Apple Music to add free spatial and lossless audio support

Spatial audio allows musicians to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with true multidimensional sound and clarity. Dolby Atmos is an immersive audio experience that enables artists to mix music so that the songs produce a surround sound effect.

By default, Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as well as the built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Spatial audio is touted by industry watchers as technology that will make it easier to re-live live music experiences.

Apple Music will be adding new Dolby Atmos tracks constantly and curating Dolby Atmos playlists' special set. Albums that are available in Dolby Atmos can be identitfied by a badge on the detail page. Apple Music says it will continue to add more new releases as more artists create music compatible with spatial audio technology.

“Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality,” Apple vice-president of Apple Music and Beats Oliver Schusser said. “Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with lossless audio”.

Additionally, Apple Music will make its catalogue of more than 75 million songs available in lossless audio. The company says it uses Apple lossless audio codec (ALAC) to preserve the original audio file, allowing listeners to hear the exact thing that the artists created in the studio.

To start listening to lossless audio, users must have an active, paid Apple Music subscription. Subscribers can use the latest version of Apple Music to navigate to Audio Quality via Settings, then then choose different resolutions for different connections such as cellular, Wi-Fi, or for download.

Apple Music lossless audio starts at CD quality, 16-bit at 44.1 khz, and goes up to 24-bit at 48 khz natively on Apple devices. However, the highest-quality lossless experience will require an external digital analogue converter (DAC) to enjoy the improvement in sound. Users can access the list of compatible devices here. Due to the large file sizes and bandwidth needed for lossless and hi-re lossless audio, subscribers will need to opt in to the experience.

Apple's decision to offer free lossless audio files to Apple Music subscribers puts the company ahead of other major music streaming platforms. Tidal, Deezer and Amazon Music all charge more for their lossless audio experience, and Spotify is also expected to announce its new HiFi tier sometime this year.