VR In Music

Virtual reality technology is continuing to infiltrate popular culture, with most of the emphasis being put on its uses in gaming and movies. IMAX recently announced plans for six VR hubs to be opened across the world by the end of 2016, while many of the major video games platforms are also announcing VR integration this year.

The music industry has been, if not lagging behind its visual counterparts, then certainly less visible in its willingness to embrace VR as a medium. One gaming company made an attempt at charting a short, if incomplete, “history of interactive music videos and other playthings”, stretching all the way back to the early eighties.

However in the last eighteen months, more artists have been using VR elements in their work, which suggests that the music industry may be embracing technology in ways others haven’t yet considered.

VR music videos go mainstream… 

Virtual reality production is now commonplace in music videos, with high-profile artists making use of the technology to create immersive experiential accompaniments to their songs. Björk’s 2015 360° video for her song “Stonemilker” was filmed on the same Icelandic beach where she wrote the track, and came only a few years after she became one of the first musicians to create a bespoke app to go with an album. U2, meanwhile, released a VR clip for their “Song for Someone” - once again, in conjunction with Apple Music. However, the streaming and download service has yet to comment on any plans for further virtual reality content.

…but is the really interesting stuff happening underground? 

Perhaps it’s no surprise that, given the numerous channels an idea has to pass at a major corporation, many of the bands making use of of VR have been independent. Brighton-based group The Indelicates used their own label Corporate Records to release “The Generation That Nobody Remembered: A Virtual Reality Pop Single” in late 2014. As the first release of its kind - an A-side and a B-side, each with their own immersive video accompaniments - it was designed to be played on the still-brand new Oculus Rift. The band’s frontman Simon self-deprecatingly noted some inherent issues around it, but also stated his intention for the band to release an entire virtual reality album in the future.

Similarly, hip hop act Run The Jewels - signed to Big Dada records, another independent label - teamed up with the New York Times to premiere a VR video for their track “Crown”. This was quickly followed by its own player - RTJVR, their own version of the affordable Google Cardboard headset. Vocalist Killer Mike stated that “we wanted to people to not have to make some big decision about whether or not they were ready to purchase giant goggles,” and that more VR content was soon to follow.

Where do VR and music go from here? 

Spotify rival Rhapsody recently teamed up with iTunes rival Napster to premiere Rhapsody VR, the first virtual reality concert streaming service. This seems like a great idea in principle, and timely - the Coachella festival in April streamed sets by a number of its most high-profile artists (including Run The Jewels) in 360° video. However, with the platform only currently hosting nine videos, this may be a service trying to run before it can walk.

Virtual reality is also making tentative steps towards being used in music making as well. Jaron Lanier - the man responsible for bringing the term “virtual reality” into popular consciousness - recently claimed that VR could have a hand in “making music physical again.” By taking music production out of the computers and into the physical world (albeit through a virtual lens), Lanier believes that “all things are possible…like what if you turn into the instrument?”

Once the technology becomes more available and affordable, this could become a fascinating development in the way music is made. Just as laptops paved the way for some of the most forward-thinking music of the two decades, maybe the music’s VR revolution isn’t going to be taken passively.

VR In Music