The Potential Pitfalls of Apple's Push for Dolby Atmos Music

Apple's decision to incentivize artists to produce music in Dolby Atmos format has sparked concern among audio enthusiasts and industry experts. The aim is to expand the library of songs available in spatial audio on Apple Music, which could align with the immersive experience promised by the upcoming Apple Vision Pro headset. However, this strategy is fraught with risks, as it may promote quantity over quality, thereby undermining the essence of this sophisticated audio format.

Quality vs. Quantity

The enthusiasm for adopting Dolby Atmos in music is not as widespread as it is for movies. For many listeners, spatial audio in music—providing enhanced width, depth, and movement of sound—might not be a desirable evolution from traditional stereo sound. Furthermore, the artistic challenge of effectively utilizing Dolby Atmos without detracting from the original track requires a skilled touch, which not all mixing engineers might possess.

The Risk of Shortcutting

With a bounty program in place, artists and labels are financially encouraged to produce Dolby Atmos tracks. However, without stringent quality assurance from Apple, there is a temptation to resort to shortcuts, such as AI-driven solutions, to convert existing catalogs to Atmos. This circumvents the goal of creating truly immersive audio experiences and risks flooding the market with subpar versions of songs.

A Lesson from 3D's Past

The push for Dolby Atmos music has an eerie resemblance to the rush for 3D movie conversions post-Avatar. As studios scrambled to convert 2D movies into 3D, many of the hastily converted films disappointed the audience. Similarly, the absence of quality controls for Dolby Atmos music tracks might result in underwhelming audio experiences that do not justify their existence in a spatial audio format.

Apple's Guidelines and Artist Integrity

Despite Apple's existing guidelines against generating Dolby Atmos files from stereo mixes, the potential for substandard Atmos music remains. While some artists may leverage Dolby Atmos to produce superb new works, the promise of easy money may lead to a deluge of tracks in spatial audio that don't actually enhance the listening experience.

Apple, DolbyAtmos, Music