Apple Music to Pay Artists Up to 10% More Royalties for Spatial Audio Content

Apple has introduced royalty incentives to encourage music artists and record labels to publish tracks in Spatial Audio.

apple music spatial audio ad
In an update sent to partners on Monday seen by Music Business Worldwide, Apple said it will pay up to 10% more in royalties for Spatial Audio.

The news follows a Bloomberg report in December that Apple would this year begin prioritizing streams of songs mixed in Dolby Atmos technology in its streaming calculations.

Listeners do not have to listen to the Spatial Audio version of a song for artists to be eligible for the added benefits, with the availability of tracks in Dolby Atmos being sufficient.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple says the 10% bonus is a reward for artists delivering the content, and also compensation to recognize the additional time and effort required to mix in Dolby Atmos.

Apple Music‌ began hosting Spatial Audio tracks in 2021, using Dolby Atmos technology to replicate an in-person music experience with sound coming from various directions around the listener when using compatible speakers or headphones. In February 2022, Apple announced that over half of the service's subscribers used the feature.

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Launch Is Just One Month Out – Here's Everything We Know

Saturday August 10, 2024 5:00 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
macbook pro bb cyber

Apple's M3 MacBook Pro Gets Up to $1,000 Off In Major New Sales, Starting at $1,299 [Updated]

Sunday August 11, 2024 1:54 pm PDT by
Apple's M3 MacBook Pro is seeing multiple high value discounts on Best Buy and Amazon today, with up to $1,000 off select models. This includes a new all-time low price on the entry-level M3 512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro at $1,299.00, down from $1,599.00, and a massive $1,000 discount on the high-end 16-inch model exclusively for Best Buy members. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best...
iPhone 16 Pro Right Side Feature

The iPhone 16 is Getting a New Button: Here's What It Can Do

Tuesday August 13, 2024 4:01 pm PDT by
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
iOS 18 on iPhone Feature

Everything New in iOS 18.1 Beta 2 and iOS 18 Beta 6

Monday August 12, 2024 2:32 pm PDT by
Apple is beta testing iOS 18 and the first update to iOS 18 concurrently, and we got the second betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 today alongside the sixth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15. Many of the changes in iOS 18.1 are focused on bringing the .1 betas in line with the standard betas, which recently received updates to Photos and Safari, while...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Thursday August 8, 2024 4:40 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

Next Year's Slim iPhone 17 Could Be an 'iPhone Air'

Monday August 12, 2024 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's rumored iPhone 17 "Slim" could be positioned as an iPhone "Air" to boost sales, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained how the "fourth" model in the iPhone lineup since 2020 (the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 15 Plus) has largely been a commercial failure. In the case of the Plus model,...

Top Rated Comments

Sheepish-Lord Avatar
7 months ago
All artists will do is run their album through some digital process to meet the spatial audio requirement. To the user, it will be a worse experience and further cements the gimmick spatial audio is unless mastered appropriately.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ctrlos Avatar
7 months ago
It’s worth noting that Apple Pay artists double that of Spotify. I know it’s still a pittance but it’s twice the pittance. You can also directly support them via album sales from the iTunes Store.

In short if you care about the livelihood of your favourite musicians: don’t use Spotify. Oh, and go to as many gigs as you can.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lord of the Pies Avatar
7 months ago
Although I use Apple Music, Apple devices across the board and AirPods Pro 2 & Max, I have Atmos disabled on everything. It seems to take the 'oomph' out of so many tracks, especially bass-heavy stuff. I found plenty of examples where a song sounded weak and in desperate need of more volume (at max), but with Atmos off, had sufficient volume and the bass thumped like thunder. Especially on AirPods Pro 2.

Dunno why, but for me, Atmos takes the life out of so much of my music.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrWeenus Avatar
7 months ago

All artists will do is run their album through some digital process to meet the spatial audio requirement. To the user, it will be a worse experience and further cements the gimmick spatial audio is unless mastered appropriately.
This is the only thing that I'm scared of. Properly mastered dolby songs sound amazing on my home theatre/AirPods, but if the song is ran just through some automated process it sucks ass. :(
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacKid Avatar
7 months ago

You seem to have a low opinion of artists as greedy swindlers.

And while some certainly are just that, many artists are actually very passionate about how their music sounds.

In the end, if the artist you listen to cares more about money than about sound quality, you are likely to get an inferior product.
Maybe artists have integrity, but labels don’t concern themselves with principles, and in the side of the industry I listen to, most songs are sold as singles to labels (e.g. Spinnin Records, Monstercat, UKF, Disciple), and when that happens they usually lose control of where the music shows up — and in what quality.

Billie Eilish’s albums belong to Interscope. Ed Sheeran’s music is property of WMG. Megan Thee Stallion is on Atlantic. Unless you’re listening to a uniquely scrappy and undiscovered band (or a “Taylor’s Version”), the mastering/republishing is most likely out of an artist’s hands.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boak Avatar
7 months ago

Do you mean fans can tip their favourite artists or that Apple Music somehow pays the listener for their time?
Fan-centric means each subscriber’s monthly fee is divided up to pay each of the artist they listen to in a month, could be based on number tracks, time spent listening etc. This compensation model has been shown to pay emerging artists more.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)