Apple Music artists will receive a bonus of up to 10 percent royalties for all songs that are also available in spatial audio. This is according to the update sent to registration partners and watchers 9to5Mac. Quoted Music acts around the world, says that starting with the end-January payout, “the pro rata shares of available spatial runs will be calculated using a factor of 1.1 while non-spatial available runs will continue to use a factor of 1.” Proration refers to the “large amount” of subscription funds pooled and divided based on the number of streams.
Bloomberg It was reported in December that Apple was planning to offer financial incentives to musicians and record labels to release songs in the format supported by Dolby Atmos. Most new smartphones, tablets, and wireless earbuds have touted spatial audio support as a selling point.
All new Apple devices support spatial audio, across the AirPods, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and HomePod range. Any iPhone XS or later (other than the iPhone SE) can support this format, as can the latest Samsung Galaxy and Pixel phones.
A growing number of new songs released today are already available in Dolby Atmos and stereo. According to the note from Apple Music, there have been 5,000 percent more songs available with spatial audio since the feature launched in 2021, but Apple has not provided an exact number on what that increase represents.
In addition to Apple Music’s growing catalog, spatial audio is also available on Tidal and Amazon Music Unlimited, as well as video streaming platforms like Netflix and HBO Max. Meanwhile, Spotify has yet to up its audio offerings in a similar way. The Swedish company has promised a premium HiFi layer since 2021, but there is no release date yet.