Technology is moving at a rapid pace. Augmented reality and virtual reality are on the rise, and the applications of these advances are only just becoming apparent. Already both of these new developments have found their way into the gaming industry, with AR being incorporated into popular apps and games like Pokemon Go and into online live dealer casino games. However, other industries are poised ready to seize the potential, with the music industry at the forefront of change.
Marshmello’s Fortnite concert was a ground-break precedent in both the gaming and music industries, showing how they can converge to promote artists’ careers in new and exciting ways. More than ten million people attended Marshmello’s concert in real-time, making it one of history’s most far-reaching virtual musical events. This is just one of the ways in which these two sectors are beginning to work more closely together to bring music within easier reach of more people, and to make it a more immersive and engaging experience for listeners.
The VR Music Video
Virtual reality is beginning to become a go-to medium through which artists can connect with their fans. Facebook and YouTube have both launched 360-degree video posting platforms which have led to more people creating immersive video content. Musicians have been leading the way in this, transporting their viewers into more interactive experiences.
Virtual reality is making it possible to physically enter one of your favorite music videos. The Amplify VR platform is just one example that allows audiences to watch a music video of their choice in a reactive and immersive VR environment, giving users the opportunity to actually interact with content by applying different audio effects, remixing their experience and manipulating environments via movement.
This use of technology enables fans to enjoy their favorite music and artists in entirely immersive and new ways. Even 2D video content can be turned into a three-dimensional experience, meaning artists no longer need to create new content solely for virtual reality, significantly reducing their costs.
Allowing Remote Viewing
No matter how much you love a band or artist, you can’t always make it to their concert. Now, you can enjoy the experience of actually being there at the venue with VR concerts. Fans can experience the action from close up, actually being able to move about the event and experience it from different vantage points – even from the stage. Coachella has already harnessed the potential of VR remote viewing. At their 2016 event, they allowed festival-goers to watch videos of the performing artists and discover the festival grounds all in three hundred and sixty degrees through a headset.
The Possibilities Of Change In Music Education
Of course, the music industry isn’t all about performance – it’s about teaching a new generation of players too. Virtual reality is set to change how we practice and learn musical instruments and how we use them to entertain ourselves. There are numerous apps already in development that will make musical learning a more exciting and shareable experience. Teach-U:VR is one solution that gives individuals a more immersive and engaging way of playing drums and piano in virtual reality. Users are able to use a headset to play virtual instruments and to interact with other people in a shared virtual space. This opens up the possibility for music education even to those who are unable to afford lessons or who are unable to attend.
Apps like this will redefine the ways in which we understand how music is created. Music lovers and music creators alike will find new ways of expressing themselves and experimenting with sound that has never been seen before. Not only will they be able to enhance their existing musical abilities, but they will also be able to learn more about how music is developed in an interactive and engaging manner.
While virtual reality remains in its infancy at the moment, there have already been significant changes in the way it allows us to interact with the creation of music and how we listen to it. It is already allowing us to see, hear and experience music in a brand new, nontraditional way. Virtual reality is set to create more personal, more impressive and more thrilling musical experiences and with new digital technology advances lying ahead, we can only begin to imagine what music’s future will hold as VR grows and develops.
Whatever changes are set to take place in the music industry, you can rest assured that virtual reality will almost certainly be a part of them.
