High Resolution Audio’s guide to getting the best Classical music streaming plan.
For lovers of Classical music one of the biggest issues they face on mainstream music streaming services is not so much a lack of tracks but the inability to find exactly what they are looking for. Classical works have multiple movements and tracks; famous pieces have hundreds of recordings with different orchestras, conductors, and soloists; and many composers have their own special catalogue classifications, from Bach’s BWV to Mozart’s K.
Classical music is also quite different from many popular music genres in having a wide dynamic range often from a piano solo instrument to a fortissimo full orchestra. To take advantage of this dynamic range, CD Quality lossless should be your starting audio quality and subject to having a sufficiently quiet listening environment and appropriate kit then HiRes will offer the very best HiFi experience.
To meet the Classical music enthusiasts’ needs a streaming service should have:
- a search function which will find works with all combinations of keywords, from composer and work, to opus number, conductor, artist, or instrument, and even a work’s nickname.
- a Classical catalogue covering the whole spectrum from celebrated recordings to forgotten gems.
- at least CD Quality lossless FLAC streaming and ideally 24-bit HiRes streaming.
Deciding on the best Classical music streaming plan can be difficult if you or your family have varied music tastes. In this case one of the mainstream music streamers who offer a variety of genres might be the way to go. Similarly, if you have family members with wildly differing musical tastes, opting to get rid of the kids K-Pop tracks in favour of a full-on diet of symphonies will do nothing for family harmony. If it’s only your individual choice and you are exclusively a classical music enthusiast then a specialist Classical music streaming service will prove to be a better choice.
Another consideration which makes comparisons difficult is that some music streamers talk about tracks and others reference the number of albums they have in their catalogue. Unlike pop music where tracks tend to be on the short side and often fairly similarly in length, classical works are often quite long with albums only having a few fairly long tracks reflecting the movements within a symphony for example.
So, with all this in mind we have divided up our recommendations into Mainstream Music Streamers and Specialist Classical Music Streamers in the hope that this will provide you with enough information to make an initial selection. Most of the streaming services offer a free introductory period – usually a month, but sometimes longer with promotions – giving you the opportunity to try these out before committing to a subscription plan.
Mainstream Music Streamers
The best value Classical music streaming service amongst the mainstream streamers is without a doubt Apple Music Classical. In 2021 Apple bought Primephonic – a dedicated Classical music streamer – and in March 2023 launched Apple Music Classical using Primephonic’s best features in the new service. Apple Music Classical comes as a completely free addition to an Apple Music subscription although you will have to use the dedicated Apple Music Classical app. Apple claim to have the world’s largest music catalogue of over 5 million tracks, lossless streaming (up to 192Hz/24-bit HiRes) and thousands of recordings in immersive spatial audio with Dolby Atmos. As with everything Apple, Apple Music Classical plays well with the Apple ecosystem but does now have an Android and a CarPlay app.
An individual plan cost £10.99/month and a family subscription for up to six members is £16.99/month with each user in a family subscription being able to access both Apple Music and/or the Classical app.
In second place comes Qobuz which boasts a significant portfolio of classical music tracks. It also offers both CD Quality and HiRes streaming plus a download service which has CD Quality, HiRes and DSD/DXD tracks. Whilst it doesn’t have a specialist Classical Music search function the catalogue is divided up into sub genres making it easier to navigate. The recent addition of Linn Records classical catalogue to its download service may well be the clinching argument to go with Qobuz.
Not far behind, TIDAL also has an extensive catalogue of Classical music available in CD Quality and HiRes lossless FLAC although not quite as large as Qobuz. The streamer also has editorial articles on Classical music although there is no specialist Classical Music search function. Amazon Music with both CD Quality and HiRes streaming coupled with a Prime discount represents good value for money but again does not have a specialist Classical music search function.
Deezer has a CD Quality lossless streaming service and although not one the ‘big beasts’ in the streaming jungle is well worth a look.
The other mainstream services all have issues which make a recommendation difficult to make. Napster has some lossless tracks but is rather coy on how many are available; Spotify despite being one of the most popular streamers still doesn’t have a lossless service; and YouTube Music has the worst audio quality of all the streamers and would not appeal to the discerning Classical music listener. SoundCloud is more focussed on new and popular music so is not really in the running in this category.
Before leaving this category, it is worth mentioning Freegal. Its catalogue contains over 18 million songs with over a million classical tracks. The service is only available via libraries and so if your local library subscribes to their service, you may be able to access these tracks for free. Our article on Free music from your library has more details.
Specialist Classical Music Streamers
IDAGIO is probably the best known of the specialist classical music streamers and has CD Quality lossless streaming and a dedicated Classical music search function. It has a catalogue of over 2 million tracks and exclusive releases, and there are also videos of concerts, operas and dance ‘for the ultimate classical experience.’ Their Premium Audio plan is €12.99/month plus €3.68/month extra for the video add-on. Their trial period is only 14 days but this should be enough to determine if this service is for you.
Naxos Music Library bills itself as “The most comprehensive classical music streaming platform. An invaluable resource for universities, public libraries, schools, music professionals and collectors.” The catalogue contains over 3 million tracks, the libretti of over 65 and synopses of close to 1000 operas, over 40,000 composer and artist biographies and Study Guides for music curriculums in Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Korea, UK and the US. At £26.16/month for a Premium Quality plan it is not the cheapest but you may find that your local library subscribes to this service and you will be able to access it with your library card for free. See our article on Free music from your local library.
Presto Music is an interesting choice as it is a combination music streaming and download service specialising in Classical music and Jazz much of which is in HiRes. There are over 200,000 albums and 70,000 booklets available in their Streaming plan which is available for £10.99/month. Downloads and physical media are also available including CDs, SACDs and vinyl LPs.
Pristine Classical is another combination music streaming and download service which specialises in historic recordings of Classical Music. Their streaming service offers both 320kbps MP3 or CD Quality Lossless FLAC. A subscription to their streaming service is €10/month.
Try before you buy
All of our top choice music streamers offer a free trial period so you have the opportunity to try all of them before committing to any one of them. None of them tie you into a contract so you are able to cancel at any time.
Mainstream Music Streamers
Amazon Music/Amazon Music Unlimited
Amazon Music is an ad-free on-demand service offering online access and offline playback to 100 million tracks, ad-free podcasts and thousands of playlists and stations and is included free with an Amazon Prime account. Audio quality is restricted to their lossy SD quality (256kbps). Prime membership is £8.99/month or £95 for an annual subscription. Two adults can link Amazon Prime accounts in an Amazon Household account but unfortunately Prime Music is not shareable. There is no dedicated Classical music function and Family plans are not available.
Amazon Music Unlimited is an ad-free on-demand service offering online access and offline playback to Amazon’s complete catalogue of 100 million tracks and podcasts. There are more than 70 million tracks in CD Quality Lossless FLAC (branded HD), millions of tracks in HiRes (branded Ultra HD) and an unknown number of tracks in spatial audio. Access to all these lossless formats are included in the basic subscription price. An individual subscription costs £11.99/month (£10.99 for Prime members) and a Family plan will set you back £19.99/month – both options available with a 30-day free trial. The Family Plan allows up to six accounts with streaming on up to six devices at once.
There is no dedicated Classical music function.
Apple Music/Apple Music Classical
Apple Music/Apple Music Classical has a catalogue of over 100 million tracks in CD Quality, HiRes and spatial formats. An individual subscription plan costs £10.99/month and a family subscription for up to six members is £16.99/month. For this you get access to two apps – Apple Music and Apple Music Classical – with the Classical app having a dedicated Classical Music search function to over 5 million tracks. As you would expect there is easy integration into the Apple ecosystem and recently, they have introduced an Android and a dedicated Carplay app.
Deezer
Deezer Premium is an ad-free on demand service offering online access and offline playback to 120 million tracks in CD Quality Lossless FLAC and this will cost you £11.99/month. A Family Plan is available for up to 6 users and a total of 13 devices across all six Deezer Family profiles and will set you back £18.25/month when paid annually. Each user can have their own profile which allows kids, teens and parents to enjoy the music they like.
There are a number of playlists such as Mozart Recomposed and Opera Classics but there is no dedicated Classical music search function.
Freegal
Freegal’s catalogue contains over 18 million songs with over a million classical tracks. The service is only available via libraries and so if your local library subscribes to their service, you may be able to access these tracks for free. Our article on Free music from your library has more details.
Napster
Napster has come a long way from its peer to peer file sharing days. It now offers an ad-free on-demand service with a catalogue of over 110 million tracks some of which are now lossless for £10.99/month. A family plan for up to 6 accounts is available for £14.99/month. There is no dedicated Classical music search function and the number of Classical music tracks is unknown.
Qobuz
Qobuz has two subscription tiers, both of which offer a Family plan. For the smaller family they offer a Duo subscription for couples and more information can be found here.
Studio – This gives you access to over 100 million tracks in lossless FLAC many up to 24-bit/192kHz. There is an offline listening feature in this package. An individual subscription comes in at £10.83/month and a Family subscription for 6 come in at £17.99/month on an annual subscription.
Sublime – You get everything in the Studio package plus a discount of 60% on HiRes downloads. An individual subscription comes in at £14.99/month and Family subscriptions for 6 come in at £17.99/month on an annual subscription.
There is an extensive Classical music catalogue on Qobuz which could be as high as 19 million tracks according to a recent statement by the company. It does not have a dedicated Classical music search function but its catalogue is divided up into sub genres making it easier to navigate.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud offers individual plans (SoundCloud Go+) starting at £10.99/month with a student discount of 50%. There is a restricted SoundCloud Go plan offering limited access to the full catalogue which comes in at £5.99/month. However, there are no couples and family plans available. Classical Music is not really SoundCloud’s forte – it is very much geared to showcasing new music. If searching out the latest trends in popular music is where your musical tastes lie, then SoundCloud is the place to head to.
Spotify
Spotify offers Individual, Duo, Family and Student subscription plans. A Premium individual subscription is £11.99/month and a Duo subscription is £16.99. A Premium Family subscription for 6 comes in at £19.99/month. Classical Music can be found on the streamer but there is no dedicated search function and despite promises of a lossless streaming option this has yet to materialise.
TIDAL
TIDAL recently amalgamated its HiFi and HiFi Plus plans into one low priced tier offering Individual, Family and Student options. It has an extensive catalogue of Classical music available in CD Quality and HiRes lossless FLAC plus editorial articles on Classical music although there is no specialist Classical Music search function.
Individual – this offers 110M+ tracks in lossless, HiRes FLAC and Dolby Atmos; Ad-free, offline listening and personalized mixes, editorial playlists, and Live sessions at £10.99/month. MQA files are still available when these have been supplied by the artists’ record companies.
Family (up to 6 members) – there are 110M+ tracks in lossless, HiRes FLAC and Dolby Atmos; Clean playlists and curated content for kids and each member has an individual account. Family plans cost £16.99/month.
Students can get a discount of 50% on an individual plan but there are no couples plans available.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music offers access to an ad-free streaming service with over 100 million songs, videos and live performances. An individual plan cost £10.99/month with a Family plan for up to 6 individuals coming in at £16.99/month. A Student subscription can be had for £5.49/month but there is no couples plan. Whilst Classical Music can be found on the streamer, the audio quality at 256kbps AAC and Opus this combined with no dedicated Classical Music search function is unlikely to appeal to the serious Classical Music enthusiast.
Specialist Classical music streaming services
IDAGIO
IDAGIO is a specialist classical music streamer which does not offer a Family Plan. Their CD Quality streaming service called Premium Audio will cost you €12.99/month, a 320kbps MP3/AAC stream plan called Basic Audio at €9.99/month and a restricted feature Free plan. Students can get a 50% discount on all plans. There is also a Premium Audio + Video plan which gives you access to exclusive videos of classical music concerts and international music competitions some of which are livestreamed. This top end plan costs €29.99/month billed yearly for €199.00. There is no couples plan.
The streamer has a dedicated search function and a catalogue of over 2 million Classical Music tracks. If you don’t have a requirement for HiRes streaming and your tastes are exclusively Classical Music then this could be the streaming services of choice.
NAXOS Music Library
Naxos Music library with its catalogue of over 3 million tracks is a bit of an odd man out here. An individual subscription at £26.16/month makes it one of the most expensive subscription plans. However, if you are fortunate enough to live or work in an area where your local library service subscribes to Naxos then all of this can be yours entirely free with your library card. See our article on Free music from your local library for more information.
Presto Music
Presto Music is an interesting choice as it is a combination music streaming and download service specialising in Classical music and Jazz much of which is in HiRes. There are over 200,000 albums and 70,000 booklets available in their Streaming plan which is available for £10.99/month. Downloads and physical media are also available including CDs, SACDs and vinyl LPs.
Pristine Classical
PristineClassical.com was launched in 2005 and specialises in bringing classic historic recordings back to life using cutting edge digital technology and making them available as high quality downloads and on compact disc. They also offer a streaming service which has 12,000+ unique, remastered classics from 2,500+ composers, ensembles, and artists. Audio quality can be either 320kbps MP3 or CD Quality Lossless FLAC. A subscription to their streaming service is €10/month and would appeal to Classical Music enthusiasts who want to listen to performances from artists and orchestras of earlier generations.
