Starting this month, Apple will pay additional royalties to artists who have a spatial audio version on Apple Music, according to multiple reports.
According to a report by 9to5Mac, the company will pay up to 10% additional royalty if an artist has all their songs in spatial audio. The extra money is not dependent on users playing the spatial audio version.
An additional payment note sent to artists through Music Business Worldwide indicates that the additional money is calculated through a ratio of the spatial-available version and the non-spatial available version.
The note states, “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.” It also adds, “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.”
It was also mentioned in the note that since Apple launched Spatial Audio in 2021, there has been a 5,000% increase in songs available in that format without specifying exact numbers.
In December, Bloomberg reported that Apple was planning to introduce incentives for artists to add songs to Apple Music that are mixed on Dolby Atmos technology.
Amazon Prime Music, Tidal, and Deezer are some of Apple Music’s competitors offering spatial audio. Although Spotify has discussed the release of a Hi-Fi tier for a few years, it has yet to officially launch.
Apple’s announcement comes at a time when the EU is advocating for rules to ensure better revenue distribution to artists from music streaming services. The company did not immediately comment on the story.
Previously, Spotify amended its royalty rules, making only songs with more than 1,000 streams in the last 12 months eligible for a payout.
