If you've been using IMSLP to get free sheet music recently, then you may have noticed IMSLP encouraging people to become members for USD $22 (approx AUD $30) per year, with the offer of a free access to the Naxos Music Library with over 1.9 million tracks of tracks and jazz music. That sounds like an amazing bargain, when you consider that a subscription to the Naxos Music Library standard service will set you back $210 (approx $284) per year.
In this blog post I check out this deal as well as the other options for streaming classical music.
In this blog post I check out this deal as well as the other options for streaming classical music.
Over the last 30 years or so recorded music has progressed from vinyl, through to CD then files downloaded onto ipods, mobile phones, or whatever. Now it seems that we are heading into an era where even owning music will become redundant and we can just pay a subscriptions to listen to whatever we choose from streaming music services like Spotify. Classical music lovers have lots to gain from this move, because we tend to embrace a diverse range music composed over hundreds of years. Collections of hundreds of LPs or CDs sitting on shelves could soon be a thing of the past.
The Naxos Music Library and the IMSLP Membership price
The Naxos Music Library (NML) is one of the few online streaming libraries dedicated to classical music. It's an online library of more than 1.9 million tracks of classical music, and once you subscribe you can listen to any one of these tracks as long as you have a computer or mobile device with an internet connection.
If you have been using IMSLP to get free sheet music recently, then you may have noticed IMSLP encouraging people to become members for USD $22 (approx AUD $30) per year, with the offer of a free access to the Naxos music library. That sounds an amazing bargain, when you consider that a subscription to the Naxos music library normally will set you back USD $210 (approx AUD $284) per year for their standard service (128 kbs streaming rate) or USD $315 (approx AUD $425) for their premium service (320 kbs).
In the interests of science, and generosity to IMSLP, who have done the music world a great service, I thought I'd become a member and give the Naxos music library a whirl.
After having a couple of weeks to live with the Naxos Music Library (NML) via IMSLP, and gorging myself on music like Homer Simpson at an all-you-can-eat buffet, was it the bargain it seemed to be?
The NML interface and features are a little basic compared to other streaming music services like Spotify, but there's no shortage of wonderful music on offer. If anything there is too much choice, and it's hard to pick which recording of your chosen piece to listen to. Although it's called the Naxos Music Library, Naxos is just one label of the hundreds of labels in the library. And labels include the classical music heavyweights, like EMI, Sony Classical, Decca and DG plus a lot of great specialist smaller labels, including ABC Classics.
On a Windows PC, music plays via a browser window that pops up, allowing you to basic controls over music playback. I found that playback occasionally just stops for no reason but can be started again via the player. Another downside is having small gaps between tracks, which is somewhat annoying for albums, like opera, which have tracks that are intended to flow from one to another without a break.
With the 128kbs streaming rate you get with the IMSLP subscription, sound quality is good, but not CD quality.
For mobile devices there are Android and Apple apps to allow you to access the NML. I tried the Android app, which worked fine, but isn't that easy to navigate through the different offerings.
If you have been using IMSLP to get free sheet music recently, then you may have noticed IMSLP encouraging people to become members for USD $22 (approx AUD $30) per year, with the offer of a free access to the Naxos music library. That sounds an amazing bargain, when you consider that a subscription to the Naxos music library normally will set you back USD $210 (approx AUD $284) per year for their standard service (128 kbs streaming rate) or USD $315 (approx AUD $425) for their premium service (320 kbs).
In the interests of science, and generosity to IMSLP, who have done the music world a great service, I thought I'd become a member and give the Naxos music library a whirl.
After having a couple of weeks to live with the Naxos Music Library (NML) via IMSLP, and gorging myself on music like Homer Simpson at an all-you-can-eat buffet, was it the bargain it seemed to be?
The NML interface and features are a little basic compared to other streaming music services like Spotify, but there's no shortage of wonderful music on offer. If anything there is too much choice, and it's hard to pick which recording of your chosen piece to listen to. Although it's called the Naxos Music Library, Naxos is just one label of the hundreds of labels in the library. And labels include the classical music heavyweights, like EMI, Sony Classical, Decca and DG plus a lot of great specialist smaller labels, including ABC Classics.
On a Windows PC, music plays via a browser window that pops up, allowing you to basic controls over music playback. I found that playback occasionally just stops for no reason but can be started again via the player. Another downside is having small gaps between tracks, which is somewhat annoying for albums, like opera, which have tracks that are intended to flow from one to another without a break.
With the 128kbs streaming rate you get with the IMSLP subscription, sound quality is good, but not CD quality.
For mobile devices there are Android and Apple apps to allow you to access the NML. I tried the Android app, which worked fine, but isn't that easy to navigate through the different offerings.
The Free YouTube Option
Although $30 isn't much to pay for access to the NML there is an even cheaper option. It turns out that much of the NML is available on YouTube right now for free. Out of 43 tracks I tried from the NML, about 77% were on Youtube. Sound quality did seem to be identical to the standard quality provided under the IMSLP membership. But there are many downsides - sitting through Youtube ads (unless you are using an ad blocker), the hassle of finding what you want amongst funny cat videos, and having to find and play each track separately. Unless you are a very occasional user, I recommend going for the IMSLP membership option. At about AUD $30 for a year, which is the cost of a single CD, it is a classical music bargain that's hard to beat.
Other Options
There are other options for streaming classical music. One that I've tried previously for a couple of years is Classical Archives, which is similar in concept to the NML, but with some pros and cons. The total number of tracks claims to be hundreds of thousands, but the exact number isn't stated. That is less than the NML however I never found myself short of choice. Organisation of the tracks is very good, and I did prefer Classical Archives searching and navigation over the NML. At 160 kbs streaming rate, quality, in theory, should be better than the standard NML subscription, but I haven't done a side by side comparison. Perhaps the major drawback is that the labels don't include many of the big names, so many well known players aren't represented. Cost is USD $80 pa (around AUD $107) which is better value than NML at standard price, but can't compete with the IMSLP subscription price.
Many other streaming services offer classical music as well as popular music, but they typically don't handle classical music that well. Spotify is one of the most popular services at the moment, which has free version (with advertising) or paid ad-free premium version for $12 per month. Its interface is very polished, with applications available for every type of device you can think of. The downside with Spotify, and other non-classical music specific services, is that they are geared around popular music with songs, and artists, rather than classical pieces with movements, composers and performers. So searching for and playing music can be somewhat annoying.
If you can live with the convenience limitations, and living in a world where movements are called "songs", and JS Bach is an "artist", then Spotify (and probably other services too) does offer a good selection of classical music and also gapless playback. If you like to dabble in popular music too then this is an added bonus.
With a bitrate for the free service of 160kbs I found there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality compared to the NML. For me the 30 second video ads that frequently pop up between movements is a deal breaker on the free version for anything but occasional use.
The premium version offers a very respectable 320kbs, which should yield even better sound, plus of course no ads.
If you can live with the convenience limitations, and living in a world where movements are called "songs", and JS Bach is an "artist", then Spotify (and probably other services too) does offer a good selection of classical music and also gapless playback. If you like to dabble in popular music too then this is an added bonus.
With a bitrate for the free service of 160kbs I found there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality compared to the NML. For me the 30 second video ads that frequently pop up between movements is a deal breaker on the free version for anything but occasional use.
The premium version offers a very respectable 320kbs, which should yield even better sound, plus of course no ads.
For those that crave the ultimate sound quality, Naxos has a streaming service called Classics Online HD LL. For USD $40 per year (around AUD$53) you have access to more than 250,000 classical music tracks from labels owned by Naxos in CD quality and high definition.
There are a host of competing streaming services available these days, and the ones above are highlights only, so look around and there may well be many other gems out there. If you have any suggestions for streaming services that cut the mustard for classical music, drop a comment below or on our Facebook page.
There are a host of competing streaming services available these days, and the ones above are highlights only, so look around and there may well be many other gems out there. If you have any suggestions for streaming services that cut the mustard for classical music, drop a comment below or on our Facebook page.