceless. Apple delves into what many classical music fans might regard as peripheral interests. Film music is well-represented and there is a courageous attempt to bring video-game music into the classical fold. It also has categories including ‘Undiscovered’ and ‘Hidden Gems’. In the same way, Sony’s CBS and Columbia catalogues provide a massive resource.

The recently launched Hyperion streaming service, however, is a real treasure trove, featuring works by ‘niche’ composers and recordings of works that are hard to find anywhere else.

Under-represented composers

Primephonic has cultivated extensive, carefully curated playlists of almost any musical genre, so it’s possible to explore, say, women composers or experimental music and then be led to related areas. Idagio, on the other hand, offers exclusive recordings of live events so composers rarely found elsewhere get a hearing, something also offered by STAGE+. Meanwhile, the sheer cachet of an association with Apple means many labels and performers will work exclusively for the tech giant. For example, Philip Glass’s Orange Mountain Music is only available on Apple.

Discovering new talent

A ‘Rising Stars’ series is available on STAGE+ and Apple’s gaming music section includes names such as Nobuo Uematsu, Ilan Eshkeri or Koji Kondo. Despite all the hype about suspected spying, TikTok has played a significant role in the discovery of new talent. Violinist Esther Abrami, for instance, became the first classical musician to be nominated as a social media superstar at the Global Awards and is now signed exclusively to Sony Classics.

Research from the BPI, Deezer and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra found the much-celebrated rise in youngsters listening to classical music is linked to the new generation of young talent. The saxophonist Jess Gillam, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Khatia Buniatishvili all saw their streaming stats rise substantially during the Covid crisis, particularly among young people.

Pierre-Antoine Devic, head of Paris-based independent record label Naïve Classique, commented: ‘Streaming allows classical music to conquer new markets all over the world such as China and Latin America. China is awakening to [Western] classical music, like Japan in the middle of the 20th century. We forecast a twenty per cent yearly progression in the coming years.’

Sector competition is rife as more streaming services come online. More extensive catalogues, better sound quality, increasingly user-friendly and accurate search functions and competitive pricing can only mean a vastly enhanced product for subscribers.