Publishing and delivery

Where immersive audio can be published, what each platform expects and how to deliver to YouTube.

This page explains where immersive audio can be published, which format and delivery route each platform expects, how to deliver Eclipsa Audio to YouTube and how to confirm that the immersive version is actually playing. It also lists the export formats Spatial9 produces and a delivery checklist for each release.

It is written for artists, labels, mix engineers and video creators who have an immersive mix and need to get it to listeners. Platform information reflects the Spatial9 sources checked on October 1, 2026; prices, destinations and rules change often, so confirm them in your own distributor account before you pay for a mix.

Three rules before you deliver

Accepted is not the same as played in 3D

A release can go live and still play only in stereo. For the immersive version to reach a listener, four conditions must hold.

1. The service accepts the immersive file.
2. The service keeps and streams the immersive version, not only the stereo copy.
3. The listener's plan, app and device support it.
4. You can confirm it, usually with a badge or a playback setting.

Native immersive versus binaural stereo

Most stores need a distributor

Apart from YouTube and SoundCloud, independent artists cannot upload to streaming services directly. A distributor delivers the release, and only some distributors offer immersive delivery.

These listings were checked in July 2026. Apple's partner directory also lists Believe, FUGA, IDOL and Stem as preferred distributors offering Atmos.

Platform comparison

YouTube is the only major platform where you publish immersive audio yourself, with no distributor and no extra fee.

Formats by destination

Sony 360 Reality Audio is no longer a broad route. TIDAL removed it on July 24, 2024, and the 360 by Deezer app closed on October 31, 2022. DTS:X has no music streaming route.

Delivering Dolby Atmos to music stores

Technical specification

The usual specification, based on Apple's documentation and distributors that follow it:

See ADM BWF files for what a compliant master contains.

Apple Music

Apple calls Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio. Delivery goes through Apple's Transporter tool, which in practice means an Atmos-approved distributor or encoding house. Apple says an Atmos track must be made from multitracks, or stems created from multitracks. It does not allow upmixes of a stereo release, stems extracted from a stereo release (including AI separation), or a stereo mix placed in the sound field with added reverb. Apple says Spatial Audio content earns up to a 10% higher share of royalties.

Amazon Music

Amazon Music is the only major service that still offers both Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio. Immersive playback is part of Amazon Music Unlimited; the Single Device plan does not include it. Amazon does not publish its mix-origin rules openly, but many distributors apply the same checks to every Atmos destination, so plan on a mix made from original multitracks.

TIDAL and regional services

TIDAL plays Dolby Atmos only. Tencent Music offers Atmos on QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo and JOOX; NetEase Cloud Music announced Atmos in May 2023; Anghami covers Atmos playback in its help center. Few distributors say publicly whether they deliver Atmos to the Chinese and Middle Eastern services, so confirm the immersive route before you rely on it.

Stereo-only services

Spotify added lossless stereo up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz for Premium in 2025, which is not spatial audio. Spotify and SoundCloud have no immersive music format. To reach those listeners, release a binaural mix as a normal stereo track and title it clearly as a headphone mix. No official immersive delivery is documented for JioSaavn, Gaana, Melon, KKBOX, Line Music, Boomplay or Yandex Music.

Delivering Eclipsa Audio to YouTube

YouTube has accepted Eclipsa Audio since January 2025. You upload an MP4 with an IAMF audio track, and the mix inside can be channel-based, such as 7.1.4, or Ambisonics. Viewers on supported devices hear the immersive version; everyone else hears the normal version, so nobody loses the sound.

YouTube immersive workflows

Do not mix up the two workflows. A higher-order Ambisonics mix must be reduced to first order for 360 video.

Supported devices

Codec requirement

YouTube requires Opus, which corresponds to IAMF Simple Profile. FLAC and LPCM produce valid IAMF Base Profile files but are not accepted by YouTube. In Spatial9, Opus is the default and the streaming-safe choice for the encoder used by the stems and music pipelines. The main ADM to Eclipsa Audio conversion runs on the external Spatializer service, whose codec Spatial9 does not control. See Eclipsa Audio and IAMF reference.

Upload and verify

1. Export the MP4 with an IAMF v1.0 audio track.
2. Upload it to YouTube as Private or Unlisted.
3. Wait for processing to finish.
4. Open the video on a supported device, such as a Samsung 2025 TV, and look for Eclipsa Audio in the player Settings menu.
5. Open Stats for nerds and confirm the audio codec starts with iamf, for example iamf.001.001.Opus.
6. Listen for the intended layout, including height and surround.
7. Check the normal version on a phone or laptop.
8. Publish.

YouTube Music receives songs through distributors and has not documented immersive playback for those tracks. Treat YouTube videos as the immersive outlet. YouTube does not document Dolby Atmos uploads for creators; convert an existing Atmos master to Eclipsa Audio instead. See ADM to Eclipsa Audio.

Spatial9 YouTube flow

Spatial9 can turn a song, stems or a video into an Eclipsa Audio MP4: upload, AI separation, GravityLLM placement, IAMF encoding in MP4, then preview and publish directly to YouTube. Video transformation is in invite-only early access.

Choosing what to make

If you already have a Dolby Atmos master, convert it for YouTube and keep the Atmos version for the music stores.

Exports in the Immersive Classroom

The Spatial9 Immersive Classroom export window offers the following formats. Real file exports are part of Student Pro, at $9 per month with a verified school email and nine projects per month. Free students can use Share with class.

For the YouTube Eclipsa Audio option, choose an MP4, MOV or WebM video and select Render video; the output is an IAMF MP4, with a YouTube and Eclipsa Audio Preview panel. Effects are included in exports by default. Share with class carries positions and movements only, through a class link. See Education and Academy.

Delivery checklist

1. Decide who is listening and on what devices.
2. Choose the primary format for that audience.
3. Choose a safety format, usually Stereo Mixdown or binaural.
4. Confirm you own or have licensed the music, including any AI-generated parts.
5. For Dolby Atmos stores, confirm the mix was made from original multitracks or stems.
6. Confirm your distributor lists each target as an Atmos destination, not only a stereo one, and add Atmos at first upload where required.
7. Check the ADM BWF specification, loudness, true peak, matching stereo master and separate ISRC.
8. Check height fold-down on smaller layouts and stereo.
9. Name files clearly, and title binaural versions as headphone mixes.
10. Test Eclipsa Audio on YouTube as Private or Unlisted on a supported device.
11. Listen to the delivered file, then look for the badge or label on each service after release.

Next steps

• ADM to Eclipsa Audio converts an existing Atmos master for YouTube.
• Binaural rendering, headphones and speakers explains how to check the safety formats.
• Stereo vs stems helps you decide which mix source each store accepts.
• Exporting stems prepares the multitracks Atmos stores require.