The scramble to combine music with augmented and virtual reality is accelerating with a new deal between top music group Universal and tech company Within. The startup has raised $56.6 million from top investors Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, 21st Century Fox, Andreessen Horowitz and Raine Ventures.
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Virtual reality company Within announced a deal today that will see it working with Universal Music artists to develop VR and AR experiences that go beyond the current practice that offers VR concert footage that places the viewer onstage with the artist.
“Together, UMG and Within will push the boundaries of how audiences experience music and create new ways for artists to forge deeper connections with their fans,” UMG EVP Michele Anthony told Deadline.
“I was frustrated by the music video format as a director because — this is important — music is by far the most experiential medium there is. It becomes the soundtrack to the most important moments of our lives, in a way that no other art form or medium does,” video producer and Within co-founder and CEO Chris Milk told Deadline. “What we’re talking about here is it’s more than just the future of music videos. We’re creating a medium of human experience — and that’s going to change everything.”
Here’s an example of what’s to come via Deadline:
“A project with the band Arcade Fire, The Wilderness Downtown, aimed to create an intensely personal experience. Before watching, the user was prompted to enter his or her childhood home address. The interactive film would depict a teenager running through the old neighborhood and stopping in front of your home — drawing from Google Maps and Street View images.”