Alexander Lewis 
Jan 23, 2024
Apple has announced to increase the royalty share of artists having a spatial version of their music tracks.
In a bid to encourage more artists to make their titles available on Spatial Audio, Apple has announced a 10pc increment on the revenue it grants artists per play from their audio tracks with spatial version.
Spatial Audio is a platform which offers immersive surround sound to users, enhancing their music listening experience on devices such as AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and other headphones. The raised royalties will take effect from January’s payouts.
Read more: Spotify decries Apple's 'outrageous' 27% fee
It should be noted that artists getting the additional incentives doesn't necessarily rely on Apple Music users listening to their spatial audio tracks, Tech Crunch reported.
The yardstick to calculate artists' share is based upon the ratio of Spatial Available and Non-Spatial Available plays. This means that if an artist offers his spatial music track (i.e using Dolby Atmos mastering), he will be rewarded the additional 10pc royalty regardless of anyone playing it.
Over 90pc of users have tried to listen to the spatial version of a song, with the Spatial Audio plays getting trippled over the past two years, according to Apple.
Prior to this announcement, the number of songs available in Spatial Audio has surged by nearly 5000% since the feature was introduced in 2021. The new financial incentives are expected to boost the addition of Spatial Audio in the Apple Music catalogue even more.
The company views the 10% bonus as a way to reward artists for producing premium content and as a form of compensation for the extra time and effort needed to incorporate Dolby Atmos.
