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.

Top Rated Comments

steevn Avatar
37 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
37 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
37 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
37 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
37 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
37 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)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
iGBA Feature

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:22 pm PDT by
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
iGBA Feature

Game Boy Emulator for iPhone Now Available in App Store Following Rule Change [Removed]

Sunday April 14, 2024 8:06 am PDT by
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...