Spatial Audio Spotify: 3D Audio on Demand – Music Streaming Services at a Glance

It is no longer a novelty that music streaming, unlike CDs or other physical sound carriers, is becoming increasingly popular. There is now a wide range of different streaming providers, some of which now even offer content in spatial audio technology.

The following article will give you an overview of the music streaming spatial audio sector, which adds another dimension to the listening experience.

Updates

• 20/09: Spotify reveals 3D audio ambitions with a patent. But it is not only about the music but geolocation. This tech could be used to play ads with spatial sound.
• 21/03: Hungama Music and Anghami were added to the overview. They support Dolby Atmos Music.
• 21/05: Apple Music announces spatial audio with Dolby Atmos; entire catalog in lossless audio. Therefore, Amazon Music HD has made the already existing tracks available as a direct response. But keep in mind: ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is at the moment for wired audio devices only. Spatial audio support is available across various Apple devices, enhancing the immersive audio experience.
• 21/09: AppleMusic now supports headtracking for Dolby Atmos Music. This makes it a USP. Apple AirPods Pro, Airpods Max and the new AirPods 3 are requiered. Otherwise you can use any pair of headphones, but will have no head-tracking. Dynamic head tracking enhances the listening experience by providing immersive surround sound.
• 21/10: Through Amazon Music Unlimited, tracks mixed in Dolby Atmos Music and even Sony 360 Reality Music are now available. This makes 3D audio accessible for headphones. Head Tracking is not yet available as with Apple Music, but thanks to Sony the 3D music selection is larger.
• 22/04: TIDAL is not only available for Andoird anymore. It’s also available for all Apple devices as well as Sonos Arc oder den Fire TV 4K-Stick. Also Nvidia Shield TV und Shield TV Pro.

Two big players and their 3D sound formats

Spatial audio content on music streaming platforms is generally based on object-based audio formats. These formats are channel-independent, as the rendering is done in the playback device. This has the advantage that the content can be accurately rendered on a variety of different devices. Devices support Dolby Atmos, including home theater systems, soundbars, PCs, tablets, game consoles, streaming sticks, smartphones, smart speakers, headphones, and TVs.

This applies to binaural playback via headphones as well as playback via multi-channel systems, or even soundbars and smart speakers. However, the playback device must support such formats, i.e. a corresponding decoder must be installed. In the case of music streaming spatial audio, two formats have become established:

Sony 360 Reality Audio

Sony 360 Reality Audio is based on the 3D audio codec “MPEG-H” developed by the Fraunhofer Institute. This is becoming increasingly important, especially on live television. This enables interactive listening experiences in addition to immersive ones. Learn more about the possibilities.

Concerning Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, however, the immersive aspect is clearly in the foreground. Sony also offers the Headphones Connect app, which allows a certain amount of personalization. By using pictures taken from your own ears, the service calculates an individualized HRTF. This should further optimize the immersive listening experience. Due to popular request, I wrote a dedicated article on Sony 360RA Audio.

The company has teamed up with the major labels Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group to provide streaming platforms with 3D (re)mixes of old and new music.

Dolby Atmos Music

Dolby Atmos has long been a household name in the cinema and home cinema world. It was probably only a question of time before the music market was tackled as well. Like Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, it is an object-based system.

Spatial audio with Dolby Atmos offers a more immersive and dynamic experience compared to traditional stereo sound, enhancing the overall audio experience for music and movie watching. Although Dolby Atmos Music is only available on two music streaming platforms, it has the advantage that Dolby Atmos is already supported by more playback devices than Sony’s 360 Reality Audio or MPEG-H.

And also since there were some requests, find out more about in my dedicated article on Dolby Atmos Music.

Dolby works with two of the three major labels, namely the Universal Music Group and the Warner Music Group.

Overview of spatial audio music streaming services

Currently, four streaming services support 3D audio content, which will be presented below. Various apps, devices, and services support spatial audio technology, enhancing the overall listening experience for users.

Amazon Music

Amazon Music offers a Free Version, an Unlimited Version, and an HD Version. Only the HD version provides access to 3D audio content. The costs are 15€ per month. Amazon Music HD offers content in 360 Reality Audio format and Dolby Atmos Music format. With the launch in autumn 2019, 1000 tracks mixed in 3D went online, but according to Amazon, more songs will be added continuously.

The “Best of 3D Audio” tracklist, which contains both current pop songs as well as older classics, is often referred to as the one to start with. The spatial audio feature available on Amazon Music includes Dolby Atmos Music and 360 Reality Audio, providing an immersive surround sound effect.

But to listen to the songs you need a dedicated smart-speaker. They have multiple integrated loudspeakers to take advantage of the multichannel 3d audio. So they are not just stereo. Find out more about smartspeakers for spatial audio. Examples are the Amazon Echo Studio or the Sony SRS-RA3000 and SRS-RA5000.

Update 21/10: Exclusivity for Smartspeaker users has changed. Now all Amazon Music Unlimted subscribers can enjoy 3D audio with any headphones. Not only is the Dolby Atmos Music catalog already available. But also Sony 360RA content.

Deezer

To consume 3D Audio through Deezer, you need the Deezer Hifi Subscription and a standalone app called “360 by Deezer”. The Hifi subscription costs 15€ per month and you can use the app afterward without any extra charge.

It should be emphasized that Deezer requires two apps to consume all content, which seems a bit cumbersome. The 3D content is based on the Sony 360 reality audio format. As with Amazon Music, Deezer initially had about 1000 3D tracks, which are to be continuously increased.

nugs.net

Nugs.net has specialized in live music. To access the 3D audio content you need a Hifi-Subscription. The costs for this are 25$ per month or alternatively 250$ per year. But there is also the possibility to buy single concerts, the prices of which vary.

Nugs.net has also teamed up with Sony and therefore offers 3D content in 360 reality format. The offer of that content seems to be still quite manageable, there is music by Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, or Billy Joel for example.

Tidal

As with the previously mentioned streaming services, Tidal also requires a hi-fi subscription to access 3D music. The price for this is 20€ per month. Like Amazon Music, Tidal offers 3D content in 360 Reality Audio format and Dolby Atmos Music format.

Apple Music

By default, Apple Music automatically plays Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip.

Apple’s spatial audio feature, which creates a surround sound effect to immerse users in the audio, is also compatible with these devices. As well as on the built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad and Mac. So the content is currently almost the same as on Amazon Music. Since the tracks have been mixed with Dolby Atmos Music.

Hungama Music

Hungama Music users with compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled mobile devices can listen to a growing library of music in Dolby Atmos. From T-Series, India’s leading music label and other leading Hindi and regional labels, local artists can be found.

Anghami

With Anghami Pro’s music selection in Dolby Atmos, listeners can experience a deeper connection to their favorite artists and songs. Anghami is the first music streaming service in the MENA region to offer Dolby Atmos Music for Plus subscribers.

Spotify, iTunes and the rest?

As you might have noticed, there are still some familiar names of music streaming platforms missing. Spotify, Google Play Music, etc. do not officially offer 3D audio content yet. The only Audio streaming platform which joined the game in the meantime with Dolby Atmos is Apple Music. The new Apple iOS even allows the playback of multi-channel audio up to 7.1.4 via the audio settings. Head tracking is available for mobile devices and Airpods headphones. Spatial audio works by utilizing a combination of 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, creating a 3D environment where sounds come from all directions.

However, one should not forget that listening to 3D audio over headphones is binauralized audio. Binaural audio can be played back in the very conventional stereo format and is therefore compatible with any streaming service and is very popular in the form of 8D Audio e.g. on YouTube. Surround sound, on the other hand, provides an immersive, 3D audio experience through headphones, AirPods, and Beats models, mimicking a theater-like sound.

You can also find 3D audio on Spotify. Of course, binaural audio has the disadvantage of not being as independent as the object-based formats of Sony and Dolby, so it should only be heard with headphones and does not offer any further personalization or even head-tracking. Find here the Spotify 3D Audio overview.

It remains to be seen whether 3D music will be accepted by the masses in the future. As you can see, this content is still reserved for premium customers only and has something of the chicken and egg question of content. But I think at the latest when Spotify is on board (which is not planned at the moment), there could be a 3D music boom. But still, a reason to be excited!