Apple Music will be offering Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos for subscribers, providing immersive audio experiences. Apple Music will also soon offer more than 75 million songs in lossless audio, which represents the way artists created them, and intended them to sound. These new features will be available for Apple Music subscribers starting next month at no additional cost.
“Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality,” says Oliver Schusser, Apple’s Vice President of Apple Music and Beats. “Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Now we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favourite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and so many more. Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with lossless audio.”
Dolby Atmos enables artists to mix music so the sound comes from all around and from above. By default, Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as well as the built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple Music will be adding new Dolby Atmos tracks constantly and will be curating a special set of Dolby Atmos playlists. Albums that are available in Dolby Atmos will have a badge on the detail page for easy discovery.
At launch, subscribers can enjoy thousands of songs in Spatial Audio from some of the world’s biggest artists and music across all genres, including hip-hop, country, Latin, pop, and classical. Apple Music is working with artists and labels to add new releases and the best catalog tracks, as more artists begin to create music specifically for the Spatial Audio experience.
Apple Music and Dolby are making it easy for musicians, producers, and mix engineers to create songs in Dolby Atmos. Initiatives include doubling the number of Dolby-enabled studios in major markets, offering educational programs, and providing resources to independent artists.
“Today marks the introduction of Dolby Atmos on Apple Music — a new music experience that is transforming how music is created by artists and enjoyed by their fans,” enthuses Kevin Yeaman, Dolby Laboratories’ President and CEO. “We are working with Apple Music to make Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos widely available to all musicians and anyone who loves music.”
Apple Music will also make its catalog of more than 75 million songs available in lossless audio, using ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) to preserve every bit of the original audio file. This means Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear the exact same thing that the artists created in the studio.