Apple’s 2018 $400 million acquisition of Shazam, an application which identifies music based on a short samples, promised to bring change to the world of music streaming. On September 10th, Apple Music announced that it will be implementing a process to properly identify and compensate all creators involved in making a DJ mix, using Shazam’s technology. This will allow for DJ mixes to retain long-term monetary value for both the DJ, and the artists whose music appears in the mix.

Apple Music’s new identification process has been coordinated with major and independent labels, along with DJ mix suppliers like festivals and clubs. Apple Music has also consulted with DJs in order to hear the questions and concerns of all parties who will be impacted by the new technology.

Even with the limited amount of DJ mixes currently available on Apple Music, the existing mixes have racked up over 300 millions streams. Apple has seen the promise in DJ mixes, leading the company to become the first major streaming service to create a technology that would allow pay for all rights holders whose music appears in a mix.

DJ Charlotte Dewitt released a statement on behalf of Apple that details the promise in Apple Music’s new announcement. “Apple Music is the first platform that offers continuous mixes where there’s a fair fee involved for the artists whose tracks are included in the mixes and for the artist making those mixes,” she said. “It’s a step in the right direction where everyone gets treated fairly.” The ability to host DJ mixes without being copyrighted may help Apple Music compete with Spotify, which leads the music streaming industry in subscribers. Apple Music has been striving to catch up to Spotify, introducing new features including spacial audio and lossless audio. With continued advances in their technological capabilities, Apple Music is setting itself up for success in the future.