Apple's Zane Lowe Introduces Apple Music Spatial Audio

Apple Music over the weekend highlighted a Spatial Audio-focused "special event," and it turns out that event is a discussion between Apple's Zane Lowe and music producers No I.D., Sylvia Massy, and Manny Marroquin.


The ‌Apple Music‌ event can be watched in the ‌Apple Music‌ app or on YouTube, and it features Lowe and the music producers discussing the evolution of music and the sound improvements for music fans.

Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio for ‌Apple Music‌ began rolling out last night, with special Spatial Audio tracks now available in the ‌Apple Music‌ app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is a feature that artists need to implement when mixing music, so it is not available for all songs. Apple has, however, introduced thousands of Spatial Audio songs, including popular titles like Lady Gaga's "Rain on Me."

For those unfamiliar with Spatial Audio, it is a three-dimensional audio format that is designed to let musicians create songs where the instruments sound like they're coming from multiple places in the spaces around you.

In an interview shared earlier today, Apple's Eddy Cue likened Spatial Audio to watching high-definition TV for the first time.

Popular Stories

Nineth iOS 19 Feature

iOS 19 Beta is a Month Away With These New Features for Your iPhone

Thursday May 8, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is just one month away, and there are already many new features and changes that are expected with it. Apple should seed the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Apple's Foldable iPhone Display Tech May Set New Industry Standard

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:29 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will feature a new type of display panel developed by Samsung that has never been used in a foldable product, claims a source with links to Apple's supply chain. According to the account yeux1122 on the Korean Naver blog, the foldable iPhone will use a custom display process for which Apple will hold branding trademark rights, and that meets Apple's stringent ...
siri glow

iPhone Users Now Able to Submit Claims in $95 Million Siri Spying Lawsuit

Wednesday May 7, 2025 11:40 am PDT by
If you owned a Siri-compatible device and had an accidental Siri activation between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, you could be eligible for a payment from Apple as part of a class action lawsuit settlement. Apple in January agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving Siri spying accusations, and a website to distribute the funds has now been set up and...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full iOS 18.5 Release Notes

Tuesday May 6, 2025 2:17 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of iOS 18.5 to developers and public beta testers, giving us a look at the final version of the update that will be provided to the public next week. With the release candidate, Apple provided release notes, so we have a more complete look at the new features that are included in the update, including those that weren't found during the beta...
Mayday Calendar

Apple Acquisition Hints at Upgraded Calendar App on iOS 19 or Beyond

Friday May 9, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple acquired Canadian startup Mayday Labs in April 2024, according to a European Commission listing, spotted by French blog MacGeneration. The acquisition had not received widespread attention from tech publications until now. Apple is legally required to report certain acquisitions to the European Commission, under the terms of the EU's Digital Markets Act. Mayday Labs founder Jeremy...
airpods pro purple

Apple's Camera Equipped AirPods and Apple Watch Could Launch as Soon as 2027

Thursday May 8, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple is working on versions of the AirPods and Apple Watch that incorporate a camera, and the devices could be ready to launch sometime around 2027, reports Bloomberg. Apple has developed a chip codenamed "Nevis" that will be used for its camera-equipped Apple Watch, while a chip codenamed "Glennie" will be incorporated into the AirPods. Apple is aiming to have the chips ready "by around...
fortnite apple featured

Epic Games Submits Fortnite to U.S. App Store

Friday May 9, 2025 9:57 am PDT by
As promised, Epic Games today submitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and if approved by Apple, it will mark the first time that the Fortnite app has been available in the United States since 2020. Fortnite will include options to purchase in-app currency from the web rather than through in-app purchase, which is what got the game banned to begin with. This time, though, Apple has been...

Top Rated Comments

steevn Avatar
51 months ago

I’ll be over here listening to the Beatles in mono on wax. No amount of gimmicks is going to make Billie Eilish music appetizing.
You don’t need any gimmicks to like at least some of her songs.

The fact that there are so many people who say the same exact thing you just did while using the Beatles as some type of nod to knowing “good” music is one of the most confusing things I’ve ever witnessed in my life.

The Beatles literally made all different types of music and sounds and experimented, but when there’s anyone new making different sounding music it’s suddenly all the Beatles “fans” that are most against these things. It’s mind blowing the lack of self awareness in these type of statements, and they’ve been happening for like 50 years now.

No I’m not a huge Billie fan, but even I can appreciate “everything I wanted” and not immediately write it off.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JoshuaBru Avatar
51 months ago
I’ll be over here listening to the Beatles in mono on wax. No amount of gimmicks is going to make Billie Eilish music appetizing.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FightTheFuture Avatar
51 months ago

You don’t need any gimmicks to like at least some of her songs.

The fact that there are so many people who say the same exact thing you just did while using the Beatles as some type of nod to knowing “good” music is one of the most confusing things I’ve ever witnessed in my life.

The Beatles literally made all different types of music and sounds and experimented, but when there’s anyone new making different sounding music it’s suddenly all the Beatles “fans” that are most against these things. It’s mind blowing the lack of self awareness in these type of statements, and they’ve been happening for like 50 years now.

No I’m not a huge Billie fan, but even I can appreciate “everything I wanted” and not immediately write it off.
Yep. The Beatles > everything after gets tiresome. Had a friend in college who couldn’t get over that. I’ll listen to anything these days. Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber. As long as you can find enjoyment that’s all that matters. Being open to new things instills youth.
Spatial audio and Dolby Atmos is just icing on top of an AM sub.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
decisions Avatar
51 months ago
The fact that Buddy Holly is right there in the sponsored playlist when the Atmos mix for it is so woefully awful makes me worry about the amount of thought that Apple put into this.

I also wonder why most people were saying that Atmos mixes or surround sound mixes were made for most songs. It seems that they are only available for a subset of mainstream music. Some songs, like Here Comes the Sun, sound different, but I am not sure they actually sound better. Other songs like Buddy Holly, Sugar We're Going Down, What's My Age Again? and the new Gojira album all sound way worse than the stereo mix.

Overall, seems rushed. Glad we got lossless though.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cayden Avatar
51 months ago
I haven’t found a single song that actually sounds better in any way compared to normal stereo sound. Maybe some people will like it, but it just completely destroys the actual mix IMO. To me it just sounds distant, adds more phase cancellations and offsets, and adds way too much reverb. I couldn’t hear any more details and actually lost clarity on a good number of songs I tried. Also, it doesn’t really add to the dynamic range because it just decreases the volume of everything, meaning you just have to turn it up making it harder to do A/B comparisons
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brianjlambert Avatar
51 months ago

I’m struggling to hear much of a difference with the spatial audio playlists and my Sennheiser's. If anything the music sounds a bit quieter and kind of muffled. I'm a little confused. Do headphones need a specific feature to make this work correctly?
[HEADING=2]If you choose Automatic, here’s what you need[/HEADING]
Supported songs automatically play in Dolby Atmos when you're listening with:

* AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max
* BeatsX, Beats Solo3 Wireless, Beats Studio3, Powerbeats3 Wireless, Beats Flex, Powerbeats Pro, or Beats Solo Pro
* The built-in speakers on a MacBook Pro (2018 model or later), MacBook Air (2018 model or later), or iMac (2020 model or later)

[HEADING=2]If you choose Always On, here’s what you need[/HEADING]
If you want to use other headphones that don’t support automatic playback, choose Always On. This setting only applies to headphones.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212182
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)