Well, the whole thing is an anonymous email. And the "remixing by the truckload" doesn't seem in evidence given the low number of tracks released thus far; there are many more available on Tidal in Atmos currently.
> Jazz in Atmos is wonderful.
I've been very impressed by the classical tracks thus far, which have mostly used a hint of surround to let you feel as though you're at the front of a concert, with the players in a crescnt moon; and a bit of a delay in the rears to create the sensation of space echoing behind.
Some of the rock/pop mixes have been very interesting; the Linkin Park mixes use the surround/rear to create a "voices inside my head" effect where it makes sense on with the lyrics. Robert Palmer actually sounds like a much better singer on the remixes than the originals, with the guitars pushed out to the side rather than stomping all over the singer (whether they applied a little autotune as well, who knows?). I don't much like The Doors, but the use of surround in Riders on the Storm is remarkable.
There are some very poor remixes too, but that's the case for any re-engineering. As for the idea that only the original engineer or producer can make something work, well, that's just idiotic on a number of levels.
Then why start by screwing up the old music?
Also, there's so much you can do to the sound of a synth and so many powerful synths out there. If you're complaining about the sound being too smooth or simple, you just haven't played around with powerful synths often enough.
Here's a link with a bit about sine waves, but I've found the same to be true (to a lesser extend) with saw, triangle, and square waves too.
The smaller part of the community acknowledges that beauty is in the eye/ear of the beholder/listener.
When it comes to headphones, though, audio is to some degree already spatial. Apple does seem to be spreading butter on butter here.
I've listened to quite a few pop songs I know, and without fail they sound much muddier in Atmos. Vocals are recessed, the bass loses definition. The improvement in sound stage feels better when you switch back and forth, but paradoxically the sound quality is worse.
Apple has done quite a poor job showcasing it so far. Some of the tracks they've put in their playlists sound like crap. On the otherhand some of them sound fantastic. Jazz in Atmos is wonderful. It's also important to note that 'head tracking' comes with iOS 15 and in my experience improves spatial further.
A lot of music made for stereo won't remix well. If you listen to most of the rock tracks they don't sound good because they don't have a lot going on. 3 or 4 instruments + 2 or 3 vocals tracks aren't going to take advantage of spatial. Listening to some modern pop with lots of synths and layers upon layers of backing vocals, the experience is much better.
Atmos/spatial is a new tool like any other. People will write and record songs that work for it and take advantage of it. They'll use it creatively. That's what will be interesting. Most remixed songs from the 60's aren't the least bit interesting but the possibilities for the future are.
I could be wrong and it could end up largely ignored, time will tell. But there is the opportunity for a lot of creativity regardless of what cranky old music critics think.