Primephonic, a Netherlands-based site that prides itself on its superior classical music metadata, has launched in the United States. Currently devoted to hi-rez classical downloads in WAV (stereo), FLAC (stereo/surround), and DSD (stereo/surround), Primephonic (which attempts to stand out from the crowd by not capitalizing the "p" in "primephonic") also intends to launch the beta version of its high-quality streaming service later this year.
Primephonic.com has positioned itself to compete with the independent HDTracks.com, which offers Red-Book and hi-rez downloads, as well as physical purchases of music in multiple genres and formats; Naxos's ClassicsOnline.com (formerly ClassicsOnlineHD.com), which devotes itself to streaming and downloads of Red Book and hi-rez classical music; NativeDSD.com, which offers stereo/surround downloads of multiple genres in native DSD format; and even ArkivMusic.com, which sells physical discs of classical music in multiple formats (including copies of out-of-print titles), and also offers MP3 downloads. There is, of course, Apple Music and all the rest, but their poor classical metadata and limited resolution put them in another, less desirable category entirely.
Primephonic has a number of things going for it. First are downloads from the Sony Classical catalog and, if negotiations proceed as planned, Warner Classics (formerly EMI) and, eventually, Universal Classics and many more labels.
Speaking via Skype, Veronica Neo, who is variously identified as the "Head of Primephonic" and the company's "Platform Manager," said, "Right now, we're focusing on everyone's latest releases to keep our promise to have recordings available as soon as they are released. But we are also working hard to add the entire back catalog. For example, recently we made an agreement to add the over 8000 titles in Sony's entire back catalog. We're very close to finalizing an agreement with Warner, and also in conversation with the other majors. Nor do we neglect independent labels with high reputations for their quality of sound. For example, Linn has just joined us, and we are in talks with Harmonia Mundi and Challenge Classics."
Primephonic's second big strength is its metadata. The easiest way to understand how the company implements metadata is to conduct a search on their store. Of this, Neo says, "Labels do a fantastic job at representing classical metadata, but the services don't pass it along or display it accurately. While they are locked into artists, we conduct our searches differently. Our classical database, which we think of as the classical musical bible of information and metadata for the industry, is solely based on works as well as composers. Imagine a human body. The composers and all the works they have ever written in their lifetimes are the spinal cord. When you search Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos, you'll find all the recordings."
A third is the ingestion period. Neo claims that ClassicsOnline, for example, is slower than they to make new recordings available. In addition, Primephonic offers news, artist interviews, reviews, historical information, and an interactive platform interface that facilitates conversations among audiophiles, hardware manufacturers, audio magazines, labels, performers, and classical music lovers. The site even has its own Primephonic "Classical Collective" magazine.
Finally, as mentioned above, Primephonic intends to make the beta version of its streaming service available by subscription in the US and UK later this year. How it will compare to ClassicsOnline in sound and pricing remains to be seen.
A comparison of various sites on multiple levels suggests that music lovers should be aware of several things. The first is that some classical labels have reserved their highest-quality downloads for their own sites. Channel Classics, for example, has given Primephonic hi-rez PCM downloads of its titles, but reserves native DSD downloads for its own site. Many other labels either do the same, or pick and choose which sites can offer some or all of their titles in which format(s).
The second factor to consider is differences in pricing. Take, for example, a highly feted recording that was Stereophile's "Recording of the Month" for July 2015, Channel Classics SACD of period instrument violinist Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque performing Antonio Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico on two discs. Not only will you have difficulty finding it on Primephonic—it does not come up under its title, and its cover doesn't appear among the 16 Vivaldi titles displayed at the bottom of the search page—but when you do find it eventually by searching under "Rachel Podger," you'll discover that Primephonic's 24/192 FLAC download costs $36.99. If you go to Native DSD, you'll find the download in its native DSD format—it was not recorded in PCM—for $24.99! Note that while AcousticSounds.com offers DSD as well as FLAC and Apple Lossless downloads, it does not carry this title.
Here's another example: Pentatone's recent SACD of Dvorak's Symphony 6 and Two Slavonic Dances with the Houston Symphony under Andrés Orozco-Estrada. It costs $17.98 for a 24/96 download on HDTracks, and $18.99 for 24/96 on both Primephonic and ClassicsOnline. ClassicsOnline also allows you to stream the title to your heart's content in 24/96 for $14.99/month or $149.99/year. Primephonic offers the most format and resolution download options of this title, which include the 24/96 surround download for $19.99, DSD stereo for $24.99, and DSD surround for $24.99. NativeDSD, however, offers the DSD stereo download for $22.87, DSD surround for $23.78, and both together for $25.61.
Now compare this pricing to what some would call the old-fashioned option, purchase of the physical SACD. Were you to opt to buy the SACD through amazon.com, you'd pay $18.99 plus, if you don't know how to get around it, postage. (I tried to find the price of the SACD on HDTracks, but its front-page link for "LPs, Blu Rays, and SACDs" was not working.) What this means is that if you have room for the SACD on your shelf, buying the physical disc gives you the most playback options for the lowest price, at least in this case.
It should also be noted that sites are improving all the time. ClassicsOnline has added Sony in the past few months, and already has over 300 Sony albums in hi-rez. Nimbus will be on board shortly. The sound quality of their streaming player app is claimed to have improved dramatically, mobile streaming is available (ditto for Tidal, of course), and new content is added weekly. As for HDTracks, while its search function could certainly be improved, its download app functions impeccably on my iMac.
When all is said and done, Primephonic currently offers multiple download options at competitive prices, and promises streaming by year's end. As with airlines, it pays to check both the aggregate download services and the individual sites for titles, formats, and pricing. At least, while going back and forth, you will not see prices increase, as happens with Expedia and other sites. If searching is not always easy—see the issues with Primephonic and HDTracks cited above—spending a few minutes looking around will eventually reveal all options and prices available to man and beast.
