Mozart and Metadata

This article investigates how streaming platforms are affecting classical music circulation and consumption. It demonstrates that mainstream services such as Spotify are not built with classical music in mind, largely because their metadata frameworks and listening features—including playlists and algorithmic recommenders—are ineffective for the genre. Not only do such frameworks and features provide incomplete or inaccurate information, but they also facilitate passive listening experiences seemingly at odds with classical music’s historical emphasis on active listening, while offering little guidance for new listeners. Furthermore, most streaming services’ royalty models disproportionately disadvantage classical artists. Dedicated classical music streaming services like Idagio, Presto Music, and Apple Music Classical attempt to address these issues through proprietary metadatabases, active listening features, and royalty models designed to support classical artists. However, current power dynamics within the music industry ensure that digital platforms and tech companies increasingly control how people access, listen to, and make money from classical music in the twenty-first century. Through analysis of platform design, marketing materials, and interviews conducted with the CEOs of classical music streaming services, this article argues that streaming is changing the culture and business of classical music, participating in a longer history of classical music’s relationship with new media and the music industry.