The press releases on this website are provided for historical reference purposes only.
Please note that certain information may have changed since the date of release.
October 16, 2019
Four Music Streaming Services in US, Europe on Board to Usher in a Major Music Milestone
Tokyo, Japan — Sony Corporation today announced the upcoming commercial availability of 360 Reality Audio, an immersive audio experience utilizing object-based spatial audio technology. Beginning in late fall 2019, listeners in the United States, Europe and beyond can access approximately 1,000 songs in this brand-new format from artists such as Mark Ronson and Pharrell Williams through streaming services Amazon Music HD, Deezer, nugs.net and TIDAL*1.
Since the concept was first introduced at CES 2019, Sony's 360 Reality Audio has generated broad and enthusiastic support among industry partners and artists who are eager to share its power. Object-based spatial audio technology makes it possible for artists and music creators to produce a music experience by mapping sound sources such as vocals, chorus and instruments with positional information and placing them within a spherical space. When listeners hear content produced in the 360 Reality Audio music format, they experience an immersion into sound that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of a live musical performance.
Sony is working with music labels (Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group), Live Nation, music distribution services and other music organizations to provide the technology for building a musical ecosystem around 360 Reality Audio, which will include the creation, distribution and playing of music content. Sony will also provide specifications for the 360 Reality Audio music format with the cooperation of Fraunhofer IIS, part of Europe's largest organization for applied research. Through these efforts, Sony is working to promote this new music experience to music creators, artists and music fans, with the aim of creating an entirely new world of music entertainment.
Sony is also working with Napster to develop the solution of 360 Reality Audio streaming for further expansion of service providers.
In the coming weeks, 360 Reality Audio will feature approximately 1,000 songs. More music is scheduled to be added from Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. The planned 1,000 songs will include leading contemporary artists, as well as timeless classics such as Billy Joel and Bob Dylan. The service will also feature more than 100 songs recorded from an array of concerts by performers such as CHARLI XCX and Kodaline, captured through a partnership with select Live Nation Clubs & Theaters.
360 Reality Audio can be fully enjoyed on headphones and wireless speakers at service launch.
360 Reality Audio can be experienced using headphones from most manufacturers when combined with an Android™/iOS smartphone that has a participating streaming services app installed. The service will be initially available at launch through Deezer, nugs.net and TIDAL.
Additionally, listeners can enjoy a custom immersive musical field that is perfectly optimized for each individual user when using select*3 Sony's headphones and the "Sony | Headphones Connect" app*4. This one-of-a-kind app analyzes the listener's hearing characteristics using images of ear dimensions leveraging Sony's unique algorithm.
Users will require a speaker system with Sony's unique decoder of the 360 Reality Audio music format, multiple speaker units and signal processing technology. Compatible songs can be played back from Amazon Music HD using Echo Studio.
Moreover, Sony has partnered with platform and chipset providers, in order to make 360 Reality Audio usable in a wide range of future connected devices.
Sony is collaborating with Live Nation, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to add even more 360 Reality Audio content in 2020. Sony is also working with studios to prepare a content creation environment. At present, participating studios include Battery Studios, Chiller Sound, Live Nation Content Studio in the US and The Crypt Studio in the UK. This list will be expanded over time.
With cooperation from Fraunhofer IIS, part of Europe's largest organization for applied research, the format will be compliant with MPEG-H 3D Audio, an international open audio standard, and optimized for music streaming. As licensors, Sony and Fraunhofer IIS will continue working to expand the available content library, participating streaming services and compatible audio devices moving forward.
For more information regarding the content format and license, please visit here.
