Apple Music Classical Expanding to More Countries Later This Month - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Music Classical Expanding to More Countries Later This Month

Apple Music Classical will be available in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao starting January 24, according to a post from Apple on X, formerly known as Twitter. The app can be pre-ordered now on the App Store in these regions.

apple music classical
Apple Music Classical first launched in most other countries last March, offering Apple Music subscribers access to over five million classical music tracks at no additional cost. The app features advanced search functionality, exclusive artwork, extensive metadata, curated listening recommendations, and more.

The app is available on the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. It is built upon Primephonic, a classical music streaming service acquired by Apple in 2021.

In the U.S., a standard Apple Music subscription costs $10.99 per month.

Popular Stories

apple music

Apple Music Is Down for Some Users

Monday April 20, 2026 12:18 pm PDT by
If Apple Music isn't working for you, you're not alone. According to Apple's System Status page, there's currently an Apple Music outage. Apple says that users may be experiencing intermittent issues with the service. The outage started at 2:38 p.m. Eastern Time, and it is ongoing. We'll update this article when the outage has been...
Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

Saturday May 9, 2026 6:03 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...

Top Rated Comments

orbital~debris Avatar
31 months ago
Is one of those countries Mac?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carswell Avatar
31 months ago
Yawn.

Had such high expectations for Apple Classical, most of them dashed upon release.

Lack of support for lossless and hi-res playback on some Apple and most non-Apple devices, including my Sonos system, ended up being the dealbreaker for me.

Fortunately, Qobuz showed up in Canada soon after AC went live. Switched and haven't looked back, though Qobuz's search engine could be better. Then again, so could Apple Classical's...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
31 months ago
Please put it on Apple TV.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
freedomlinux Avatar
31 months ago

The app can be pre-ordered now on the App Store in these regions.
I better hurry before the App Store sells out /s
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carswell Avatar
31 months ago

I wonder why classical music specifically requires it's own service. Any ideas?
This has been discussed ad infinitum in earlier Apple Classical threads but basically boils down to the fact that classical works don't really fit the artist-album-track model used in most streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

For example, if the artist is the performer, where does the composer go (or vice versa)?

These issues are especially problematic when it comes to search engines: how many symphony no. 3s or sonatas in D minor are there and how do you distinguish between them? what if I want to search for a specific movement in a work? what if I want to search by catalogue number (BWV for J.S. Bach's works, K for Mozart's and others, including duplicate catalogues and very obscure ones)? Etc., etc.

It can usually be done in Apple Music and Spotify, though finding a specific album or track may require several different searches before you get it and sometimes you just won't. In Apple Classical, it's better though far from perfect (The New Yorker's classical music critic Alex Ross's takedown is worth reading) and usually excellent in Idagio.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
31 months ago
How about expanding to CarPlay?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)