iTunes has completely revolutionised the way we listen to music. However, according to some classical music enthusiasts, listening to their favorite music on iTunes is complicated, The Wall Street Journal reports.
David Lang, a Pulitzer prize winning composer, claims that it violates the key to enjoying much of classical music:
The way the formats are set up for iTunes is to chop things up into little component parts, the iTunes system violates the key to enjoying much of classical music: appreciating how big chunks of music build into a larger structure.
John Pancake, the author of the article tries to pinpoint the problem:
iTunes works best with music divided into songs and classical tracks don’t easily fit into that cataloging system. Classical music generally is divided into works, not songs, which means the four movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 show up as if they’re four separate songs on an iPod. You don’t want to be shuffling around in a Beethoven symphony.
So is there a solution that classical music enthusiasts can be happy with? Well, one option is to subscribe to either Naxos Classics Online or Classical Archives. Both are specialist classical music streaming services which use musicologists to ensure the labelling of music is consistent. It could be a good option, especially as they are not too expensive ($9.99 and $5.99 a month respectively).