Chris McMurtry is a metadata specialist. He is currently VP of Product at digital rights technology platform Pex and Head of RME, or Rights Made Easy, Pex’s rights management organisation for UGC content. Previously, he founded Nashville-based Dart Music, which specialised in classical music metadata.

Creative Industries News asked McMurtry how significant was the announcement that Apple was launching a specific app for classical music afficionados.

1 – Do you see the entry of Apple in the classical music field as a game changer, and why?

Chris McMurtry: I do. Apple has a history of taking the complex and making it simple, where the end-user doesn’t even notice how seamless something is or have any idea how much went into making it so. Apple similarly has a knack for making things intentionally addictive; my most favorite recent example is the “snap” of the magnetic Airpod case — notice how many owners are constantly subconsciously opening and closing the case as if it were a fidget toy. It’s the little things like that they make us fall in love with a product, whether we’re aware of it or not. I am hopeful and expectant that will be the result of the Apple Classical app, introducing to new generations in a simple and I dare say ‘fun’ manner the long history — arguably the foundation on which all other Western music is built — of rich and beautiful classical music.

2 – What are the main challenges streaming services face when dealing with classical music?

Chris McMurtry: The biggest challenge is in regards to the metadata. Classical metadata is more complex than other genres — generally having to account for more contributors, multiple languages across a single work, and oftentimes a multi-movement works-based structure — as opposed to a song structure. This is exacerbated when trying to determine how best to fit all of that info on a 3.5 in screen of a smart phone through which most music is consumed. Design and user experience is especially important for Apple.

To highlight the difference between Classical and other genres, I often contrast my daughter’s favorite composition ‘Shake It Off’ by Taylor Swift, with my own, Beethoven‘s ‘Third Symphony’. For Shake It Off it’s pretty straightforward: Taylor Swift; 1989; Shake It Off — Artist; Album Title; and Song Title. For the Third: Ludwig van Beethoven; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major; Op. 55 “Eroica”: I; Allegro con brio; II: Marcia Funebre; Adagio assai; III: Scherzo; Allegro vivace –Trio; IV: Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto; Wiener Philharmoniker; Wilhelm Furtwängler.

A few things to notice: Who exactly is the Artist? Is it the conductor, the Vienna Phil, or Beethoven? What is the Song Title? Simply Allegro con brio? Or do you include the name of the work so that it’s more something like this: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: I. Allegro con brio? And what about the Album Title???? Also, notice the multiple languages involved. English, German, and Italian. And not just small things like the umlaut in the Maestro’s last name. But also details like the casing of the structure.

As an example, a common faux pas is to just list Allegro Con Brio, but that would be a mistake because Italian uses sentence casing instead of the title casing of ‘Shake It Off’. Also, how to treat common titles like ‘Eroica’, opus numbers, or multi sections as in the fourth movement. These are all the attention to detail that a design-led company like Apple is going to demand consistency in. And I don’t think they’re being sticklers for sticklers sake. It’s to honour the beauty of the product, the tradition of the music and the cultures from which it has a long history, and ultimately, as with all things Apple, the user experience.

3 – How can classical music data be enhanced?

Chris McMurtry: Treating the above with care and detail and truly considering the works-based nature of the music I think is the most important thing. Having as rich of data as possible so that the end user can learn as much as possible with the least amount of effort. Also using contextual data — contributors, location, bio, etc —, intrinsic data — BPM, Key, etc — and subjective data — Mood, Emotion, etc — to enhance the experience.