According to multiple reports, Apple has announced plans to increase the royalties paid to artists for having a spatial audio version of their music on Apple Music. This move will start this month and is meant to incentivize artists to release their songs in a spatial audio format on the platform.
The company will pay up to 10% additional royalty if an artist has all their songs in spatial audio, per a report by 9to5Mac.
The extra royalties will be paid regardless of whether users actually listen to the spatial audio versions. However, the amount will be calculated based on the ratio of plays for the spatial audio version versus the non-spatial version.
“Pro-rata shares for Spatial Available plays will be calculated using a factor of 1.1 while Non-Spatial available plays will continue to use a factor of 1,” the note reads.
This change is not only intended to reward artists for higher quality content, but also to acknowledge the time and investment they put into mixing their music in a spatial audio format.
“This change is not only meant to reward higher quality content but also to ensure that artists are being compensated for the time and investment they put into mixing in Spatial.”
The note also mentions that since Apple launched Spatial Audio in 2021, there has been a significant increase in the number of songs available in that format. However, the exact numbers were not specified.
In December, Bloomberg reported that Apple was planning to introduce further incentives for artists to release music mixed using Dolby Atmos technology on Apple Music.
Other streaming services such as Amazon Prime Music, Tidal, and Deezer already offer spatial audio options. While Spotify has hinted at the possibility of launching a Hi-Fi tier for a few years now, it has not yet made it available.
Apple’s decision to increase royalties comes at a time when the EU is pushing for better revenue distribution to artists from music streaming services. However, the company has yet to comment on this story.
Last year, Spotify made changes to its royalty rules, stating that only songs with over 1,000 streams in the last 12 months would qualify for a payout.
