All deliverables should be placed within a project root folder using the naming convention:

ArtistName_ProductTitle_ProductNumber_360RA

Each specific deliverable file set will be placed in it’s own folder within this root as detailed in the relevant sections below.

It is strongly recommended that the folder structure be put in place before beginning any mix work on a project to ensure clear, uniform and cohesive file delivery.

PLEASE NOTE No special characters should be used for any file or folder names, only letters a-z in the alphabet, numbers 0-9 and underscores can be used. No spaces, commas, full stops, exclamation marks etc should be used. Capital letters are used to mark spaces in filenames e.g:

Dummy Product Album Japan Version = DummyProductAlbumJapanVersion

5.1.2 Stereo Mix

All 360RA mixes must be matched to an accompanying stereo mix. The length, fade in/out and all audible content of the 360RA mix should be identical to the it’s stereo counterpart. It is a requirement of streaming platforms that all 360RA content is within 50ms phase alignment to the stereo equivalent, this means from the moment you press play on a track, the musical content should start in the stereo and immersive versions within 50ms of each other. Any mixes provided outside of this tolerance may be subject to rejection.

All stereo mix files either provided or created should be named and placed using the following convention:

ArtistName_ProductTitle_ProductNumber_360RA →
TrackNo_TrackTitle.wav (or file name unedited from provided file)

5.1.3 360 WalkMix Creator Export

For each track we will require a full set of files exported from the 360 WalkMix Creator mix session as detailed below, using the ‘Bounce Mix’ function of the 360 WalkMix Creator plugin/your DAW.

Before exporting:

1. Set your speaker layout to 13.0 (5.0.5 + 3B) (Settings > Speaker > Speaker Layout)
2. Take note of the location of your export folder (Settings > General > Export Folder)
3. Confirm that ‘Dynamic Plugin Processing’ on your DAW is turned OFF (ProTools: Setup > Playback Engine > Dynamic Plugin Processing)

Proceed with using the ‘Bounce Mix’ function. When prompted, please select all available export types (headphone, level 0, level 1, level 2, level 3, speaker, unprocessed). Note that for mixes with lower object counts, higher level PreRender exports may not be available–if this is the case for your mix, simply export all available levels (see below).

Once your tracks are exported, please organize every track of each export type together, within track-level subfolders. See below for packaging instructions:

5.1.3.1 Deliverable 1: PreRenders (level 0, level 1, level 2, level 3, unprocessed)

All exports labeled as ‘level’ should be packaged under the PreRenders subfolder. Please rename each folder to the actual object count of the PreRender (i.e. ‘5Object’, ’10Object’, ’16Object’, ’24Object’). Please package the ‘unprocessed’ export with your PreRenders as well.

Renders should always be provided at 1024 frames, 48kHz, with a bit depth that matches the source stems (16 or 24). 32bit files are not acceptable.

All export files should be named and placed using the following convention:

ArtistName_ProductTitle_ProductNumber_360RA →
PreRenders →
TrackNo_TrackTitle →
ObjectNumber (renamed from ‘level 0’, etc)→
TrackNo_TrackTitle_level_0.sam

See screenshot below for example showing the filepath from the root project folder to the exported files:

5.1.3.2 Deliverable 2: Speaker Render

If you’ve set your speaker layout to 13.0 (5.0.5 + 3B), the ‘speaker’ folder of your 360 WalkMix Creator exports should contain 13 mono .wav files for each track. 13.0 wav files should always be provided in split format, at 48kHz, with a bit depth that matches the source stems (16 or 24). 32bit files are not acceptable.

13.0 Wav Files files should be named and placed using the below convention. WalkMix Creator will automatically add coordinate positions (e.g. ‘-B-030’, ‘-M-110’) to the filename—no need to add it manually:

ArtistName_ProductTitle_ProductNumber_360RA →
13_1_WavRenders →
TrackNo_TrackTitle →
TrackNo_TrackTitle-CoordinatePosition.wav

See screenshot below for example showing the filepath from the root project folder to the exported files:

5.2.1 Atmos Eligibility

To be classified as Dolby Atmos, a mix must contain height channel content. Any mixes submitted that only contain discrete 4, 5 or 7 (+/- LFE) channels in the bed without height information should be supplied as “Multi-channel Audio” – please see section 5.3.1 below.

If the Dolby Atmos mix uses the bed LFE channel, it must have appropriate low-pass filtering applied, with a cutoff and slope that only allows through sub-bass musical content.

The musical content of the Dolby Atmos mix should align with stereo version within a 50ms tolerance (see section 5.2.3.1.1)

Atmos mixes must be completed from discrete mix stem sources, rather than generated from stereo mix sources. This includes utilizing up-mixing plugins that transform stereo mixes into higher channel count audio, adding “immersive reverbs” to stereo mixes, or utilizing source separation technology to create “stems” from stereo mixes. Mixes created from mix deliverables or extremely limited stem counts (e.g. Acapella + Instrumental, etc), carry a risk of rejection as well.

5.2.2 File / Folder Structure

All deliverables should be placed within a project root folder using the naming convention:

Artist_ProductName_ProductNumber_Atmos

If any piece of the information is missing (e.g. product number) it can be omitted. See end of document for file structure example screenshot.

Each specific deliverable file set will be placed in it’s own folder within this root as detailed in the relevant sections below.

It is strongly recommended that the folder structure be put in place before beginning any mix work on a project to ensure clear, uniform and cohesive file delivery.

PLEASE NOTE no special characters should be used for any file or folder names, only letters a-z in the alphabet, numbers 0-9 and underscores can be used. No spaces, commas, full stops, exclamation marks etc should be used. Capital letters are used to mark spaces in filenames e.g:
Dummy Product Album Japan Version = DummyProductAlbumJapanVersion

5.2.3 Atmos Exports

For each track we will require a full set of files exported from the Atmos mix session as detailed below.

5.2.3.1 Deliverable 1: ADM BWF Master

The ADM BWF is the final master file that will be used for encode and distribution for consumer listening. Please note the following requirements:

• We require one ADM BWF per track on the release.
• Each ADM BWF should only contain active object audio (no silent objects)
• Each ADM BWF should adhere to Dolby’s loudness guidelines (at time of writing target loudness -18LKFs, with peak values no higher than -1dBTP)

5.2.3.1.1 Matching phase alignment to stereo mix and adding timestamps

After all mixes on the release are finished, all ADM BWF files should be imported into a single project in your DAW (e.g. ProTools) and aligned / faded / crossfaded to match exactly the timings of the standard stereo master provided for reference. All Atmos mixes must be matched to an accompanying stereo mix – the length, fade in/out and all audible content of the Atmos mix should be identical to the it’s stereo counterpart. It is an Apple requirement that all Atmos content is within 50ms phase alignment to it’s stereo equivalent, this means from the moment you press play on a track, the musical content should start in the stereo and immersive versions within 50ms of each other. The Atmos mixes should be aligned to the 24bit Apple Digital Master of the product, or the 24bit HD if an ADM version is not available. Where there is no 24bit version of the product (e.g. Legacy content) then a 16bit stereo master is permissible for use to align to.

Any mixes provided outside of the 50ms tolerance may be subject to rejection.

Once the track spacings and transitions are matched, each ADM BWF should be re-exported in place which will include a start timestamp that matches the end point of the previous track.

Dolby’s guide for completing an album sequence can be found here:
https://dolby.app.box.com/s/bktq9epewv2ce3yvlo4pr04cpaym87zc

Files should be placed in the following location and naming convention:

ArtistName_ProductTitle_ProductNumber_Atmos ->
ADMBWF ->
TrackNo_TrackTitle_ADMBWF.wav

5.2.3.2 Deliverable 2: Dolby Atmos Master File

If the source stems provided for the Atmos mix are 44.1kHz or 48kHz we do not require a Dolby Atmos Master File set.
If the source stems provided for the Atmos mix are at any sample rate above 48kHz, the mix should be completed at 96kHz and exported from the Dolby Atmos Renderer as a Dolby Atmos Master File package.
If stems are provided at a sample rate above 48kHz but not 96kHz, they should be sample rate converted using the mixer’s preferred method prior to mixing.

Files should be placed in the following location and naming convention:

ArtistName_ProductTitle_ProductNumber_Atmos ->
DAMF ->
TrackNo_TrackTitle ->
TrackNo_TrackTitle.atmos
TrackNo_TrackTitle.atmos.audio
TrackNo_TrackTitle.atmos.metadata
TrackNo_TrackTitle.atmos.dbmd

(NOTE – the .dbmd file is not necessary for masters created using Atmos Renderer v3.5 or newer)

5.2.4 Example of file structure and naming convention

5.3.1 Overview

This document details proper procedure for submitting raw wav files from quadraphonic (4.0), 5.1, and 7.1 surround catalog assets intended for supported streaming partners. File submission must follow this guide, ensuring uniformity, and in support of scripted ingest and conversion processes implemented in the Sony Music supply chain.

5.3.2 Wav File Formatting

Wav files must adhere to the following guide. Submission outside these guidelines could result in rejection or critical delays in release of the associated commercial product.

• Files must be single channel, mono wav files.
• Files for any given track should all be cut to the exact same length.
• Files need to be created as 48kHz, 16 or 24 bit files.

5.3.3 File Naming & Folder Structure

The file naming and folder structure for multichannel catalog products sourced from quad, 5.1, and 7.1 products must follow the below guidelines to work with the Sony Music supply chain scripted ingest process.

5.3.3.1 File Naming

• Files should be named “Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_Source_PositionalReference.wav”
• Sequence# must be in lexicographical order: “01, 02, 03”
• SongTitle must not have spaces or special characters
• Capital letters are the delimiters: “SongTitle”
• A dash “-” may be used to separate a subtitle: “SongTitle-Remix”
• Source denotes what product type the assets were created from
• Source types are:
• Quad
• 5_1
• 7_1
• 5_1 and 7_1 must be written with a dash and not a period to work with scripted ingest.
• PositionalReference notes the position of the object. The positional reference must:
• Be proceeded by an underscore “_”.
• Be followed by the file’s extension
• Follow the below naming. Note that these are case sensitive.
• Quad tags are: FL, FR, RL, RR
• 5.1 tags are: L, C, R, Ls, Rs, Lfe
• 7.1 tags are: L, C, R, Lss, Rss, Lsr, Rsr, Lfe
• Files should not have the file extension duplicated as part of the file name. This will fail the process.
• Example “01_LaPiedraDelSol_USSM12106232_Quad_RL.wav.wav” (do not do this)
• This likely occurs when using a batch rendering process that leverages the file name as a way to name the output file with “show known extensions” turned on.
• Renderer would use input file name “01_LaPiedraDelSol_USSM12106232_Quad_RL.wav” to create a new wav file. The resulting output is “01_LaPiedraDelSol_USSM12106232_Quad_RL.wav.wav”.

5.3.3.2 Folder Structure

• Quad Folder Structure:
• Product Folder: Artist_Title_Product#_Quad
• Track Subfolders: Sequence#_SongTitle
• File Names:
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_Quad_FL.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_Quad_FR.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_Quad_RL.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_Quad_RR.wav



• 5.1 Folder Structure:
• Product Folder: Artist_Title_Product#_5_1
• Track Subfolders: Sequence#_SongTitle
• File Names:
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_5_1_L.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_5_1_C.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_5_1_R.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_5_1_Ls.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_5_1_Rs.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_5_1_Lfe.wav



• 7.1 Folder Structure:
• Product Folder: Artist_Title_Product#_7_1
• Track Subfolders: Sequence#_SongTitle
• File Names:
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_L.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_C.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_R.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_Lss.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_Rss.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_Lsr.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_Rsr.wav
• Sequence#_SongTitle_ISRC_7_1_Lfe.wav