Photo Credit: Warner Classics
Warner Classics & Erato has revamped its website, with classical aficionados the target.
For starters, Warner Classics has embedded a custom-built streaming player into its upgraded site. That’s right: crusty classical fans actually know how to stream, contrary to the stereotype.
WMG has a pretty deep classical catalog, as you can imagine. Now, most of that collection can be sampled, with 30-second streaming previews peppering the site. All of Warner’s thousands of albums are included in the upgrade.
Subscribers to Apple Music, Deezer, and Spotify can stream entire tracks through warnerclassics.com.
Markus Petersen, SVP Global Operations & Business Development says this is a new era for Warner Classics.
“One of our prime objectives is to provide ready and enjoyable access to new and recent releases of today’s finest classical artists as well as to Warner Classics’ magnificent catalog.”
The move is part of a slow-but-steady resurgence of niche formats, including classical. While formats like rap, EDM, and pop led the streaming surge, niche formats like jazz, blues, and classical also appear to be rising with the tide.
Warner is aiming for a new, uncluttered and user-focused way to interact with music. In short, Warner redesigned the site to make it a more engaging experience for classical music fans — and of course, get them to stream a lot more.
Of course, WMG isn’t alone in courting classical fans. But WMG is a pretty big fish, and its latest moves are probably a good sign for the genre.
The search engine for the site offers text search and filtering through a variety of categories. The site recognizes a user’s location and offers localized content across a regional and national scale. Video content and social media feeds are also integrated into the website.
The new website also features curated playlists including several playlists dedicated to classical music artists. Hector Berlioz, Piotr Anderszewski, Martha Argerich, Alison Balsom, Maria Callas and Ian Bostridge are just a few artists highlighted on Warner Classics.
You can also listen to playlists according to their original composer, with mainstays like Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach also on hand.
Warner hired Piccobello — a German-based design agency — to handle the redesign of the site. The technical infrastructure and content management system was built by FFW Agency’s teams in Berlin and Ukraine.