Primephonic
Primephonic was a classical music streaming service that was acquired by Apple in 2021. Envisioned as a supplement to major streaming services, Primephonic aimed to address the classical music niche with search features customized for the genre, hand-coded metadata, and compensation for artists based on time streamed, not tracks played.[1] Access to the service ultimately ceased in September 2021.[2]
History
[edit]Primephonic was co-founded by CEO Thomas Steffens, Simon Eder, and Veronica Neo in 2014.[3][4][5] The company launched as a download service before adding streaming services in 2017.[4]
In 2020, Henrique Boregio, the company's chief technology officer (CTO), stated that a majority of Primephonic's users "are age 55 plus and are highly educated and relatively well off".[6]
On August 30, 2021, Apple Inc. announced that they had acquired the company. Access to the service was ended on September 7, 2021.[2] On March 28, 2023, Apple released Apple Music Classical—a secondary app for Apple Music subscribers that incorporates similar features.[7] The app uses much of the music and data from Primephonic.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Smith, Adam (June 21, 2019). "Primephonic Wants to Save Classical Music, 1 Stream at a Time". PC Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ a b "Apple acquires classical music streaming service Primephonic". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ Flockett, Anna. "From startup to successful sale in four years". Startups Magazine. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
- ^ a b Lunny, Oisin. "Meet Primephonic, The Streaming Company On A Mission To Save Classical Music". Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
- ^ "Apple acquires Amsterdam-based premium classical music streaming service Primephonic - Silicon Canals". siliconcanals.com. August 31, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
- ^ Heater, Brian (August 30, 2021). "Apple buys classical music service, Primephonic". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Peters, Jay. "Apple Music Classical is now available from the App Store". The Verge. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
- ^ Charlton, Hartley. "Apple Music Classical: 15 Things You Need to Know About the New App". MacRumors. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
Further reading
[edit]- Gelt, Jessica (September 11, 2018). "Roll over, Beethoven, you're streaming now; Primephonic offers classical music fans million-plus tracks at their fingertips". Los Angeles Times. p. E.3. ISSN 0458-3035. ProQuest 2101736526.
- McDermott, Sarah (July 21, 2020). "Hate classical music? This app wants to change your mind". CNET. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- Sisario, Ben (June 23, 2019). "In Streaming Age, Classical Music Gets Lost in the Metadata". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
External links
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