# Classical streaming services



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Does anyone have any suggestions of good music streaming services? I listen to most of my classical through youtube, but I would like to find a better service. I would ideally like a service that lets you catalog and organize your favorite music, as I find that all too often I can't keep track of what all I've listened to! Amazon prime recently released "prime music", but the selection is atrocious for classical - it's difficult to find even many well-known things on there. 

I know of spotify/rhapsody, but I don't know how good their selections are. Does anyone have any other recommendations? To clarify, I'm not looking for a radio station, I'm looking for something that lets you pick what you want to listen to specifically.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Spotify is probably your best bet. It's the biggest streaming service available currently with the highest selection (most CDs that are on iTunes are on Spotify), it allows you to create playlists and playlist folders, it allows you to have some songs offline and it even supports playing your downloaded files along with their files available for streaming. 

There aren't any streaming services I've found that have a bigger selection than Spotify, so if a large selection is one of your major requirements, that's the one I would go with.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I recently signed up for Songza and Rdio, because I read about them in the news, as well as hoopla, because the public library recently got it, but I'm just not a streaming kind of guy. I like to go on You Tube (or to my CD collection, even more) to hear exactly what I choose. When I want to hear something new, I already know which composer I want to try out, either because I saw a listing for an album, or the composer was mentioned somewhere (on TC, an article, a web site).

Streaming assumes that I am open to what they want to subject me to and what they think is similar to what I like, am listening to, or my friends like, etc.

That's just not how I discover music and listen.

Rdio lets you choose exactly what you want, but they will play random tracks after your stuff has ended, unless you cue more. I don't think Songza worked like that. It was based on moods. There is always Naxos Music Library. It is like a huge album collection and you pick what you want. I use that one a lot, too.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

I am using Qobuz. I don't know if it is available in your country. In Europe it's available almost everywhere and they also have an UK-English website
I am quite happy with them. Their selection is very good. 
Their streaming quality is the highest on the market, I believe. With their "Hi-Fi" option they deliver "True CD quality" at 16 bit/44.1kHz which is noticeably better than the 320kbps delivered by Spotify (the Premium option). Moreover, you can sign up for their "Hi-Fi" classical music streaming service only, which is cheaper than their standard Hi-Fi subscription.
Then basically it has the same features of Spotify: playlists, offline downloads, applications for Windows, iDevices, Android, etc...


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

GioCar said:


> I am using Qobuz. I don't know if it is available in your country. In Europe it's available almost everywhere and they also have an UK-English website
> I am quite happy with them. Their selection is very good.
> Their streaming quality is the highest on the market, I believe. With their "Hi-Fi" option they deliver "True CD quality" at 16 bit/44.1kHz which is noticeably better than the 320kbps delivered by Spotify (the Premium option). Moreover, you can sign up for their "Hi-Fi" classical music streaming service only, which is cheaper than their standard Hi-Fi subscription.
> Then basically it has the same features of Spotify: playlists, offline downloads, applications for Windows, iDevices, Android, etc...


I really wish Qobuz were available in the U.S.  It sounds awesome. My main issue with streaming services is that I'm a bit of an audiophile and I always find quality lacking in streaming services.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Another vote for Spotify. It's free on your pc but it's pay service on your phone.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> I recently signed up for Songza and Rdio, because I read about them in the news, as well as hoopla, because the public library recently got it, but I'm just not a streaming kind of guy. I like to go on You Tube (or to my CD collection, even more) to hear exactly what I choose. When I want to hear something new, I already know which composer I want to try out, either because I saw a listing for an album, or the composer was mentioned somewhere (on TC, an article, a web site).
> 
> Streaming assumes that I am open to what they want to subject me to and what they think is similar to what I like, am listening to, or my friends like, etc.
> 
> ...


The reason I didn't like Rdio is that I found that a lot of albums were listed as "unavailable for streaming" even though they appeared in the search--and these same albums were available on Spotify. Have you ever noticed that happening?


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Tristan said:


> I really wish Qobuz were available in the U.S.  It sounds awesome. My main issue with streaming services is that I'm a bit of an audiophile and I always find quality lacking in streaming services.


Maybe you won't have to wait too long...
Afaik Qobuz showed for the first time at last CES in Las Vegas.
I found their presentation:






Are they really going to launch their services in the U.S. market by the end of 2014?

Or maybe looking for a buyer? :devil:


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Tristan said:


> The reason I didn't like Rdio is that I found that a lot of albums were listed as "unavailable for streaming" even though they appeared in the search--and these same albums were available on Spotify. Have you ever noticed that happening?


No. Like all streaming services, I sign up due to a recommendation in a news report, and then I find the same incompatibilities with my listening style, so I rarely delve deeper. I find at least 90% of what I want on YT and Naxos Music Library. I don't need to hear the exact same performance to know whether I want to buy an album and sometimes it even suffices to hear lots of other works by a composer to know that I would probably like the piece I am considering.

The couple of albums I did try on Rdio streamed just fine.

Stargazer, I think Rdio lets you make playlists, so you can sort of catalogue your music.

What I would like is to have these services integrated with Google+ so that you are able to view and listen and chat all on the same platform. Google purchased Songza recently, but I am not sure what kind of integration with their Play service they are planning (and Play is primarily geared to mobile listening in a radio format, I think).


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I can't think of anything more exciting than discovering a great composer I didn't know about before. The unfamiliar is best as far as I'm concerned. t think it's very important to push my tastes outside the box. I have friends that listen to the same music all the time... a couple people I know listen to the same music at 50 that they listened to in High School. I can't help feeling sorry for them.

The key to growing beyond your comfort zone is to have someone curating for you... someone who knows the territory already guiding your exploration. It's best when that is a real flesh and blood person. I'm always looking for those kinds of people, but as I get further and further along with music, it gets harder to find people who have something to offer me. Automated curation, like Spotify can work very well. But you have to be clever about the feedback you give it so it pushes into new areas instead of delivering the same old same old.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Does anyone have any suggestions for actually searching on Spotify? With the way that it lists everything as "Artists" and "Albums", it doesn't seem very easy to find what you're looking for when it comes to classical.

Also, does anyone use Naxos regularly? I went to their site for the preview, and it looked amazing! The search feature on there was almost perfect. It is quite pricey for a subscription though, so I want to make sure that it is really that good before I sign up.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Stargazer said:


> Does anyone have any suggestions for actually searching on Spotify? With the way that it lists everything as "Artists" and "Albums", it doesn't seem very easy to find what you're looking for when it comes to classical.
> 
> Also, does anyone use Naxos regularly? I went to their site for the preview, and it looked amazing! The search feature on there was almost perfect. It is quite pricey for a subscription though, so I want to make sure that it is really that good before I sign up.


Yes, it's very good. I use it every day simply to listen to recordings that I don't own. I think it's important to subscribe to the higher-priced service; if not, you could find the sound quality sub-par.


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## echmain (Jan 18, 2013)

I've found that my listening habits fall into two modes,

* Music from my own collection 
* radio mode where I want randomness

For the second one, I listen either to an actual radio station or Pandora. I've been using Pandora for only a month or so (as a free user), but I'm happy with what I'm hearing.

They have a pre-made station called "Classical Complete Performances" where you get the entire work, not just one movement. I haven't seen that on any other streaming service.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

echmain said:


> I've found that my listening habits fall into two modes,
> 
> * Music from my own collection
> * radio mode where I want randomness
> ...


I don't know about Spotify, but Naxos Music Library offers complete performances.


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## echmain (Jan 18, 2013)

Does NML have a radio mode or stations like the other services?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

echmain said:


> Does NML have a radio mode or stations like the other services?


Well, Naxos has a radio web service, but that is not covered by the subscription to NML. You need to go to the Naxos website to find out how it all works and what it costs. I have the NML subscription; not interested in their radio service or any other for that matter.


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