Kelly, Thanks for the tip about the Oscar Peterson recordings. I was fortunate and saw him with Ella Fitzgerald in the 80's in concert. An amazing evening! Sounds like you had a great summer!
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 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Kelly Pierce Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2023 3:22 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: How Apple gave people access to a library full of classical music – and tried to make it accessible 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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