Elevate your sound using Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos

Explore your music like never before with three-dimensional surround sound that puts you and your listeners in the center of a song. Likened to the transition of mono to stereo, Spatial Audio revolutionizes the way artists make music with more control than ever before over what a listener hears, and where they hear it from. This innovative audio experience not only transforms the way artists create music, but also how their fans listen to it on Apple Music. Read more to discover: 


What is Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos?

Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is an advanced sound technology that creates immersive, three-dimensional audio experiences. It allows artists to place sound elements in a 3D space, giving listeners the sensation of being inside the music.

Dolby Atmos is a surround-sound format that has been around for over a decade. It is known as an object-based format rather than a channel-based format. This means that you have the ability to move different objects—which are sounds—in three dimensions all around a listener.

Spatial Audio is how we at Apple refer to our various playback technologies for different forms of immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos.


The importance of Spatial Audio

Shaping your sound with immersive audio can help take your music journey to new heights and attract new listeners. Explore some of the ways immersive audio can have a lasting impact on your music:  

  • Expand your creative expression. Explore new dimensions in sound, allowing for more expressive and innovative musical storytelling.
  • Engage your audience. Give listeners a deeply engaging and realistic listening experience, making your music stand out.
  • Future-proof your work. As the music industry evolves, embracing Spatial Audio ensures your work remains relevant and at the cutting-edge of technology.
  • Grow your reach across platforms. Spatial Audio experiences are available in more places than ever. This includes AirPods, Beats, HomePod, Mac, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, as well as home theaters, vehicles such as Mercedes, and more.

Generate new revenue opportunities

Creating music in Spatial Audio takes a high caliber of dedication, and Apple Music acknowledges these efforts. Spatial Audio content receives a greater share of sound-recording royalties on Apple Music than content not available in Spatial Audio, by a rate of up to 10%.*

We believe artists should be compensated for the time and investment they put into mixing in Spatial Audio. Whether you’re an independent artist using Logic Pro to mix and and render music or you’re signed to a label and mixing in one of the 1000+ Dolby studios across the globe, your music has the opportunity to get a higher royalty rate on Apple Music if it is delivered to us in Spatial Audio.


See how artists are innovating with three-dimensional sound

Artists from all genres, both seasoned and emerging, have already begun creating and expanding their catalogs with Spatial Audio. See how some artists are using it to enhance their work and find new ways to awe listeners.

FINNEAS used Dolby Atmos to help make the single “What Was I Made For?” By making the vocals the focal point of the Barbie soundtrack, the song becomes even more evocative and immersive with the added dimensions. Step into the studio with FINNEAS.

Nile Rodgers, renowned artist and producer has a tenured history of taking his music one step further with the latest technology. He was able to see early on how Spatial Audio was paving the future for music, which is why he used it to remix his entire catalog. Get inspired with Nile Rodgers. 

To stay up to date on the latest features and releases, check out the Apple Music Spatial Audio category page. There you’ll find Spatial Audio new releases, featured artists, playlists by genre, and more. See how artists everywhere are helping their fans step straight into their favorite hits.


Brainstorming your next immersive audio project

When creating content to deliver in Spatial Audio, it can be helpful to map out your process from concept to execution. Check out our tips on how to start ideating your immersive audio project, and explore tools to help bring it to life: 

  • Start at the conceptual stage. Consider how your song will sound with Spatial Audio from the initial stages of your project.
  • Integrate Dolby Atmos considerations into your workflow, whether it’s a new project or remastering existing tracks for a new dimensional experience.
  • Think in 3D. Plan your track’s spatial elements, considering height, depth, and surround.
  • Use Dolby Atmos-enabled software like Logic Pro. Check out the Dolby Atmos plug-in in Logic Pro for Mac and find out how to start your first project.

Delivering Dolby Atmos to Apple Music

Ready to start mixing your next tracks in Dolby Atmos? Working with an experienced Dolby Atmos mix engineer is a great first step and can provide high-quality results. Visit Dolby’s website for a comprehensive list of the Dolby Atmos Music Studios near you.

Following our guidelines for delivering Dolby Atmos to Apple Music can help ensure your content is accepted and available on Apple Music. When delivering Spatial Audio to your label or distributor, keep in mind that Dolby Atmos audio files generated from stereo mixes are not allowed. Specifically:

  • A Dolby Atmos track must be created from multitracks or stems created from multitracks.
  • Upmixing from a stereo release is not allowed.
  • Extracting stems (demixing) from a stereo release is not allowed.
  • A Dolby Atmos track consisting only of a stereo mix placed in the sound field with added ambience or reverb is not allowed.
  • You must conform and sync the Dolby Atmos files with the stereo reference files for the same project.

You can add Spatial Audio to new and previously delivered music. We strongly suggest delivering releases with both stereo and Dolby Atmos. If you want to deliver Dolby Atmos audio, you’ll need to work with a distributor or encoding house approved to deliver Dolby Atmos to Apple Music. Learn about the full set of Dolby Atmos delivery requirements in the Apple Video and Audio Asset Guide.

Dolby Atmos badging

Music successfully delivered with Dolby Atmos capabilities will be reflected in Apple Music with Dolby Atmos badging. Albums delivered with all tracks containing Dolby Atmos will have a badge displayed on Apple Music. Albums with limited Dolby Atmos audio will show badging at the track level.

Badging and pre-releases 

Badging at the album level will be visible if all tracks have Dolby Atmos audio delivered and all respective Spatial Audio start dates have passed. Spatial Audio start dates can be modified by an Apple Music partner. 



* Spatial Audio-available content streams are defined as any stream of content that is available in Spatial Audio, regardless of whether the listening device supports Spatial Audio.