In today’s ever-changing music industry, musicians and brands need to change how they engage their audience. With album sales at an all-time low and streaming (whether on Spotify or online) taking over how we listen and experience music, it’s up to startups like TheWaveVR to change the direction of how musicians are performing, and how fans watch them perform.
TheWaveVR labels themselves as “a platform for people who love music, enabling them to view, host, and socialize in shows worldwide, anytime, anywhere” with their mission being to “empower a new generation of creators.” To introduce its idea to a wide audience, the company did a demonstration of their virtual music experience, allowing DJ’s to perform live in a virtual reality venue, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco earlier this year, while also bringing the company to Virtual Reality LA in Los Angeles this past week.
Due to their promotional efforts, the company is now backed with a 2.5 million seed round from KPCB, Rothenberg, RRE, Presence Capital and Joe Kraus of Google Ventures, with the company expanding its team and adding pop and hip hop music, alongside its initial focus on EDM (electronic dance music.)
Adam Arrigo, CEO of The WaveVR told the [a] list, “After we began showing the first demo of the experience, we generated so much interest from not only members in the tech and VR (virtual reality) community, but also musicians and the music industry at large.” “Artists are always looking for new ways to reach their fans, and in electronic music especially, technology can be this empowering force from both a revenue and creative standpoint. So our goal as a company is to use these resources to best serve both artists and their fans.”
While the company has allowed DJ’s to play in virtual venues, it also allows for musicians outside of the EDM genre to perform live by importing tracks, customizing any visuals, and then sharing those shows. Even with this new way of watching artists perform live, TheWaveVR doesn’t want this new engagement to be without a sense of community. All the company’s employees are musicians themselves, while also telling [a] list “We’re all inspired by how music has this incredible power of bringing people together—whether it’s for a concert, party or a video game.”
Though perhaps the biggest and (most important aspects of The WaveVR) is the ability for fans to attend a performance from anywhere, while also generating revenue for music companies. While TheWaveVR is still in its early stages, its ideas sound innovative, while also being an important avenue for musicians to explore when thinking of new ways to bring fans out to live shows.
Featured photo: TheWaveVR at VLA, via Facebook
