Apple's Spatial Audio Policy Is Considered A Loss To Labels And Small Artists

Small labels don't like spatial audio rules on Apple (photo: dock. unsplash)

JAKARTA Apple plans to provide additional royalties for artists or music makers who offer spatial audio support. Apparently, there are some parties who do not like this new policy.

Reported by the Financial Times, several indie record labels said they were annoyed with the regulation. For them, this planned regulation will harm artists or small labels because their income will be taken.

This allegation arises because Apple will pay off a fixed source of funds. Either offering or not offering spatial audio support, all artists and record labels will get paid from the same source.

One of the record label executives said he was concerned about this policy. If the artist's income is reduced, this may not have happened because their songs were not played, but because their money was channeled to a larger label.

"If (this policy) takes between 5 and 10 percent of your global income and not because the songs are not played, but because you lost the money and the money goes to Universal, the biggest player in the market."

Apart from being detrimental in terms of income, there are several factors that incriminate small labels to provide spatial audio support. This more modern audio technology costs a lot, around USD 1,000 (IDR 15.7 million) per song.

If spatial audio is added to one album, the costs spent will reach 10 times. This will be burdensome for small labels because their income does not necessarily cover expenses. Therefore, these labels want to have direct discussions with Apple.