Apple Music Raises Royalties For Spatial Audio: A 10% Boost For Quality Sound

Apple Inc's AAPL Apple Music will boost the royalties for music available in Spatial Audio, as confirmed in an update sent to label partners.

Spatial-available content will now receive a royalty rate up to 10% higher than non-Spatial content. This move, outlined in a Jan. 22 update, aims to reward higher quality content and ensure fair compensation for artists investing in Spatial mixing, Music Business Worldwide reported.

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Pro-rata shares for Spatial plays will be calculated with a factor of 1.1, while Non-Spatial plays will continue using a factor of 1.

The decision follows a December report indicating Apple Music's plan to give added weight to Dolby Atmos-mixed song streams. The update is designed to encourage artists and labels to produce music in Spatial Audio.

Importantly, even if subscribers don't necessarily listen to music in the Spatial Audio format, artists will still receive the 10% royalty bonus if all their music is offered in Spatial Audio.

Apple Music revealed over 90% of its listeners have experienced music in Spatial Audio, with plays for such music more than tripling in the last two years.

The number of songs available in Spatial Audio has increased nearly 5,000% since launch in June 2021. Apple Music has a zero-tolerance policy for deceptive content and employs quality control measures to ensure compliance with Spatial Audio specifications.

Amazon.con Inc's AMZN Amazon Music Unlimited also includes Spatial Audio in its catalog, while Spotify, a competitor, currently does not offer Spatial Audio, but there are rumors of an upcoming premium tier with 24-bit Lossless music and AI playlist creation.

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Image credits: Matthew Nichols1 on Shutterstock.