Apple offers incentives to musicians for wrap-around sound

Move could mean higher royalty payments for artists.

Mixing music in Atmos is broadly affordable, making it worthwhile for established artists and labels to participate in the hope of seeing a boost in royalties.

Apple is offering incentives to artists and record labels to produce music using a spatial-audio technology that surrounds listeners in sound.

Starting next year, the company plans to give added weighting to streams of songs that are mixed in Dolby Atmos technology, according to sources. That could mean higher royalty payments for artists who are first to embrace the technology made by Dolby Laboratories.