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Pearl Jam stream new album in Dolby Atmos for free, some exceptions apply

Pearl Jam's Gigaton is streaming for free on Apple TV 4K and iOS devices for the next week with a mix in both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
pearl-jam-gigaton

A still from Pearl Jam's Gigaton in Dolby Atmos.

Republic Records/Screenshot by Ty Pendlebury/CNET

Pearl Jam are streaming their newest album Gigaton in Dolby Atmos format for free for the next week, exclusively for users of Apple TV and iOS devices.

If you're a Pearl Jam fan, the full-length album is available on Apple TV 4K or compatible iPhone s, iPad s or MacBook s. While you will need an Atmos-compatible receiver and speakers (or Atmos soundbar) to hear it at its best, you don't need a 4K TV for it to work. If you do have a Dolby Vision TV, then you'll get the full visual effect.

Apple TV and iOS users can use this link to hear Pearl Jam's Gigaton in Dolby Atmos.   

Mobile users will only be able to hear the record in simulated Atmos mode via the Apple TV app. It is available for purchase on iTunes in AAC format for $10.99, though.

The band released its 11th album Gigaton on March 27, its first record in seven years.  

I listened to the record on my Dolby Atmos home system and it's a fairly subtle Atmos treatment. The ambient start of the album is the most Atmos-heavy, leading in to the hard-charging Who Ever Said, which had my 7-year-old dancing.

Surround-sound music made a splash in 2019 with the release of Sony's 360 Reality Audio, Atmos Music and the Amazon Echo Studio . It's yet to be seen if Atmos surround music can gain a foothold, especially given that previous formats such as quad and DVD-Audio failed to catch on.

Watch this: Dolby Atmos comes to Apple TV 4K