We now have official confirmation of a rumour we reported a couple of weeks ago that Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is coming to the entire lossless Audio catalogue on Apple Music in June 2021. With this announcement, surely it’s time for you to start mixing your music tracks in Dolby Atmos? We investigate.

What Apple Say About Dolby Atmos Support

Apple today announced Apple Music is bringing industry-leading sound quality to subscribers with the addition of Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Spatial Audio gives artists the opportunity to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with true multidimensional sound and clarity. Apple Music subscribers will also be able to listen to more than 75 million songs in Lossless Audio — the way the artists created them in the studio. These new features will be available for Apple Music subscribers starting next month at no additional cost.

Spatial Audio with Support for Dolby Atmos

Apple is reporting that by default, Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones as long as they are fitted with an H1 or W1 chip, In addition, Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks through the built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

To help users get a taste of what it will sound like Apple Music are planning to curate a special set of Dolby Atmos playlists to help listeners find the music they love. In addition, albums that are available in Dolby Atmos will have a badge on the detail page to show that the track is available in Dolby Atmos.

From day 1, Apple will be making sure that subscribers will be able to 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 and Dolby are working hard to make it as easy as possible 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.

Kevin Yeaman, Dolby Laboratories’ president and CEO told us…

“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. We are working with Apple Music to make Dolby Atmos widely available to all musicians and anyone who loves music.”

Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter, and composer Giles Martin adds…

“Since recording began, artists, producers, and engineers have tried to paint pictures with sound, transporting listeners to worlds they never knew existed, even when the sound came from a single speaker. Now with the dawn of immersive audio, we can take the music lover inside the music. From the feeling of hearing your favourite artist in the same room as you to the experience of sitting directly in the middle of a symphony orchestra, the listening experience is transformative and the possibilities for the creator are endless. This is a quantum leap in technology – I have so far had the pleasure of mixing some of the greatest artists in history in Dolby Atmos. With this work, I have found myself falling into albums I love. There is a unique experience of being able to fully immerse myself in music that, although is familiar, suddenly sounds new, fresh, and immediate. As a creator, it is beyond exciting that we can now share this incredible experience through Apple Music.”

Lossless Audio

With Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support coming to the tracks in the Lossless Audio catalogue on Apple Music, Apple is also announcing that they will be making their catalogue of more than 75 million songs available in Lossless Audio. Apple uses ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec).

How To Listen To Listen Audio On Apple Music

To start listening to Lossless Audio, subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music can turn it on in Settings > Music > Audio Quality. Here, they can choose different resolutions for different connections such as cellular, Wi-Fi, or for download.

Apple Music’s Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz and is playable natively on Apple devices. Apple Music also offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz. However, due to the large file sizes and bandwidth needed for Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless Audio, Apple has set it up so that subscribers will need to opt in to get Lossless. Apple also are telling their subscribers that Hi-Res Lossless requires external equipment, such as a USB digital-to-analogue converter (DAC).

What We say About Apple Music Supporting Dolby Atmos

With this announcement, Apple Music becomes the 3rd major music streaming site to add support for Dolby Atmos, following on from Amazon HD and TIDAL HiFi, bringing support for Dolby Atmos content to a huge number of music streaming subscribers across the 3 platforms.

If you use any of these platforms to distribute music and haven’t been considering mixing your tracks in Atmos, now is the time to start.

There is a huge amount of resources out there, including here at Production Expert on what you need to be able to mix in Dolby Atmos, what’s the point of Dolby Atmos for consumers, the business case for mixing in Dolby Atmos and an extended video tutorial on how to get started mixing in Dolby Atmos.

We look forward to Avid Play supporting delivery of Dolby Atmos tracks directly into Apple Music as they do currently with Amazon HD and TIDAL HiFi.