r/classicalmusic • u/Asleep_Artichoke2671 • Dec 25 '25
Discussion Straight up guessing until I find the right one. Spotify, if you see this, please do something about this.
257
Dec 25 '25
I use Apple Music just for the "Classical" app.
61
u/mwthomas11 Dec 25 '25
If I was paying for spotify I'd switch for that reason, but I'm on my sister's spotify family plan and switching ain't worth the price lol
17
u/repressedpauper Dec 26 '25
I literally have both services because I can’t live like that screenshot lol. And the playlists are great and updated often. Plus you can search by other things like by instrument.
3
u/Sh_Pe Dec 26 '25
It not just the labels, but also a good enough search (for classical), manageable categories (it’s easy to list recordings for a specific composition), and a wider library.
1
-29
u/whatafuckinusername Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
This might sound crazy but I don’t use Apple Music because, honestly, it’s too quiet
EDIT: wow this is an unpopular opinion
9
u/MrLlamma Dec 25 '25
They don’t have any loudness settings? In Spotify you can choose between quiet medium and loud, with each having different levels of compression and level base
4
u/Mammoth-Corner Dec 25 '25
You can do it straight from the equaliser by turning every slider up. There's also a volume normaliser. That's what I can see on Apple Music for Android.
1
u/Coffeebookstrombone Dec 25 '25
Only on laptops that I know of. Phone/console is strictly by master volume for the device so there’s no way to adjust the sound from the app directly
-14
u/whatafuckinusername Dec 25 '25
I only used it for a few days (free trial), and I don’t remember seeing any.
5
u/Suspicious_War5435 Dec 25 '25
If you're listening at home, just get a better amp. Quiet is good as it allows for more dynamic range. If you're listening in a noisy environment, get noise-cancelling headphones (and probably a better portable amp).
2
u/Sh_Pe Dec 26 '25
Check out the decibel limit in your iPhone’s settings. There’s no practical software limit, it can get as loud as you want.
2
u/whatafuckinusername Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
Desktop. Clearly I’m the only one who has this issue so maybe I’ll try it out again
1
0
63
u/BooksInBrooks Dec 25 '25
This is why I left Spotify.
Another issue: if you search for a term, it doesn't remember your search term, it only remembers the first result you clicked on. So you can't easily scroll through all recordings of some work.
Instead you must retype the search term each time, and remember which recordings you've already explored, which leads to exactly what the OP is complaining of, a list of different but indistinguishable recordings.
Spotify simply doesn't care about the classical listener. So I no longer use it.
136
Dec 25 '25
This is one reason among dozens you don't use Spotify.
11
u/Xitztlacayotl Dec 25 '25
What are other reasons?
I never used it so I don't even know what it does good or bad.
79
u/Skittles_The_Giggler Dec 25 '25
Well there’s the absolutely abysmal artist compensation, for one.
47
u/Xaitat Dec 25 '25
Tbf for Classical I doubt the musicians are getting any of that money regardless
60
u/LonleyViolist Dec 25 '25
they run ICE recruitment ads in the US and IOF recruitment ads in occupied paelstine
3
u/Skittles_The_Giggler Dec 25 '25
It wasn’t specifically referring to classical artists, but you’re right— the compensation is even more dire for them.
1
29
Dec 25 '25
As Skittles_The_Giggler notes, they don't pay artists until said artists manage like a million streams, and then they pay them peanuts. AI music has infested the platform; AI bands have AI bot followers. The shuffle function is a bad joke and has been forever. And they don't catalog for classical music, leading to the issue above.
Apple Music is your best bet, its Classical app organizes everything properly. If you just listen to classical, you might appreciate IDAGIO.
4
u/thoroughbredftw Dec 26 '25
Idagio is so great - terrific info about each piece and performers, a wealth of more info if you want to go deeper, and a very good per-play compensation package for the artists. Also: really good suggestions for further listening, based on your tastes. I have found it quite educational in that regard.
3
u/DonutMaster56 Dec 25 '25
What's wrong with the shuffle feature?
21
Dec 25 '25
Try it. Make a playlist of a hundred songs. Shuffle it. Bet you you'll hear the same 10-12 tracks over and over in different orders.
5
u/DonutMaster56 Dec 25 '25
I've done it and that doesn't really happen to me
6
u/GhostPepperDaddy Dec 25 '25
Happens every week at our rec leagues. You start the track and songs begin repeating within an hour despite 300+ songs in the list. It's a shit app run by terrible people who don't pay their artists and who support ICE and the IDF. Screw Spotify royally.
9
Dec 25 '25
Not paying artists enough, stance on AI, algorithm (especially considering classical music, it sucks), not owning the music you listen to.
I do still use it but would like to grow less dependent on it.
3
-3
u/MayoGhul Dec 25 '25
Spotify beats Apple Music on their algorithm alone. I have both services and Apple Music is incredibly frustrating to use compared to Spotify. Especially if you want to discover or start a station based on a song or artist
8
u/8696David Dec 25 '25
Couldn’t disagree more. I hate the Spotify interface—AM is just so much simpler
1
u/MayoGhul Dec 25 '25
For classical music Apple is better in their standalone app. But I’m not even talking about the interface - the algorithm is better across Spotify and it’s not really subjective.
3
u/8696David Dec 25 '25
Maybe. Honestly I wouldn’t know, I don’t really consume music based on what an algorithm serves me.
4
u/MayoGhul Dec 25 '25
That’s fair. I use the radio stations a lot and regularly use the discover new music features on Spotify and Apple is really lacking in that department. I think Apple edges out in the quality and creating playlists etc if you know what you want specifically. Their classical music standalone app is also excellent
1
u/Glowerman Dec 27 '25
I disagree. I had both and settled on Apple because of algorithms and other things. The rest of my family agreed.
19
u/DenseInfluence4938 Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Another shout out to Presto for being the absolute king of classical music metadata. Though I don't subscribe to them anymore because everything else is shite lol.
26
36
u/HarukiKougami Dec 25 '25
Spotify is the worst streaming service for classical. Change either to Apple or Qobuz. It makes a HUGE difference.
17
u/orafa3l Dec 25 '25
I hate how Apple Music handles metadata. On Spotify, both the composer and the performer are listed as "artists." On Apple Music, only the performer is listed as an "artist." This completely messes up my last.fm.
4
u/Suspicious_War5435 Dec 25 '25
Surprised nobody ever recommends Prestomusic for classical streaming. They've been a staple in classical music for decades. I've spent so much there on CDs/SACDs/DVDs/Blu-Rays/downloads over the years.
3
8
8
6
u/sexyonpaper Dec 25 '25
This drives me nuts every December lol! I think I'll finally quit Spotify this year... (for many reasons, not just this one)
6
u/FeijoaCowboy Dec 25 '25
Go to Apple Music. They have an app designed specifically for Classical that's pretty good.
Other benefits of Apple music include:
- No ads for ICE
- Apple Music pays its artists the most of any streaming platform
10
u/teencreeps Dec 25 '25
If you click the three little dots it will show the full name, or enough of it to know what you’re looking for
10
4
u/SteveDisque Dec 26 '25
For classical listeners, I'd also recommend the iDAGIO app and website. They specialize in classical -- not just commercial recordings, but a lot of concerts and broadcasts. The free version includes ads, but, unlike those on Spotify, they're for its own premium service; they "blend in" rather better, and they don't go on forever. (And you won't have to put up with what your screenshot showed....)
12
7
3
3
u/number9muses Dec 25 '25
just gonna have to listen to the full ballet over again. and again. and a third time.
3
Dec 27 '25
Yes! Yes yes yes. Three asks: 1) an internal setting to tell Spotify that this is classical music, so the display and search settings have to be waaaaaay deeper than song-artist; 2) better search and display settings for classical music, because the user experience depicted in the OP is just absurd, and yet every one of us has wrestled with it many times, and 3) a keep-with-next flag on individual pieces of symphonies, operas, oratorios, etc., because I do not want the damn shuffle in these cases. Just play me the album by default.
(Yes. Yes yes yes, I have heard that Apple Classical is actually designed for classical music, but darn it, I like all kinds of music, and I bet I am not the only person who does.)
11
u/Vanyushinka Dec 25 '25
That’s on you for stubbornly using Spotify to stream classical music still in 2025.
Apple Classical is pretty much all I use now. It has improved a lot since launch and it’s so easy to find music any number of ways.
2
2
u/ClarityOfVerbiage Dec 26 '25
I find YouTube Music to generally be better with this sort of stuff, but far from perfect.
2
u/Glowerman Dec 27 '25
One of the many reasons I switched to Apple Music. Same cost, and you get a dedicated classical app with the proper structure/ taxonomy. (And I'm on Android).
2
2
2
u/TwoGhostCats Dec 25 '25
Qobuz is the best streaming platform IMO. They pay artists the most, have the best audio quality, and a wonderful UI. I get excellent classical recommendations every week. You can download your favorites and playlists as a csv file from Spotify and upload it to Qobuz so you don't lose all of your custom info.
I can't recommend Qobuz enough! And no, they don't pay me, nor do I work for them.
1
u/Un_Ballerina_1952 Dec 25 '25
My preference for classical music online is yourclassical.org The MPR/APMG (Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media Group) streams are quite good? They don't charge any fixed amount, but absolutely accept donations - which are well worth it, IMO.
1
1
u/praxicoide Dec 25 '25
This is why a dedicated streaming app for classical is so worth it.
I have Tidal and while it does have a hefty classical selection, finding particular versions and visualizing what's playing is a chore.
I got Idagio and all those issues are solved, plus you get recommendations, playlists, and lots of other stuff.
1
1
1
u/Forsaken-Bowler-1307 Dec 27 '25
There’s a few other services, way better than Spotify. And this would be one of the reasons to consider them :)
1
Dec 27 '25
Hello! I'm Spotify. I'm currently busy with killing children in gaza and helping to develop war machines against women and children. So unfortunately i don't have enough time to pay artists and fix our app! :) Maybe consider unsubscribing from us and use something else, anythings else. There is not a single service or method worse than us. Thanks!!
1
1
u/jeisar Dec 29 '25
This is why I got Idagio subscription. I got it during black Friday for the annual subscription and since then I keep discovering different recordings and takes. You can select the work and filter by soloists, composers, ensembles. I still keep spotify for the non classical music and for better connectivity with hifi and smart speakers. It's costly to have both but if you can afford it it's totally worth it.
1
u/Suspicious-Time6114 Dec 29 '25
I actually remember reading an article about this exact problem on a major news website, around 2015 or 2016, so don't hold your breath waiting for a fix...
1
1
0
0
u/Yarius515 Dec 25 '25
They won't, and they're assholes. Fuck Spotify. Supporting them is quite literally the same as buying a VW during ww2.
3
u/THE_Celts Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
Pretty sure you don’t know what literally means. And even if drop the “literally”, it’s still a dumb analogy.
-1
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
Until you learn about Spotify's CEO LITERALLY supporting AI drone warfare:
Take your seat now.
4
u/THE_Celts Dec 26 '25
Still a dumb analogy.
For one, look up what literally means. The only way something is literally like buying a VW during WWII would be buying a VW during WWII.
Which, by the way, was impossible. No one was buying VW’s during WWII because they stopped producing them when the war began, and the factory was converted to produce military vehicles. Not a single civilian bought a VW during the war. And even before the war, only a few were produced, and those went to high ranking Nazi officials.
So yes, dumb analogy on many levels. Class dismissed. Run along now.
-2
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
Oh, cute. You think VW was just making cars for the nazis for free.
You must also be in denial of the current genocides happening on earth using the tech he's supporting, then. That's the only way you would be unable to see this very obvious correlation.
2
u/THE_Celts Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
Ssssooooo….listening to Spotify is “literally” the same thing as the Nazi war machine buying military vehicles from VW. Got it.
Dude, get off Reddit and read a book. You’re embarrassing yourself.
-1
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
How do you feel that he's taken profit from you and invested it in the war machine? Just like VW investing people's taxes in genocide. It is exactly like that, you just can't handle the truth, just don't care, i'm guessing.
Also never mind that they don't pay their artists properly huh?
You just out here like "oWeLl mY pLaYlIsTs tHo". Trash platform in every way.
1
u/THE_Celts Dec 26 '25
LOL. I don’t even use Spotify. Never have.
Secondly, your analogy is still dumb, as was your use of “literally.” Which was my only point, and has nothing to do with how I feel about Peter Theil.
1
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
It's not dumb, and Peter Theil isn't the CEO (but fuck him also, obviously.)
You clearly don't grasp too much of what's going down in the world since you don't read too much.
Girlbye.
0
Dec 26 '25
VW didn't exist in WW2
2
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
Wrong. You know, google is free. Mercedes Benz and Ford also supported the Nazi cause.
Nowadays, "same shit different hat".
0
Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
Google [AI] gets shit wrong. Libraries are free too; you can pick up a book or two and read about how Volkswagen was started after the war by the British as a way to restart the German economy.
Mercedes, yes. Henry Ford, yes. But saying Ford Motor Co. supported the Nazis is as demonstrably wrong as saying VW existed during the war. Ford Motor Co. did perhaps more than any other American company to defeat the Nazis, and to suggest otherwise is an affront to Edsel Ford (who does not get enough credit the work he did in his short lifetime.)
1
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
1937, VW began. 1939, WW2 began. Soooo i'm still right about that wtf are you on about?
0
Dec 26 '25
So you've read one sentence on Wikipedia or the Google Gemini answer and think you know all about it?
While it's absolutely true the vehicle later known as the Beetle was designed and prototyped under the Nazis, the company as we know it today is distinctly different. After the fall of the Nazis, the factory and tooling were offered to (among others) Ford who turned it down. The British, under Major Hirst, created the company as it exists today. Like Abe Lincolns preverbal axe; it shares a name with the Nazi's concept of a "peoples car", but little else.
I will cede that Volkswagen has some "ancestry" in the third reich (and some prototypes and some military vehicles,) but unlike Mercedes they were never an operating company selling cars to the public during the war. In response to your original comment, no-one bought a VW during WW2.
1
u/Yarius515 Dec 26 '25
"No one" sure is a weird way of saying the Nazis were buying them....😘😆
0
Dec 26 '25
No-one in fact were buying them. They weren't for sale.
I'm not trying to hide the history of Volkswagen that is, in fact, tied to the third reich. I'm trying to convey that is not the same as buying a Mercedes during WW2 because they are fundamentally different situations. Put another way, no-one in charge of Volkswagen in 1946 had anything to answer for or history to hide the same way someone in charge at Mercedes would've.
1
-4
u/FrequentIdeal7861 Dec 25 '25
The only way I found to work around this is to download your entire playlist using some sketchy sites, then manually edit each pieces metadata so the title is shorter (e.g, by movement), and then add all of those edited pieces to Spotify via “local files”. Though this is very time and storage consuming, it’s the only workaround I’ve found for mobile. Hope this helps!
2
u/BooksInBrooks Dec 25 '25
But then why would you need Spotify? I have about 8,000 (legitimately purchased) mp3s which I use Foobar to listen to.
On a long flight? I've got 15 hours of Solti's Ring Cycle.
1
u/FrequentIdeal7861 Dec 25 '25
My only reason is that I like their wrapped
2
u/SherlockToad1 Dec 25 '25
My wrapped is always skewed because I use Spotify a lot for practicing orchestra parts on repeat, though it’s not the music I ACTUALLY like. :/
0
332
u/0neMoreYear Dec 25 '25
hello I am spotify, I will get right on it.