A Music Ally Primer :: by Stuart Dredge

www.musically.com

Mighty RealVirtual Reality and the Music Industry

1 Virtual reality (VR) isn’t a new technology by any stretch of the imagination. Yet in 2016, it’s a bona-fide buzz for the tech industry despite past flops. So what is it, and what kind of predictions are experts making for it?

Introduction

2

Looking for a dry but factual definition of virtual reality? Try Merriam Webster’s dictionary definition:

“An artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one's actions partially determine what happens in the environment.”

Or Oxford Dictionaries:

“The computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.”

Although depicted in science fiction as far back as the 1930s, the term “virtual reality” as we currently understand it came to prominence in the technology world in the 1970s and 1980s – the latter yielding the bulky headsets and sensory gloves that many people associate with the phrase.

In 2016, though, virtual reality developments are focusing on two related areas. First, dedicated headsets running VR

software on a computer or games console – Oculus Rift and Sony’s PlayStation VR being two of the prominent examples.

Second, there is mobile VR where the software is running on a smartphone either held up in front of the viewer’s eyes, or slotted into a headset – which may be a device (like Samsung’s Gear VR) or simply a housing for the smartphone (like assemble-it-yourself Google Cardboard headsets).

There is some crossover between the two areas: the Gear VR uses technology from Oculus Rift’s creator, for example, although it is not as powerful.

It’s important to understand the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality (AR). Where VR immerses you in an entirely-virtual environment, AR is more about projecting digital information and/or characters into the real world around you.

“Where VR is like wearing a console on your face, AR is like wearing a transparent mobile phone on it,” was how research firm Digi-Capital put it in 2015. Many experts think the boundaries between the two technologies will blur in the coming years, but for now, they are separate.

Introduction

Defining VR

3

The latest wave of VR and AR hardware and content are in their early days: any attempt to gauge how many people will buy the hardware and how much money the content will make are speculative guesses, to put it politely.

The buzz around these technologies means there are no shortage of research firms and analysts willing to speculate, though. Here are some of the latest forecasts.

Digi-CapitalIn April 2015, research firm Digi-Capital released its Augmented/Virtual Reality Report 2015, making the bold prediction that AR/VR revenues “could hit $150bn” by 2020, with AR accounting for $120bn and VR $30bn.

The report suggested that VR’s key market will be hardcore games and 3D films, as well as niche uses for businesses – meaning tens of millions of users.

By contrast, Digi-Capital suggested that “AR’s addressable market is similar to the smartphone/tablet market” meaning hundreds of millions of users; hardware pricing similar to those mobile devices; and potential to make money not just from consumer applications, but from the mobile data required to run

them over the network. “Someone has to pay for all that mobile data,” as it put it.

CCS InsightIn June 2015, CCS Insight published forecasts for AR and VR as part of its wearables research service, claiming that 2.5m VR and AR devices would be sold in 2015, rising to more than 24m in 2018.

Its report suggested that AR’s applications will be focused more on design, logistics, medicine and education, whereas VR will be focused more on games, videos, travel and social.

Introduction

Great Expectations

4

“Most consumers find virtual reality a mind-blowing experience the first time they try it. We believe it has tremendous potential and it's not just about expensive high-end devices such as the Oculus Rift,” said chief of research Ben Wood.

“For only a few dollars, consumers can dip their toe in the water with an inexpensive cardboard holder for a compatible smartphone. We expect this democratisation of the technology to deliver growth not just in affluent mature markets but also in emerging markets where smartphone penetration is stronger than ever.

KZeroIn January 2015, KZero published its estimates for the growth of the consumer VR market, predicting 5.7m units sold in 2015, rising to 23.8m by 2018 – and 56.8m units sold in the five-year

period from 2014 to 2018. It broke the latter figure down by audience: 10.9m units bought by hardcore gamers, 18.1m by light gamers and 27.7 by (or, rather, for) “kids, tweens and teens”.

Its report claimed that VR hardware revenues would rise from $1.4bn in 2015 to $2.3bn in 2018, while revenues from games and apps would rise from $947m in 2015 from 15.7 million active users to $2.8bn in 2018 from 47.6 million active users.

5

SuperData ResearchResearch firm SuperData released its VR Gaming Market Brief 2016 report in January 2016 focusing on the gaming side of virtual reality. It claimed that the global market for VR games will reach $5.1bn in 2016 based on an install base of 55.8 million people.

It added that “light mobile VR” will reach 27m unit sales in 2016, accounting for 71% of the consumer market for this technology.

“As hardware manufacturers seek to become the dominant platform, they face the challenge of ramping up an audience in order to attract third-party developers. However, even hardcore gamers, a group generally known for its appetite, indicated to

be willing to spend around $300 on a virtual reality gaming device,” suggested the report.

“This suggests that platform holders will initially have to heavily subsidize their hardware to claim significant market share. Most likely, the report finds, consumers will initially familiarise themselves with virtual reality on their smartphones and less expensive options, before committing to a bigger expense.”

TracticaFinally, research firm Tractica has predicted that 2016 will be “the make or break year for the second coming of consumer virtual reality”, thanks to the competition between Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.

The company claimed that the combined revenue from VR hardware and content will grow from $108.8m in 2014 to $21.8bn in 2020. Its report suggested that this will include a shift in how that money is made: in 2017, content will account for a third of total VR revenues, but this will rise to nearly two thirds by 2020.

In January 2016, the company issued another report suggesting that between 2015 and 2020, 200.1m VR headsets will be sold worldwide, including 76.7m in 2020. It also predicted that 52.2m VR accessories will be sold in that five-

6

year period including gamepads, hand-tracking devices, “locomotion devices and VR vests and suits”.

“The second coming of virtual reality is upon us, and industry participants are keen to ensure that products are fine-tuned prior to release in order to avoid a disappointment in this high-potential new category,” said the company’s principal analyst Craig Foster.

2 From Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR to content startups like Vrse and Jaunt, there are a growing number of players in the VR space. Here are some of the key companies worth knowing about

Current Players

8

You don’t need a headset to experience VR: you can simply download a compatible app (or open a 360 video in the app of YouTube or Facebook) and hold your smartphone in front of you to watch and pan around the content.

Still, there are a number of headsets either available or in development from large technology companies and small startups alike – with the likes of Apple thought to be preparing to enter the market too.

Here are the key hardware devices and companies worth knowing about in the VR space.

Oculus RiftMade by Oculus VR, which is otherwise known as ‘the startup Facebook bought for $2bn’ when CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided that virtual reality was the next big leap in communications technology.

The Oculus Rift first came to prominence as a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in August 2012 for a VR headset focused on games. More than 9,500 backers pledged $2.4m to

make the campaign a success, after which Oculus set to work building its first headsets for games developers.

That’s an important point about Oculus Rift: the headset still hasn’t gone on sale to consumers – that will happen on 28 March 2016, with pre-orders having started in early January – but anyone has been able to buy one of its two developer prototypes: DK1 and DK2.

The commercial edition will cost $599, although buyers will need a PC powerful enough to run its software – bundles of PC and Rift start at $1,499.

Oculus VR has also developed a pair of hand-worn controllers – called Touch – which will enable people to manipulate objects

Current Players

Hardware

9

in virtual worlds by gesturing rather than by using a mouse and keyboard. They will launch later in 2016.

While the emphasis remains on games, when Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR in March 2014, he made it clear that he had ambitions well beyond gaming.

“After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face – just by putting on goggles in your home,” he wrote on Facebook.

“This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life.”

Samsung Gear VRWhile Oculus VR continued developing the launch edition of its Rift headset, it also signed a partnership with Samsung to put its technology into a mobile-VR headset designed to work with the company’s Android smartphones.

Unveiled in September 2014, a developer edition of the Gear VR came out later that year, while the first consumer model

went on sale in November 2015 in the US. It costs $99.99, although buyers need a compatible Samsung smartphone.

Initial reviews have been positive, although the device is still building a library of apps and games, which are available from a dedicated store.

10

Sony PlayStation VRSony’s games console division revealed its plans to compete with Oculus Rift in March 2014, when it was known as Project Morpheus. The plans were for a VR headset that would work with the PlayStation 4 console. In the Autumn of 2015, it was renamed as PlayStation VR.

Although journalists have been given demos of PlayStation VR, Sony has yet to announce a release date or launch price for the headset, although the company is focusing its energies on games for that launch.

“In its early iteration, the principal audience will probably be enthusiast gamers looking for something brand-new,” said Sony exec Andrew House in December 2015. Other content will follow. “It will probably come in a second phase of VR development for us, because our first focus is on games.”

HTC ViveAlthough made by a firm (HTC) that also makes smartphones, the HTC Vive is a standalone VR headset: it’s like Oculus Rift rather than the Samsung Gear VR, with its own screens (one per eye) rather than using a smartphone.

The Vive is actually the result of a partnership between HTC and Valve Corporation, using the latter’s OpenVR software. The headset was announced in March 2015, originally with the aim of going on sale by the end of that year.

While pre-launch versions have been available for developers, commercial pre-orders have now been scheduled for the end of February, followed by shipments in April.

HTC is making a pair of wireless controllers for the headset, and its base-station can be walked around in the real world to trigger movement in the virtual environments. Films and “real-time concerts” have been listed as likely uses alongside games.

11

Google CardboardThe most successful VR headset so far in terms of shipments isn’t a gadget, as such: it’s a collection of build-it-yourself cardboard contraptions made by various companies under the Google Cardboard initiative. Generally costing between $15 and $25 – although sometimes cheaper when subsidised by a

brand or media company – they require a smartphone to be slotted inside to use as a screen.

Google Cardboard launched in June 2014 at Google’s developer conference, and by January 2016 more than 5m of the headsets had shipped. Cardboard-compatible apps were installed 25m times in that period, with 10m of those coming in the final two months of 2015 alone. Google also says that Cardboard owners have watched more than 350k hours of YouTube VR videos using the devices.

Cardboard is the first attempt at a truly mass-market VR platform, with Google working hard behind the scenes to encourage developers and creatives to support it. That has included hardware and software for 360-degree filmmakers, as well as an initiative called Expeditions based around virtual field trips for use in classrooms.

Google’s support for Cardboard extends to an official app directing people to demos; the separate Cardboard Camera app to shoot their own “VR photos”; and the 360 and VR support within YouTube’s app.

Meanwhile, third-party apps supporting Cardboard that have music content include Vrse, Jaunt’s Paul McCartney app, Squarepusher’s Stor Eiglass VR app – all of which are profiled later in this report.

12

Other VR HeadsetsThere are dozens of other VR headsets jostling for attention, particularly on Kickstarter, where a number have been successfully backed by thousands of early adopters.

Japanese headset FOVE adds eye-tracking to its features, understanding where its wearers are looking even if they are not turning their heads. Impression Pi, ANTVR, AuraVisor, Cmoar and Wearality Sky all hit their crowdfunding targets too.

Zeiss VR One is a mobile-VR headset using the wearer’s Android or iPhone smartphone, and runs Google Cardboard apps. Homido is another example of a Cardboard-compatible headset that has more gadgetry than a simple cardboard housing for a smartphone.

Finally, games hardware firm Razer has its OSVR: an open-source virtual reality platform focusing on gaming, which could be used by a variety of other companies making their own headsets. So far, a “hacker dev kit” is available.

AR Tech: Hololens And Magic LeapAugmented reality (AR) is not the focus for this report, but there are two projects worth knowing about in that space: Microsoft’s Hololens and Magic Leap. The former has been shown publicly and demonstrated to journalists and developers, while the latter remains under wraps.

Both will superimpose digital objects on the real world, often for gaming purposes: Magic Leap’s brief but startling YouTube demo shows robots being shot in the company’s office, while Microsoft’s favourite Hololens demo involves playing Minecraft on a pop-up world that springs into life on a physical table.

13

There are plenty of hardware firms in the VR game, but what about the content that will be accessed through their headsets? Here, too, there are a growing number of companies touting platforms and distribution channels. Starting with two of the biggest players in tech.

YouTube And FacebookYouTube actually has two different video formats that could be described as virtual reality: 360-degree, and VR video.

The former launched in March 2015 as a way for viewers to pan around within compatible videos either by holding their smartphone up and moving around, or by using a mouse on the desktop to drag the point of view around.

In November 2015, YouTube followed up with support for VR video, which is designed to work with Google Cardboard headsets and smartphones. It adds a sense of depth “as you look around in every direction”.

Facebook added its own 360 video feature in September 2015, which again involved turning the device when these videos are

watched on a smartphone, and dragging with the mouse when watched on desktop. Star Wars, Discovery, GoPro and Saturday Night Live were among the first partners.

Facebook has also been testing 360 video as an advertising format with brands like Nescafe and Samsung, while both YouTube and Facebook have been forging partnerships with camera makers to make it easier for people shooting in 360 degrees to upload to their respective platforms.

Some VR creators see YouTube and Facebook’s mobile apps as the biggest likely mainstream distribution channels for virtual-reality content in the years ahead. “Virtual reality now is mobile-first,” said filmmaker Bryn Mooser of production company RYOT in August 2015. “Headsets aren’t going to be the way it goes: it’s just your phone... You don’t need headsets for this: you just need a phone and YouTube, or soon a phone and Facebook.”

Current Players

Software / Content

14

Vrse / Vrse.worksFilmmaker Chris Milk came to many people’s attention in the music industry with his wonderful The Wilderness Downtown interactive video for Arcade Fire in 2010. In recent years, he’s dived into the VR world, co-founding two sister companies: Vrse and Vrse.works.

Vrse.works is a production studio focused on VR filmmaking, including building tools and technology to shoot documentaries, music videos and other content. Vrse is a distribution channel, making VR films available through its website and free Android and iOS apps. The two are separate but closely linked: Vrse.works produces all of Vrse’s VR films.

Vrse.works has also worked for clients including Apple Music, for which it produced VR videos for Muse and U2 – both profiled later in this report. Milk is in no doubt that VR has a big future for filmmaking of all kinds.

“When people ask whether virtual reality will be a real thing or just the next 3D, what I always say is ‘take a headset, walk outside and the next person you meet, put it on them and see what the reaction is’,” he said in October 2015.

“That reaction will speak to how this is really the next great platform for storytelling and art and human expression. It’s just that most people haven’t had that opportunity to try it yet.”

JauntBilling itself as “the future of cinematic VR”, Jaunt is best known to the music industry as the company behind Paul McCartney’s VR app. There’s plenty more to the startup than that, however: not least its funding, with a $65m round in September 2015.

Jaunt is both a VR hardware and software company thanks to its NEO camera and editing tools, and a distribution channel through its free app, which sits alongside Vrse’s on the app stores.

The company is working with documentary-makers, sports companies and other media firms.

15

NextVRNextVR is another well-funded VR startup, having raised a $30.5m funding round in November 2015. Interestingly, it shares an investor – concert venue the Madison Square Garden Company – with Jaunt.

NextVR’s focus is on “live and on-demand virtual reality experiences in true broadcast quality”, using its own technology for shooting and transmitting the events that it films in VR.

Sports has been one of its key areas, with the company experimenting with broadcasting football and basketball matches in the US, as well as NASCAR races. It has also worked with music though: in 2014, NextVR filmed a Coldplay gig for distribution as a VR event.

VrtifySome of the companies listed here dabble in music, but Vrtify focused entirely on it: “the first virtual reality music platform,” as its blurb has it. It’s planning to broadcast live concerts in VR, but also provides virtual environments as the backdrop for its users’ own listening – whether that’s music stored on their devices, or streamed from Spotify.

Vrtify is currently in beta for Android, iOS and Oculus Rift.

CeekCeek is a VR platform focused on concerts, sports, films and corporate uses for virtual reality.

It’s currently on the music world’s radar through its partnership with Megadeth to film a five-song live set in VR for distribution as part of the metal band’s next album – profiled later in this report.

Like Vrse and Jaunt, it has free apps available for Android and iOS as a distribution channel for its content. For now, the Megadeth videos appear to be its main project.

16

MelodyVRBritish startup MelodyVR hasn’t done any press yet, but what little we know about the company comes from an investment announcement by Armstrong Ventures, when it invested £212.5k in the company in January 2016.

“MelodyVR is developing a premium music service and specialises in creating immersive virtual reality (‘VR’) music experiences,” explained the announcement.

“MelodyVR has developed its own technology for the recording and live streaming of music performances. MelodyVR plans to make live and recorded music content available to users via its own app and third party VR platforms. It is intended that the MelodyVR app will be deployed across Oculus Rift, Android, iOS, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Playstation VR and other platforms.”

The company has also signed exclusive deals with (unnamed) major festivals and gig promoters, and plans to launch its app by the end of 2016.

VTime And AltSpaceVRThe notion of virtual worlds where people socialise and play is not new: Second Life and Sony’s PlayStation Home being two

prominent examples from the last decade. The idea has a new lease of life with the new generation of VR headsets, however. vTime and AltSpaceVR are two examples, both initially available for Samsung’s Gear VR.

vTime describes itself as “the first VR sociable network that allows anyone, anywhere to socialise with family and friends in virtual reality”. When it was announced in 2015, its developer said users would be “able to enjoy music, and share images, videos, and spherical media in rich virtual environments”.

AltSpaceVR, which will also support HTC’s Vive and Oculus Rift when they launch, is another social VR service.

“Users can meet together in VR to explore environments, enjoy multi-player games, attend events, or watch streaming video such as YouTube, Twitch, or Periscope,” explains the company.

“Hang out with real people in virtual reality. Watch a movie marathon, laugh at improv comedians, practice your Spanish, play Dungeons and Dragons, attend a lecture, or join our newest trivia game, Sketchy Quiz.”

Both startups are taking the ideas from worlds like Second Life, and trying to make them work across different VR headsets – a considerable technical challenge.

3 From videos to apps, music is already one of the most interesting areas for experimentation around virtual reality in particular. Here are some of the case studies so far.

Music and VR

18

In 2015, Björk and director Andrew Huang took a crew to Iceland to film a 360-degree video for Stonemilker – one of the tracks from her album Vulnicura. Initially shown to fans as part of a museum exhibition, it was later released as an app for iPhone and iPad.

The video was about more than simply panning the camera viewpoint around its beach setting: the audio was also designed to work in 360 degrees.

“We have made a different mix where we have fanned this in an intimate circle around the listener,” explained binaural sound expert Chris Pike. “As you watch this in the virtual reality headset, it will be as if you are on that beach with the 30 players sitting in a circle tightly around you.”

The app’s audience will have been reduced by the fact that it cost £2.29 on Apple’s App Store rather than being distributed for free.

Music and VR

Björk: Stonemilker

19

In 2015, filmmaker Chris Milk was involved in a number of high-profile music/VR projects. But he’s been exploring this area since 2013, when he shot a live performance by Beck in 360 degrees with binaural sound.

“The initial brief was to try to find a way to reinvent an audience's experience of live music, both at the event and when it's broadcast online,” Milk told tech site Gizmodo at the time.

“The thing that's always struck me is how different the sensory, especially auditory, experience is when you're in the middle of the music with the musicians playing off each other around you, versus when you're in the audience and have a wall of amplified sound coming at you from one direction.”

Music and VR

Beck

20

Rock royalty Paul McCartney became one of the first guinea pigs for VR concerts, when he teamed up with startup Jaunt for a standalone app in November 2014.

Available for Android and for iOS, the free app uses video of McCartney’s performance of Wings classic Live and Let Die at a gig in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. Filmed in 360 degrees from next to his piano, fans can get a close-up view of McCartney, watch his band, or cast their eyes over the crowd.

“Feel as though you’re by Sir Paul’s side as he plays Live and Let Die – see it in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3D, hear it with ambisonic audio, and immerse yourself in cinematic VR,” as Jaunt CEO Jens Christensen put it at the time.

The free app has also been made available for Samsung’s Gear VR headset, as well as for Oculus Rift prototype owners.

Music and VR

Paul McCartney

21

As part of its quiet experimentation with virtual reality, Apple has funded the production of a series of 360-degree music videos: for U2, The Weeknd and Muse.

U2 were the first to benefit in October 2015, with a video of the band performing their Song for Someone track in the middle of an empty stadium. The Weeknd’s video for The Hills swiftly followed, before Muse’s Revolt VR promo debuted in November.

The videos showed some of the partnerships that are being forged around VR and music: for example, Chris Milk’s Vrse VR startup was involved, while wearable-cameras company GoPro was flagged in The Weeknd’s video.

The latter can be watched on YouTube, while the U2 and Muse videos were made available through the Vrse app – with Muse additionally publishing theirs through Apple Music.

Music and VR

Apple Music

22

British band Duran Duran are old hands at virtual reality: they were one of the few artists to leap headfirst into the virtual world Second Life a decade ago – in 2006, they announced plans to launch their own island there and host virtual gigs.

In 2015, they were exploring 360-degree videos on YouTube, like a growing number of their peers. The video for their new song Pressure Off was made available in the video service’s 360 format as a lyric video.

“Today, virtual reality is available to the consumer and it will inevitably be adopted to become a part of our everyday lives,” said Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes. “The lyric video we have created uses this technology in a simple but effective way.”

Music and VR

Duran Duran

23

The prospect of the average One Direction fan ever getting into the band’s studio space without being thrown out by security guards is extremely low. A virtual version delivered using Google’s Street View technology, on the other hand...

Launched in November 2015, the Made In The A.M. website was a partnership between the band, Google, Syco, Sony and developer We Make Awesome Sh. It enabled fans to click around to explore One Direction’s studio looking for exclusive digital content, with the band’s official Spotify playlist also embedded.

No headset was required to access all this: it ran in the web browser. A clever, eye-catching use for a technology more associated with Google’s mapping activities.

Music and VR

One Direction

24

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the classical-music entities experimenting with virtual reality. Its first example involved filming the orchestra playing the opening from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in 360 degrees.

Viewers could either watch the video on YouTube – with or without a Google Cardboard headset for their smartphone – or access the standalone Orchestra VR app in the Oculus Share and Samsung Gear VR app stores.

The orchestra then sent its own branded “Van Beethoven” bus out into Los Angeles with Oculus Rifts on board in August 2015, to give more music listeners the chance to watch the video. The orchestra worked with interactive agency Secret Location on the VR project.

Music and VR

LA Philharmonic

25

Universal Music has been experimenting with virtual reality since late 2014, when the label unveiled a VR app to celebrate The Who’s 50th anniversary.

Although demoed on the Oculus Rift headset, the experience was also made available as standalone apps for Android and for iOS. Universal worked with Trinifold Management and developer Immersive on the app.

It saw fans riding a Lambretta through a virtual world filled with visual references to The Who’s career, as well as rare photographs from frontman Roger Daltrey’s archives.

“We’re trying to unlock new ways of expressing creativity, and experiencing an artist and everything around them in a new way,” said Immersive’s Michael Fenna at the time.

Music and VR

The Who

26

Music and VR

MegadethVeteran metallers Megadeth are making virtual reality a key part of their latest album Dystopia. The band were filmed in 360 degrees by VR company Next Galaxy performing five songs from the album live.

The resulting videos will be part of a special edition of Dystopia, which fans can pre-order along with a branded cardboard headset and instructions for downloading an app to their smartphone to slot into it.

“We're hoping for something that is completely mind-blowing, and we're doing something that to the best of my knowledge hasn't been done yet by any metal bands and maybe not any bands at all,” frontman Dave Mustaine told Rolling Stone in January 2016.

27

Music and VR

SquarepusherElectronic musician Squarepusher created one of the most eyeball-frying examples of musical VR in 2015 with the Stor Eiglass VR app launched by label Warp Records for Android and for iOS, as well as a 360 video on YouTube.

Available for free, it was designed to work with Google Cardboard headsets, as a promotion for the Damogen Furies album. The app took the form of an interactive video for the track Stor Eiglass, with the visuals created by digital artists Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF), Blue Zoo and Rob Pybus.

“We mimicked the track’s theme of twisting a genre to become the antidote of everything it stands for by using VR to frivolously highlight the possible perils of VR addiction,” said MLF’s Robin McNicholas at the time.

28

Music and VR

Ivete SangaloBrazilian star Ivete Sangalo made her own 360 music video in 2015, working with production company O2 Filmes on a colourful promo for her song O Farol.

The video was notable for its distribution partner: Facebook. It was one of the first music videos released using the social network’s 360-degree video format, with Sangalo also using her Facebook and Instagram profiles to tease fans with images and short clips of the production before the video launched.

Released on 21 December – complete with an #IVETE360 hashtag – the video has since been watched more than 17m times on Facebook. It’s not Sangalo’s first experience of 360 videos though: she released a live Carnival performance through YouTube in March 2015.

29

Music and VR

KCRW VRLos Angeles public-radio station KCRW launched its first virtual-reality app in January 2016 for Android and for iOS. Like other apps in this report, it’s designed to work with Google Cardboard headsets – and KCRW is selling its own for $5. The app is free.

KCRW is filming performances by bands in its in-house studio in 360 degrees, with the apps used to watch the videos. Bands already filmed include Death Cab for Cutie, Brandi Carlile, Thundercat, and Purity Ring, with more to follow over 2016.

“VR is undoubtedly the next frontier for blockbuster entertainment. While the biggest studios in Hollywood develop content for the masses, KCRW can amplify the outstanding live sessions that take place on a regular basis at the station, and offer a uniquely immersive experience to the audience,” said KCRW’s music director Jason Bentley.

Camera-maker GoPro is supporting the launch.

30

Music and VR

Vanishing PointVanishing Point first came to the music world’s attention as a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo trying to raise $21k, co-developed by musician Ben Sollee and games developer Woodpenny.

“It is, at it's core, a video art piece that allows you to curate what you see and hear. Think Disney's Fantasia, but with today's immersive technology,” is how Sollee described it at the time. The app was released in December 2015 for iPhone, and is designed to be used with a Google Cardboard headset.

Sollee provided the music while Woodpenny created the 3D environments to accompany it. They also made a branded Cardboard headset to be sent out to backers of the Indiegogo campaign.

31

Music and VR

[Nuren][Nuren] also first came to Music Ally’s attention via a crowdfunding campaign – in its case, a successful attempt to raise $70k on Kickstarter. It’s VR’s equivalent of a musical, with a science-fiction theme.

Its crowdfunding pitch described it as “a collection of music videos forming a feature-length story, presented in virtual reality”, with viewers able to look in any direction while the action takes place around them.

“Each segment has its own unique artistic style, set to a gorgeous vocal music track, with voice-acted interludes tying them all together. Join the android twins, RIX and QGK, as they go from fugitives to heroes,” explained its pitch.

Although demos for desktop computers are available, the full experience is expected to debut in 2016.

32

Music and VR

Conductor360Developed in the UK, Conductor360 is a partnership between On Par Productions, Atticus Digital, 4π Productions and musician Tom Raybould.

It’s described as a “VR interactive experience that puts the user in control of a live music performance”, with listeners accessing it using Samsung’s Gear VR mobile headset.

“Audiences are placed in a environment where they have the ability to select, control and manipulate which musicians can be heard. The result is the creation of a unique music score with every individual interaction,” explained On Par.

The project is funded by React, a body that aims to get academia and businesses working together, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.

33

Music and VR

PhilharmoniaThe Philharmonia Orchestra will be executing a “digital takeover” of London’s Royal Festival Hall in September 2016, with a VR experience and separate installation.

Visitors to the venue will be able to experience a 360-degree 3D video and audio performance using VR headsets. The orchestra is working with production company Inition.

There will also be a walk-through installation of Holst’s The Planets, using “giant visual displays, touch screens, unconventional projecting surfaces, movement-based interaction and planetarium-style projections.”

34

Music and VR

GrooVRGrooVR is one of the first music/VR apps available for Samsung’s Gear VR headset, through its official store. It’s described as a “music driven virtual reality app”, although the best way to think of it is like a VR music visualiser.

From a Buddhist lake to a laser show, the app provides visuals for the user’s own music, whether they are playing files stored on their smartphone or streaming from Spotify and SoundCloud.

35

Music and VR

Harmonix Music VRHarmonix is well known in the music world: the games firm was the original developer of Guitar Hero, before later creating the Rock Band and Dance Central franchises.

Harmonix recently rebooted Rock Band for consoles, but is also working on its first VR application: Harmonix Music VR. Like GrooVR, it’s a music visualiser rather than a game, which will be exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation VR when that headset launches later in 2016.

“It takes any song you give it and generates a unique, musically-driven event sequence,” explained Sony when it announced the project in June 2015. “The resulting experiences range from subtly magical to outright psychedelic, depending on the world you select.”

36

Music and VR

SurgeDoes virtual reality have to involve big teams and lots of expense? Maybe not, judging by the critically-acclaimed Surge interactive video – it was the work of Dutch artist Arjan Van Meerten and his studio House of Secrets.

Developed for Oculus Rift, it sees viewers exploring a shimmering landscape of animated cubes, including giant walking figures. It’s been hailed as one of the most visually-stunning pieces of Oculus content in any genre.

37

Music and VR

UMG / iHeartMediaIt’s hard to assess Universal Music’s VR partnership with iHeartRadio owner iHeartMedia, since it was only announced in early January, and is due to launch later in 2016.

There are bold ambitions to “create entertainment experiences that leverage cutting-edge technology, making immersive VR performances and experiences accessible to US audiences for the first time at scale”.

That involves Universal artists playing concerts to be filmed in VR, with brands invited in as sponsors. However, specific details of the distribution plans for the films remain to be confirmed. Come early April when the first performance takes place, we’ll find out more.

4 Music is just one potential application for virtual reality. In fact, gaming was the initial focus for the current wave of VR tech, with sports, films, social, sports and adult entertainment all being explored already.

VR Outside Music

39

At Music Ally, we’re clearly looking for the musical applications for VR technology. It’s fair to say, though, that music is just one of a number of content types being explored. Games, films, social, sports and (inevitably) adult content are also feeling the benefit in the entertainment sector.

GamesThe current wave of virtual reality is being driven by gaming. It was the core use case for the Oculus Rift headset before its maker was bought by Facebook – and even since then, Oculus has stressed its commitment to that industry – while games are prominent on every single headset that has emerged since.

When Oculus Rift starts shipping in April, it will come with two games – Lucky’s Tale and Eve:Valkyrie – and an Xbox One wireless controller. More than 20 games will follow during 2016.

Sony’s PlayStation VR is understandably focused on games, while one of the early buzz titles for Samsung’s Gear VR is Land’s End, from the developer of mobile hit Monument Valley.

With music games making a comeback on consoles, the genre will also make its presence felt on VR. Oculus Rift will see the debut of Harmonix’s Rock Band VR in 2016, for example.

FilmsDistribution channels from YouTube to Vrse and Jaunt are looking for video VR content, which in turn is spurring lots of experimentation around virtual-reality filmmaking.

At Vrse.works, Chris Milk is leading a collective of filmmakers to flesh out the developing language of VR films, with documentaries one of the first genres to benefit. From protest marches in New York to Syrian refugee camps via a history of Cuban dance, the company has shown the medium’s potential.

VR outside Music

Beyond Music

40

“So much of journalism is conveying a place and time that existed, to someone at a later date: giving a person the context and trying to make them feel as informed as if they were actually there,” said Milk in January 2015.

“Fundamentally, this is taking out the middle man in that process, and making you feel as if you were actually there... Virtual reality is already affecting people on an emotional level much more than any other media, and it has the potential to scale.”

Traditional narrative filmmaking is also seeing VR experimentation. In January 2015, Oculus VR set up its Story Studio division to make films, staffed by veterans from the movie industry.

It released an animated film called Lost that year, and followed it up with Henry: “a heartwarming comedy about a loveable hedgehog”. Meanwhile, the influential Sundance Film Festival for independent filmmaking has become a hotbed of VR projects in its last two years.

SocialEarlier in this report, we profiled two of the virtual worlds that are bringing a social element to virtual reality: vTime and

AltspaceVR. They are unlikely to be the last, not least because of Facebook’s investment in Oculus Rift.

“Eventually I think we’re going to have technology where we can communicate our full sensory experience and emotions to someone through thought,” Mark Zuckerberg told Vanity Fair in October 2015.

The company behind one of the most famous virtual worlds, Second Life, is also working on a new project for modern VR headsets. Linden Lab has shown teasers for its Project Sansar, which rather than being one world, will be a platform for people to build their own environments for others to explore. It aims to open up VR creation to a wider audience.

41

SportsOf all the non-music areas for VR experimentation, sports may be the one the music industry should keep a close eye on: the technology required to shoot, edit and stream live broadcasts of sports events will also have applications for music concerts.

In the US, basketball has been an early focus for sports VR. NextVR broadcast a Golden State Warriors match in October 2015, while Samsung has released a VR film of NBA star LeBron James training for its Gear VR headset.

The NBA has even grander ambitions though, partnering with Samsung on the latter’s Milk VR service. “When the day comes that 100 million or a billion people from mainland China can feel like they're attending a Houston Rockets game courtside, that's the dream. That's the holy grail,” said NBA exec Jeff Marsilio in January 2016.

NextVR has also worked on VR broadcasts of boxing, American Football and ice hockey matches, with Oculus VR also eyeing the space.

“The seat at the 50-yard line in the first or second row, that might go for around $1,000 a ticket, but what you could also do is sell that same seat for $10 a ticket to 100,000 people,” said Oculus’ head of mobile Max Cohen in November.

Adult EntertainmentIt’s a longstanding truism that when any new technology comes along, the porn industry will be one of the first to take advantage – and often plays a key role in a.) pushing the boundaries of the new tech and b.) when there are competing standards, influencing which one ‘wins’.

Will VR follow suit? That remains to be seen, but suffice to say there are plenty of adult VR startups, and traditional porn production companies exploring the new technology.

5 All this has been a primer on the reason people are getting excited about VR and AR in 2016, but should you join them? Here’s Music Ally’s view on what all this really means for music companies and musicians in the future.

Conclusion

43

At the height of Second Life fever in 2006, Music Ally held an evening event to discuss the potential of virtual worlds for music. When an agency making islands in Second Life for bands was asked how much they charged, and explained it was usually a six-figure sum, many attendees gasped, then instantly wrote off virtual worlds as an expensive gimmick. It turned out that for music marketing purposes, they were right.

The memory of past hype is one reason to remain cautious amid some of the more wild-eyed evangelism about virtual reality in 2016. The headsets are new, their appeal is unproven, and the business models around the content that will run on them is entirely up in the air. Yet for some musicians and music-industry folk, that’s precisely why VR is an exciting space worthy of more experimentation in the months ahead.

One obvious point: 2016 is not a sensible time to be spending a six-figure sum on a speculative VR app for an artist, no matter how big. But there will be opportunities that are much less risky, but could be creatively interesting, and helpful in building knowledge about the emerging medium.

Some musical VR projects will be partnerships between musicians and digital artists at a grass-roots level: creative experimentation rather than a budgeted marketing campaign. That’s to be encouraged.

More traditional revenue opportunities will also lie in the non-music applications for virtual reality. Those VR films and games will need soundtracks, including music – whether it’s from commissioned composers or licensed from rightsholders. As an extension to the familiar games-soundtrack business, VR will become a new (old) revenue stream.

The short-term opportunity in virtual reality, however, is likely to be partnerships with brands and technology companies. In the latter case, companies including Facebook, YouTube (and Google), Samsung and Sony want impressive VR content for their services and devices – Apple can be added to that list, even if its headset plans remain rumours – and will be willing to not just promote that content, but perhaps also to fund it.

Add brands in to that mix too: for them, VR represents the chance to associate themselves with a cutting-edge technology and creative experimentation. In the near future at least, the dream formula for an inventive musical VR project may be funding from a brand, and promotion from a technology company. Universal Music and iHeartMedia’s VR partnership clearly has its eye on brands from the start, for example.

Conclusion

What VR really means for you

44

There’s also an interesting debate bubbling up about virtual reality becoming “the next format” for music, which may give rightsholders and musicians more control over their digital destinies. PledgeMusic founder Benji Rogers has been at the forefront of this discussion with his proposals for a new “dot Blockchain” codec for music, using blockchain technology to make the musical value chain more transparent, while seeing VR and AR as the big opportunity to get traction.

“What I’m proposing here is a new format. We had vinyl, tape, VHS, CD, MP3/WAV/ACC/MOV, DVD, vinyl again, then we had BluRay. And what’s coming is virtual reality and augmented reality – and they have no standardised format or codec,” said Rogers in February 2016 at a talk arranged by the BPI.

“VR has been around for a long time, but it’s now at the point of what I would consider to be deployment – and there is no standard way to express a creator’s rights into something secure in VR today. It doesn’t exist.” He went on to describe VR and AR as “the largest deployment of a new format since DVD/Blu-Ray. I think it’s going to dwarf that: I think it’s going to become like the book.”

Expect the theory of VR/AR as the new MP3 to be picked over in the coming months, as Rogers tries to get the dot Blockchain codec up and running.

Music Ally’s advice to musicians and music companies about virtual reality is cautious, but encouraging: don’t throw silly money at projects, but be open to creative collaborations and alive to the possibility of brand and tech-firm partnerships.

But outside business, the most important thing will be to engage with all this technology as it emerges. Try the headsets, explore VR apps of all kinds, keep reading up on the companies behind the devices and platforms, and be suitably wary of the keenest evangelists and firmest naysayers alike – while still listening to their views.