Apple on Thursday said it will start streaming classical music from a stand-alone app on March 28 as it seeks to distinguish itself from rivals Spotify and specialist platforms.

The iPhone giant said Apple Music Classical will offer "the world's largest classical music catalog", with exclusive albums and an advanced search functionality not seen on other apps.

With five million tracks, the app will compete with rivals exclusively dedicated to classical music, including Germany based Idagio, currently the only subscription-based platform for classical audio streaming.

Apple Music Classical will offer streaming with high quality audio especially sought after by classical music buffs.

The app will come at no additional charge to the Apple Music subscription and will soon be available on Android-based devices, the company said.