idagio.com
If you're serious about classical music, then you know that streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music just can't quite compare. Sure, they have a lot of songs to choose from (30 million or more), but they lack the features that a true classical music lover would want. These apps are mostly geared towards popular music, and even if you know about the different genres of classical music, these services might not have any songs in that genre. Additionally, these services often have bad design choices (such as being too complicated to use) which makes it difficult for people new to classical music to get started.
Classical music should be archived and cataloged slightly differently than most popular genres of music. Apps like Spotify or Tidal are less than ideal in helping listeners browse the annals of various performances, interpretations, and lesser-known contemporary classical composers. Fans of classical music require a streaming app that caters to the unique nature of the genre.
Many classical pieces are played in many different ways, so simply searching for a composer or a sonata movement will not always guarantee that you will find the performance that you are looking for. In fact, on many mainstream music apps, it can be difficult to find just one specific version of a historical classical piece. This is why there have been recent surges in popularity for classical-specific streaming apps.
Idagio is one of the newer classical music streaming services on the market, and it's quickly gaining a reputation for its high quality offerings. It looks like this service has plenty of potential to grow and improve in the years to come, which is why it might be a good choice for those looking for a reliable classical music streaming service.
History
Today, Idagio was created by former artist manager, Till Janczukowicz alongside Christoph Lange, who is well-known for founding the German streaming service, Simfy. When asked what he hoped to accomplish with Idagio, Janczukowicz simply said, "To offer the ultimate streaming service for classical music worldwide." Idagio's official launch as an iOS app took place at the Salzburg Festival in 2015.
Idagio has been focusing on expanding their archive of classical music in order to become the ultimate streaming service for classical music. One of their central accomplishments that will help them get there involves acquiring the largest number of classical songs for listeners to choose from.
In December of 2017, Idagio added the entirety of the Sony Classical and Warner Classics catalogs to their repertoire. In January of 2018, Idagio also announced that it would be taking on a partnership with Warner Classics, offering the streaming service the entirety of the Warner Classics and Erato catalogs.
Idagio, a European company, did not launch in North America until September of 2018 after they raised an impressive and promising ?10 million round of funding. This also led to the additions of the music from several labels in the Outhere Music Group (most notably Alpha, Phi, Aeon, and Ricercar), expanding their ever-growing library of classical music even further.
In November of 2019, Time magazine named Idagio as one of the world's best inventions. And today, the streaming service has over 2 million songs and claims to add around 20,000 more every week. It seems that Idagio's momentum will not be stopped any time soon.
Design
If I am being honest, Idagio has one of the best app designs that I have ever seen when it comes to music streaming services. It is sleek, intuitive, easy to use, and it looks awesome. If I had to put one word to the aesthetic direction of the app, I would have to go with elegant, not unlike much classical music itself. If you were to somehow dress an app up for a night at the symphony, I suspect that it would end up looking like Idagio.
A sleek black and white theme gives the app a very classic look and feel. It is every bit as modern as, say, Spotify or Tidal in functionality. You can browse songs easily by subgenre, composer, using a smart search feature, or even by mood. This is one of those rare cases where the app works wonderfully as it looks! There is a reason why the app has received an average rating of 4.7 stars (out of 5) on the Apple App Store from the nearly 7 thousand people who reviewed it.
Content
I really enjoy the variety of music Idagio has to offer. Furthermore, they have an incredible amount of classical music to choose from specifically. I love the mood-based playlists that allow you to easily and conveniently discover what you were looking for, even if you didn't know it beforehand.
There is a function on Idagio that I love--one that makes a lot of sense for classical music streaming app--and that is the fact that you can easily compare multiple recordings of the same song with no effort necessary. Just browse offshoots of a track to quickly jump between performances, interpretations, conductors, etc. This is one of those features that truly does make this app great.
For anyone who's been enjoying the Discover Weekly feature on Spotify, don't worry, Idagio has its own spin on this as well. Each week you'll receive a personalized classical playlist based on your listening habits, making it hard not to find great new classical music that you love.
Idagio is a classical music streaming app that offers exclusive playlists curated by experts and artists. It provides many ways for you to explore the classical music community, all from one convenient app.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
I recommend using the app over the web version of Idagio. The app is much more streamlined and user-friendly than the desktop version, which is often the case with music streaming services.
I don't think the web version of Idagio is particularly bad - it's just that the app version is so exceptionally good. I recommend going with the app, but if you can't for whatever reason, you won't be disappointed, I don't think, by the desktop version either. All features are still available, they're just not quite as beautifully packaged and easy to use on the desktop.
Pricing and Plans
Idagio offers a two-tiered subscription service. You can choose between Idagio Premium or Idagio Premium Plus. Premium accounts come with everything that I already mentioned, and that will run you $10 a month. However, if you want an even better bang for your buck, perhaps you should try Premium Plus for only $12.99 a month.
You get many of the features of the basic premium service with the Premium Plus option, such as offline listening, creating your own playlists, and high-quality lossless streaming (FLAC 16-bit). You can also connect to third-party devices like Sonos, Chromecast, and Bluesound.
Suggestions that I have for Idagio
There are a few things I would like to see changed with Idagio. One suggestion is that the subscription pricing be increased so that it's more affordable for people, and not just those who can afford the higher price. Additionally, I feel like the added features offered in the premium subscription should be included in the basic subscription without an extra charge. This way, everyone has access to the same features without having to pay an additional fee.
Conclusion
Today, Idagio boasts the top spot on the market for classical music streaming. Whether their claim is true or not, there are certainly many noteworthy things to admire about Idagio's functionality. For one, their selection of tracks is well-rounded and diverse, making it easy for any music lover to find what they're looking for. And even though there are some areas where improvement could be made, like with any app, Idagio still ranks highly in comparison to other similar services. Overall then, I am very impressed with how Idagio functions - especially as a classical music streaming app.
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