Prepare Your Release

Delivering Dolby Atmos audio

Explore your music like never before with three-dimensional surround sound that puts you and your listeners in the center of a song.

What is Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos?

Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is an advanced sound technology that creates immersive, three-dimensional audio experiences. Dolby Atmos is another form of audio that enables artists, producers, and audio engineers to record and mix music. This format of Spatial Audio comes equipped with a multidimensional soundscape, where the music comes from all around and from above — creating a profound listening experience.

Dolby Atmos is a surround-sound format that has been around for over a decade. It is known as an object-based format rather than a channel-based format. This means that you have the ability to move different objects — which are sounds — in three dimensions all around a listener.

Spatial Audio is how Apple refers to various playback technologies for different forms of immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos.

Generate new revenue opportunities

Creating music in Spatial Audio takes a high caliber of dedication, and Apple Music acknowledges these efforts. Spatial Audio content receives a greater share of sound-recording royalties on Apple Music than content not available in Spatial Audio, by a rate of up to 10%.*

Delivering Dolby Atmos to Apple Music

Ready to start mixing your next tracks with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos? Working with an experienced Dolby Atmos mix engineer is a great first step and can provide high-quality results. Visit Dolby’s website for a comprehensive list of the Dolby Atmos Music Studios near you.

Following our guidelines for delivering Spatial Audio to Apple Music can help ensure your content is accepted and available on Apple Music. When delivering Spatial Audio, keep in mind that Dolby Atmos audio files generated from stereo mixes are not allowed. Specifically:

  • A Dolby Atmos track must be created from multitracks or stems created from multitracks.
  • Upmixing from a stereo release is not allowed.
  • Extracting stems (“de-mixing”) from a stereo release is not allowed.
  • A Dolby Atmos track consisting only of a stereo mix placed in the sound field with added ambience or reverb is not allowed.
  • You must conform and sync the Dolby Atmos files with the stereo reference files for the same project.

You can add Spatial Audio to new and previously delivered music. We strongly suggest delivering releases with both stereo and Dolby Atmos. Initial content delivery must include stereo audio unless you are downmixing immersive audio to stereo. Also, deliver a unique secondary International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) with your Dolby Atmos submissions. If you wish to replace the secondary ISRC associated to Dolby Atmos audio, you must replace the audio. Find out how to deliver Spatial Audio in the Apple Music Specification and learn about the full set of delivery requirements in the Apple Video and Audio Asset Guide.

For specifications on immersive audio, visit the Immersive Audio Source Profile. If you want Apple to downmix your immersive audio to stereo, visit the Apple Music Specification for details.

Dolby Atmos can only be delivered through Transporter. If you aren’t a Transporter user and wish to deliver Dolby Atmos audio, you’ll need to work with a distributor or encoding house approved to deliver Dolby Atmos.

Dolby Atmos badging

Music successfully delivered with Dolby Atmos capabilities will be reflected in iTunes Connect and Apple Music with Dolby Atmos badging. Albums delivered with all tracks containing Dolby Atmos will have a badge displayed on Apple Music and at the album level in iTunes Connect. Albums with limited Dolby Atmos audio will show badging at the track level.

Badging and pre-releases

Badging at the album level will be visible if all tracks have Dolby Atmos audio delivered and all respective spatial start dates have passed. Spatial start dates can be modified at the track level in iTunes Connect.

* Spatial Audio-available content streams are defined as any stream of content that is available in Spatial Audio, regardless of whether the listening device supports Spatial Audio.