Apple has announced that it will pay additional royalties to artists with spatial audio versions of their music on Apple Music, according to Music Business Worldwide and 9to5Mac.
Artists who have all their songs available in spatial audio will receive up to 10% additional royalties, as reported by 9to5Mac. Importantly, this extra compensation is not dependent on users playing the spatial audio versions.
The royalties will be calculated based on a ratio between the spatial and non-spatial versions of the music, as outlined in a note sent to artists via Music Business Worldwide.
Apple’s note also stated that since the launch of spatial audio in 2021, there has been a 5,000% increase in the number of songs available in that format, though specific numbers were not disclosed.
Additionally, industry reports suggest that Apple is planning to introduce incentives for artists to mix their songs in Dolby Atmos technology, aligning with the company’s continued focus on high-quality audio.
While other music streaming services like Amazon Prime Music, Tidal, and Deezer offer spatial audio, Apple’s announcement marks a notable competitive move, especially as the EU pushes for fairer revenue distribution for artists from streaming platforms.
It is worth noting that Spotify, a major competitor in the music streaming space, recently updated its royalty rules, requiring songs to have over 1,000 streams in the last 12 months to qualify for a payout.
Apple’s commitment to compensating artists for the time and investment in creating higher quality content could potentially impact the broader music streaming landscape and the industry as a whole, as the battle for artist-friendly policies and fairness in royalties continues.
