Lossless audio will be available to Apple Music users next month at no extra cost.
In a gambit to one-up their rivals in the streaming sector, Apple Music have unveiled their plans to bring lossless audio to their entire catalogue with support for Spatial Audio.
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Announced today in a typically blockbuster launch event, the streaming service will be unveiling the new hi-fi option from June 2021 at no extra cost for subscribers.
More than 75 million tracks will be available for Apple Music listeners to engage with in lossless audio quality, allowing for fans to experience studio-quality audio directly from their smart devices.
The Lossless tier begins at 16-bit/44.1 kHz, and can go up to 24-bit/48 kHz on Apple devices. Listeners with access to a USB digital-to-analogue converter are also able to engage with Apple Music’s Hi-Res Lossless tier, which offers audio up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
Additionally, Apple Music will concurrently introduce Spatial Audio content written to Dolby Atmos’ industry standards, offering an immersive multidimensional audio experience unlike any other.
To engage with the service’s Lossless content, users can update to the latest version of Apple Music and access the service via the app’s Settings panel. Due to the large file size and bandwidth required to listen to hi-fi audio, users will have to opt in to access the top tier services.
“Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, expressed in a statement shared today.
“Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Now we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favourite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and so many more.
“Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with Lossless Audio. Apple Music as we know it is about to change forever.”
The shift towards hi-fi, lossless audio puts Apple Music in the same leagues as other streaming services like Tidal and Deezer, with Spotify also being expected to launch their own hi-fi option later this year.
