Sonos has just announced it will add support for spatial audio on Apple Music in what will be a significant expansion of its next-gen sound experience.

Spatial audio delivers a multi-dimensional immersive sound experience that is fast becoming a primary recording format among leading artists, producers and engineers. Available on Sonos Era 300, Arc, and Beam (Gen 2), Apple Music with spatial audio will place listeners at the centre of their music with an ever growing catalogue of tracks and expertly curated playlists featuring renowned artists across all genres.

“It’s a thrilling time in music as spatial audio – and the artist creativity that comes with it – continues to grow,” said Giles Martin, Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter, and composer and VP of Sound Experience at Sonos. “Sonos continues to put its listeners at the forefront of sound innovation, ensuring they have access through Apple Music to transformative experiences like spatial audio with Dolby Atmos, so they can feel more from the content they love.”

Sonos customers will have access to spatial audio on Apple Music starting March 29, 2023.

The post Sonos Becomes Apple Music’s first partner for Spatial Audio appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Introducing the Apple Music Awards, a celebration of the best and boldest musicians of 2019 and the enormous impact they have had on global culture this year. The Apple Music Awards honour achievements in music across five distinct categories and winners are chosen through a process that reflects the service’s editorial perspective, combined with what customers around the world are loving most.

The winners for Global Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Breakthrough Artist of the Year were hand-selected by Apple Music’s global editorial team of experts and tastemakers and given to artists who have true passion for their craft, who boldly defy conventions in the category and who embody a sense of humanity, where listeners are drawn as much to who they are as to their music. The awards for Album of the Year and Song of the Year are based on streaming data and reflective of what Apple Music customers have been listening to (on repeat) this year.

“The Apple Music Awards are designed to recognise the passion, energy and creativity of the world’s favourite artists,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and International Content. “The musically diverse group of inaugural winners have sparked deep social conversation, influenced culture and inspired our customers around the world. We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate them.”

And the winners are…

Artist of the Year: Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish is nothing short of a global phenomenon. Her blunt relatability helped turn her full-length debut album “WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?,” co-written and produced by her brother, songwriting prodigy FINNEAS, into an instant worldwide sensation, and the most played album on Apple Music this year. What followed — selling out her upcoming 2020 WHERE DO WE GO? world arena tour, playing “Saturday Night Live,” multiple festivals including Coachella and Glastonbury, and becoming a global style icon — were all “huge moments … that are going to be historic in your life,” she says. “So 2019 has been one big birthday present.”

Additionally, Billie’s “WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” will be awarded Apple Music’s Album of the Year as the most streamed album of 2019 with more than a billion streams on Apple Music. Billie will also receive the award for Songwriter of the Year, which will go to both her and her brother FINNEAS.

Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Lizzo

This rap and soul supernova redefined the terms and image of pop stardom. “This is what a breakthrough is all about, babies,” Lizzo tells Apple Music. There’s no point in being humble: It doesn’t get much bigger than “Cuz I Love You” and its chin-up single “Truth Hurts,” which dared to ask what pop stars should look and sound like — and whether they should play flute while twerking. (They should.) Lizzo’s joyful, bawdy message of self-love is the perfect soundtrack — or antidote — to 2019.

Song of the Year: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X

A true viral sensation, this genre-blurring, homemade anthem became nothing less than the biggest single of 2019 and the most streamed song on Apple Music this year. “I went into the realm of a loner cowboy, needing to run away from everything,” Lil Nas X tells Apple Music. “But I also wanted to put it with what was on the rise, which is the whole meme culture — plus actually making it a listenable, catchy song.” He succeeded: “Old Town Road” made history and turned Lil Nas X into an overnight superstar.

This is the first ever Apple Music Awards and we can expect more to come every year.

The post APPLE ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER APPLE MUSIC AWARDS appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Vodafone New Zealand Music Award-nominated singer/songwriter Theia makes a phenomenal return with her new single Bye Bye. The Christchurch-born artist releases an epic statement of a song, which oozes sass and serves as an anthem for anyone who’s ever had to fight to be taken seriously.  “It’s written from the perspective of the underdog. It’s a big finger up at the doubters and the haters,” says Theia.

Theia wrote Bye Bye in February 2017 alongside legendary US-producer Mike Elizondo, renowned for his collaborations with Eminem and Dr Dre. Theia had the opportunity to work with Elizondo when she was invited to take part in Songhubs in Australia – an annual series of song writing sessions funded by APRA AMCOS, which pairs international hit-makers with local artists.  Australian hip-hop artist L-FRESH The LION and Auckland singer-songwriter Vince Harder were also part of the writing team and the track was produced by LA-based Tony Buchen, who was nominated as ‘producer of the year’ at the 2016 ARIAs.

On working with Elizondo and Buchen, Theia says “It was a dream to work with Mike. That big rolling bass is him playing live in the studio. He gave the track its beating heart and then Tony came on board as producer. I love Tony’s passion for his craft and the attention to detail in everything he does.”

On the day of release (Friday, 23 March) Bye Bye debuted at number nine on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlists around the world, and was included in Apple Music’s ‘Best of the Week’ and iTunes’ ‘Best of the Week’. Clash Music has described the new single as ‘a wonderful opening blast, fusing fluorescent pop energy with some terrific, rousing lyricism.’

Theia burst onto the music scene in 2016 with her break-out smash hit ‘Roam’ – which has surpassed 12.5 million streams on Spotify. She followed it up with singles ‘Champagne Supernova’ and ‘Treat You’ off her debut EP which was released in June 2017.

The post ‘Bye Bye’ Theia appeared first on Shane the Gamer.