Besides classical, Apple is working hard to bring access to many forgotten jazz recordings to Apple Music listeners. A friend of mine is a big jazz fan. He discovered Apple Music is the only online music service that has albums of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson that were released decades ago and never were repressed or went on sale again. Apple is performing the thankless behind the scenes work to enter into agreements with numerous small record labels to bring their stuff into Apple Music. Similarly, when the label has disappeared and the current copyright owner is unknown, Apple seems to be buying jazz albums not on CD or available in a digital format and transferring them into a digital audio format for streaming.
I am still old school with music on my phone, which worked for my summer vacation this year. I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, next to Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains, where cell phone service is lousy and home internet is limited. I loaded up my 512 GB iPhone with great jazz recordings that I either ripped from CD or digitized from vinyl. I used MP3 Tag to label them properly for the iPhone Music app and transferred them to my iPhone 13 Mini using Waltr Pro. Thanks to a Marshall Emberton speaker, I was able to hear classic jazz in the northwoods, one of the least densely and highly isolated places in the Midwest. Kelly On 11/1/23, Tom Lange <[email protected]> wrote: > that is a great article; thank you for posting. I just downloaded the Apple > Music Classical app and took it for a spin and it looks great. By the way, I > found out that I could use airplay with my Sonos speakers, so that will be > really nice to use Apple Music classical with airplay, and my Sonos > speakers. > >> On Oct 31, 2023, at 10:18 PM, M. Taylor <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> This is a wonderful article, Richard. >> >> Thank you ever so much for posting it to the list. >> >> Mark >> >> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of >> Richard Turner >> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2023 9:10 AM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: How Apple gave people access to a library full of classical music >> – and tried to make it accessible >> >> Greetings, >> The word “Accessible” in the title of this article refers to general >> accessibility to the world, not about disability. >> >> I found this article very informative for any classical music fan. I >> stripped out the ads and have the link to the original story at the end. >> >> How Apple gave people access to a library full of classical music – and >> tried to make it accessible >> There are 1,243 versions of Vivaldi’s Spring from the Four Seasons alone. >> Helping people through that was key to building the new Apple Music >> Classical app, senior staff at the venture tell David Phelan >> Sunday 29 October 2023 10:30 >> >> Earlier this year, Apple launched Apple Music Classical as a standalone >> music app that comes included in the price of Apple Music. It was an >> unusual move for a streaming platform perhaps more associated with Drake >> and Taylor Swift. And building it was a major undertaking, given the vast >> complexity of classical music libraries and the difficulties in navigating >> them. >> >> Apple Music Classical continues to grow. In its latest move, Apple >> announced a new partnership between Apple and the London Philharmonic >> Orchestra with the release of a live recording of Berlioz’s The Damnation >> of Faust coming on 3 November. This is just one of the partners Apple >> Music Classical has. >> >> From day one, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was a partner. The content >> from that orchestra is extensive, with recordings dating back to 1929. >> Some of it is unique to Apple and this exclusive content alone has already >> been streamed millions of times. >> >> Recently, senior staffers at the app talked exclusively to The >> Independent. >> >> Apple Music Classical came about because Apple realised that classical >> artists and fans were really not being served well by streaming. As part >> of its mission to use its engineering knowhow to fix this, it bought >> Primephonic, widely recognised as the classical streaming platform that >> succeeded where others had failed. It took more than a year of work before >> Apple was happy with what it had created and its release to a highly >> positive response. >> >> Now, classical music lovers don’t have to clamber past Justin Bieber and >> Taylor Swift to get to Bach and Rachmaninoff. >> >> Classical music provides challenges other kinds of music don’t, or at >> least not to the same extent. Instead of playing an album, artist or >> track, classical lovers have favourite composers, orchestras, soloists and >> so on. The search parameters are mind-boggling. Apple is well-equipped, >> with more classical music than anywhere else on the planet, and >> Primephonic’s brilliant data metrics were a starting point from which >> Apple’s engineers and expertise transformed the experience. Want to listen >> to Vivaldi’s Spring from the Four Seasons? Apple has 1,243 versions for >> you to choose from. If that sounds overwhelming, Apple has a solution: >> careful navigation with sophisticated search. >> >> Just as Apple Fitness+ has a mantra that everybody is welcome, no matter >> their fitness level or knowledge, Apple Music Classical is designed for >> seasoned devotees and newcomers alike. “If you didn’t know much about the >> world of classical, Apple Music Classical offers a structure so you can >> get into it. It’s centuries of music, right, so where do you start? It >> gives you an opportunity to get some perspective on it, explains Mariana >> Pimenta, who works in operations at Apple Music Classical, saying: “We >> don’t expect everybody who downloads it to be a professional musician, and >> we want everyone to experience classical music. Our goal is to bring as >> many people as possible to this service.” >> >> Marina Boiko is an editor. She goes on, “The story of classical is a great >> place to start and we’ve made sure there’s enough beginner-friendly >> content, such as playlists of periods or genres.” >> >> Not all traditional classical listeners will be especially tech-savvy, but >> that may not be a problem, as Guy Jones, global head of classical >> editorial, explains. “Lots of classical fans are new not just to >> technology but to streaming. The whole point of this product is to bring >> classical to streaming. It’s the musical genre that wasn’t really being >> streamed because the experience was previously so bad. The technical side >> of things may be less of a problem, especially as Apple’s guidelines >> around human interface design are baked into our product, but the >> challenge is more in explaining that streaming opens up opportunity and >> accessibility. >> >> “When I was first getting into classical music, I had to buy CDs. I had to >> choose carefully what CD I wanted to buy each month. The ability now to >> just pick a random composer and ask, ‘Do I like this composer?’ That >> ability to let you dip your toe in the water, I think that’s the real >> power of something like Apple Music Classical, and not just for beginners, >> for the experts too.” >> >> The absence of the Primephonic app while Apple Music Classical was being >> developed was down to getting it right, Carlos Anez Gomez, from the >> metadata team, says. “It took us time, but it paid off because we needed >> to take care with every single point and I think we managed to do it, both >> in human terms and the algorithms: we made a great balance between >> computer work and human work. Where Primephonic had a relatively small >> catalogue, Apple Music Classical has a huge number of albums, for >> example.” >> >> The London Philharmonic Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 >> with soloist Stephen Hough and Shostakovich Symphony No.10, conducted by >> Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis >> (Mark Allan) >> >> Boiko adds, “No one knows everything that has ever been recorded in the >> history of classical music. And in that sense, we put a lot of emphasis on >> the discovery element, especially when it comes to the underrepresented >> composers.” >> >> Each work has its own place, called the work page in Apple Music >> Classical, where you can find all the recordings, so it’s easy to compare >> different versions. Primephonic’s unique data continues to be essential. >> “The structured metadata, that’s the uniqueness of it,” Boiko says. “It >> makes it easy to find things even if you don’t know what you want. That >> structure, it’s what classical music apps needed and didn’t have. There >> are many ways not to get lost because you can search by ensemble, by >> orchestra or even by instrument.” >> >> The work page is important, then. As Gomez says, “People discovering music >> can check this work page and say, ‘Aha, there is a new piece by a certain >> composer and I have a work page which will give me all the information >> that I need.’ I discover music every day going through this.” >> >> Another key element is the playlist. Boiko goes on, “Playlists are >> structured in different ways. So, genre playlists are the best way for you >> to start listening to classical music. The story of classical is a >> narrated cycle, that guides you through all the centuries of music. >> >> “Then there are more specific playlists. You can listen to duets and trios >> and quartets or quintets and then it gives you an overview of all this >> chamber music and maybe something that you wouldn’t necessarily find on >> other platforms.” >> >> Jones explains the importance of the human touch. “I don’t think it’s >> widely known that at Apple it’s human curators behind the playlists. The >> assumption is that it’s all algorithms now. But for classical that’s a >> particularly important point, because it’s such a huge genre. People talk >> about classical like it’s one block and it’s really a thousand years of >> music from pretty much every country in the world. Our job is breaking >> classical into smaller chunks, to give people the agency to discover what >> they like, and to go down their own rabbit holes and feel more confident >> exploring.” >> >> How does Apple Music Classical find a way to appeal to everyone? Jones >> explains, “It’s a really hard thing to do, to cover that broad spectrum. >> It’s a constant tightrope walk because you have very knowledgeable people >> with clear ideas about what they think the genre is as well as trying to >> please newcomers. We strike that balance in terms of our editorial >> strategy by being as authentic and genuine as possible and conveying our >> passion for classical. For those hardcore classical nerds a big part of >> the product is the browse and the search as much as it is the editorial, I >> think for the newcomers, they use the editorial a lot more if they don’t >> know what to search for.” >> >> As it grows, there’s a lot more for Apple to do, and the team are working >> on changes and improvements. Here’s a last word from each of them about >> why the app matters. Gomez says, “People will discover that along with any >> classical library that they can have their access quickly to any recording >> they have.” >> >> As Boiko says, “It’s a lot of music. I think there’s not one person that >> wouldn’t find something they would love here.” >> >> Boiko has a different take on the importance of Apple Music Classical: >> “Maybe the listeners will have emotional responses to it. And at the end >> of the day music is there to make our lives better. It definitely enriches >> our lives.” >> >> Finally, Jones comments, “The thing about human curation is we are >> ultimately making a human decision. And so, for instance, if you choose a >> recommended recording for Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, you’re instantly >> upsetting everyone who has a strong opinion about their favourite. That’s >> what comes with the human aspect: this is our opinion, our recommendation, >> but you have the other recordings there to explore if you want them.” >> >> Full article with ads: >> https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/apple-music-classical-new-feature-iphone-ios-b2437303.html >> >> Richard, USA. >> “Reality is the leading cause of stress for those who are in touch with >> it.” -- Jane Wagner from The Search for Intelligent Life in the >> Universe >> >> My web site: https://www.turner42.com >> >> -- >> The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone >> list. >> >> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or >> if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the >> owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >> >> Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: >> mailto:[email protected]. 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Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at >> [email protected] >> >> The archives for this list can be searched at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "VIPhone" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/000001da0c82%24cbaac860%2463005920%24%40gmail.com. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: > [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/2F501C52-4429-4C55-BD2E-F93F7FCF532A%40gmail.com. > -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. 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