Apple launches global weekly classical music chart

Apple has launched a new weekly classical music chart, featuring the top 100 albums around the world according to the tech giant’s own data. Available in the Apple Music Classical app, which came onto the scene last year as a specialist streaming service for classical music fans, the list will combine figures from Apple Music Classical streams, Apple Music streams, iTunes downloads, iTunes song sales and Shazam tags. The chart will be updated every Monday, drawing on data from Friday to Thursday the previous week.

Topping the first chart is an album of Bach keyboard concertos from pianist Tianqi Du and the Academy of St Martins in the Fields, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham. ‘I’m deeply honoured,’ Du commented. ‘These concertos are a vibrant showcase of Bach’s energy and spirit, bursting with emotional richness and expressive depth.’ Elsewhere, the inaugural chart ranges from Brahms symphonies to Einaudi, from new albums to classics such as Glenn Gould’s 1981 version of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

It joins the Official Specialist Classical Chart, which puts together its weekly top 30 chart using sales data of digital bundles, CDs, vinyl and other formats, over the past seven days, and is run by the Official Charts Company.