Classical KING vs The New ClassicalFM
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Classical KING
Stream a variety of classical music genres 24/7 with three distinct channels. Enjoy orchestral, symphony, choral, and chamber music in high-definition. Perfect for focus, relaxation, or as a daily backdrop.
- 24/7 classical music streaming
- High-definition audio
- Three curated music streams
- Focus and relaxation playlists
- Live on-air hosts and commentary
- Holiday music channel
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Download Classical KING’s free classical music streaming app and start listening to your favorite orchestral, symphony, choral, and chamber music in high-definition, anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re looking to gain focus, take a break, or just need a backdrop for your day, we are the only classical music app that offers three round-the-clock classical music streams: Classical KING, featuring your favorite classical music composers and styles with unique storytelling, fascinating tidbits, and history from our friendly hosts, live on-air. Classical Calm, featuring an uninterrupted playlist of soothing classical music designed to help you keep focused, unwind, and reclaim your head space. Classical Christmas, featuring all of your holiday favorites, from beloved orchestral works to magnificent holiday choral pieces, all year long. Classical KING (Classical KING 98.1FM) has been the Pacific Northwest’s home for classical music for over seventy years. As a nonprofit radio station, our mission is to increase appreciation for and engagement with classical music. Our companion app is an important part of that mission and is only possible with support from listeners like you. Whether you hail from the Pacific Northwest or have never been, the Classical KING app is the perfect way to listen to your favorite classical music online for free. When you open the app, you're doing more than accessing a world of classical music. You’re supporting real people who share your passion. We invite you to download the app and join us today. You can help Classical KING, keep the music on our app free and accessible to everyone by donating at classicalking.org/donate. In addition to advocating for artists and arts organizations, we support equitable access to classical music education.
The New ClassicalFM
This app offers a curated selection of beautiful classical music to help you relax and refresh. Enjoy timeless hits, interviews with renowned artists, live performances, and arts news.
- Classical music streaming
- Artist interviews
- Live performances
- Arts news and information
- Relaxing music selection
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The New Classical FM plays Beautiful Music For A Crazy World. Relax, refresh and recharge with the greatest classical music hits of all time, interviews and live performances with the biggest artists on the world stage today, plus arts news and information.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Classical KING at 3.9 against The New ClassicalFM's 3.3. Classical KING also leads on review sentiment (57% vs 26%) and ratings volume (61 vs 13). The New ClassicalFM's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Classical KING holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 61 and 13 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Classical KING's written reviews are positive against 26% of The New ClassicalFM's.
Classical KING ships an update every 3 months, The New ClassicalFM every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Classical KING | The New ClassicalFM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (61 ratings) — better | 3.3 (13 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.7% of reviews — better | 26.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 61 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Second Inversion | MZMEDIA Inc. |
Customer experience
Classical KING
The New ClassicalFM
User reviews
Classical KING
From 61 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Wonderful music selection
- 🌟 Great classical station
- 🎶 Multiple music streams
- 🎄 Excellent Christmas music
- 📱 Works cleanly on CarPlay
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🔋 Severe battery drain
- 🚫 No iPad app
- 📱 Portrait mode only
- 📰 Useless articles on main page
The New ClassicalFM
From 13 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎶 Great music selection
- 👍 Generally good app functionality (historically)
- 🎵 High-quality sound
Room to improve
- ❌ App frequently not working
- ❌ Frequent buffering/stopping
- ❌ Outdated interface
- ❌ Video playback issues
- ❌ High data usage (video)
Bugs and requests
Classical KING
Reported bugs
17 issues- App crashes frequently on iOS 12.5.7
- Streaming screen display missing piece name
- Christmas channel not an option
- Current tune playing in unreadable font size
- New version requires iPad purchased after October 2022
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- App stops playing when screen goes to sleep or locks
- On demand content listed but missing
- App reads clipboard without permission
- App doesn't play in background on iPad
- Alarm feature not working
- App turns off itself after 15 minutes
- Cannot quit app without restarting phone
- App doesn't play any channels after reinstall
- Cannot exit app without deleting it
- Music plays immediately upon opening app
- Alarm doesn't work
- App turns off by itself
Requested features
12 requests- Landscape mode for iPad
- Sleep timer
- Fix on demand section
- Add alarm clock feature
- Improve music info display
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Fix background play on iPad
- Add stereo audio
- Fix casting to Bluetooth speakers
- Make app work on older iPads
- Add alarm feature
- Fix alarm functionality
- Add option to not play music on opening
The New ClassicalFM
Reported bugs
45 issues- ObjectMapper failed to serialize response
- App no longer working
- Station will not broadcast
- Cannot get station to play
- Error message when trying to send notifications
Show 40 moreShow fewer
- App tries to play two audio streams at once
- App won't stop playing
- Playback stops when app is minimized or phone is locked
- App randomly starts playing
- No more playback in iOS 18
- Video not working in full screen
- Video no longer working after website update
- Website version gets interrupted
- App doesn't load
- No reception at all
- Forces video streaming
- Cannot stream using satellite internet
- Constantly buffering
- Live stream takes too much data
- Cannot check other apps while listening
- Video player goes on automatically
- No option for radio only
- App is very limited
- No 'what's playing now' feature
- App stopped working mid-October
- App not working after update
- Station keeps pausing
- Cannot get AM or FM to stop buffering
- Cannot listen to radio stations
- App is cut off at the top and bottom of the phone
- Signal drops after several minutes
- Does not play stations
- App isn't working at all
- App constantly shuts off
- App hangs when using email link
- Feed keeps dropping
- App is buggy
- Cannot get 'last song' feature to work
- Cannot see current pages of the Last Song
- App doesn't work on Wi-Fi
- App crashes or drops if other apps are open
- Broken feed in 'what was that song' feature
- Cannot get alarm to go off when set
- Alarm doesn't go off when stop streaming is pressed
- App stops streaming all the time
Requested features
6 requests- Add a sleep timer
- Option for audio-only streaming
- Show what music is playing
- Optimize for newer iPhone screens
- Add a timer for automatic pausing
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve website playlist functionality
In-app purchases
Classical KING
No in-app purchases
The New ClassicalFM
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Classical KING free?
Is The New ClassicalFM free?
Which has better reviews, Classical KING or The New ClassicalFM?
Do Classical KING or The New ClassicalFM have ads?
Which is updated more often, Classical KING or The New ClassicalFM?
Other comparisons
