Virtual Reality Concerts To Begin This Summer

I'm a big proponent of virtual reality, especially when the audio is done well, and many have predicted that the technology will eventually be a boon to concerts. We're going to see soon enough as virtual reality concerts will actually begin to roll out this summer.

NextVR, which has been a leader in VR broadcasting of sporting events, has teamed up with LiveNation to broadcast a series of concerts, although no artists have been named as of yet. There will be a limited number of VR music events this summer, with a full schedule planned for 2017.

The NextVR broadcast will be available via Samsung's Gear VR using the Oculus Home app, although they will also most likely be available on other VR platforms as well.

LiveNation/NextVR aren't the only companies jumping into the concert broadcast game. iHeartRadio and Universal Music Group previously announced that they would also broadcast VR concerts this year.

Virtual reality concerts hold great promise because it gives the viewer a feeling of actually being there and watching from the best seat in the house, which many feel may eventually eclipse attending an event. Paying $200 for a nosebleed seat might not be a suitable option when you can get a better view from your home while still feeling immersed in the event.

The same can be said for sporting events as well, as NextVR recently signed a 5 year deal with Fox Sports, although there may be more technical challenges in this niche than with music.

One thing's for sure, VR is taking beginning to take off, even though it still hasn't hit the general public yet, as more and more companies are jockeying for position.

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Universal Music Group To Present Virtual Reality Concerts

There's no doubt that virtual reality will be a hot item this year, but so far most of the attention of VR content has been around games, and to a lesser extent, movies.

Universal Music Group (UMG) believes that VR extends to music as well, and has teamed with online radio giant iHeartMedia to create a series of of 4 virtual reality concerts in the upcoming year.

Indeed, VR and music seem like they're made for each other, especially when coupled with an immersive audio technology like binaural or 3D headphone surround. That said, UMG's shows are very much in the planning stage, and few firm details have been revealed except that the shows will be shot at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles later this year.

In addition to the 4 full-length shows, UMG will also shoot at least 6 short-form "experiences," presumably music videos, in VR throughout the year.

The first attempt at a VR showcase apparently will be the iHeartRadio Music Awards on April 3rd, but other events thought to be in contention include iHeartRadio's Country Festival, Summer Pool Part, Fiesta Latina, Music Festival and Jingle Ball Tour.

iHeartMedia is a perfect partner for UMG in that it has around 245 broadcast listeners and another 90 million online each month.

Although I predicted that virtual and augmented reality headsets would set Christmas on fire, it appears that projection was a little premature - but not by much. Look for VR to be the next killer app for both audio and picture this year.

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A Look At The American Listening Audience

Edison Research and Triton Digital recently released their annual Infinite Dial survey on American media consumption.

As usual uncovered some very interesting data about the audience that hopefully listens to your music. Here are 7 takeaways.

1. 71% of all Americans now have a cell phone, up 10 points from last year. More and more, people consume their media on this platform. 

2. Embattled Pandora is still the leader in music streaming with 54% of online radio listeners. The runners-up are pretty distant, with iHeartRadio at 11%, Spotify at 10% and iTunes Radio at 8%. 

3. Facebook is the most used social network at 65% of those who regularly use social media. 

4. Facebook is even big in the age group that's seeing the most attrition - ages 12 to 24. 43% in that group still use Facebook, handily beating Instagram at 18%, Snapchat at 15%, and Twitter at 8%. 

5. 63% of Americans use YouTube to watch music videos and listen to music. 

6. That number increases to a whopping 90% ages 12 to 24 years old. 

7. 44% of all Americans listen to music online in some form every week.

Media consumption has changed drastically in the last 5 years and continues to change right before our very eyes. One of the keys to your online promotion strategy is knowing your audience, and the above data helps to understand just who the audience for your music is and how they like to consume it.

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Which Streaming Service Is The Leader?

Spotify gets so much press and hype that we automatically think of it as the streaming service with the most listeners.

That's far from the truth though, as a new study from Edison Research shows that Pandora, at 31% of American listeners, is clearly the leader by a factor of 3 of the next competitor, as shown by this infographic from Statista.

What's probably more interesting is the fact that iHeartRadio is second with 9% and the relatively new iTunes Radio is right behind with 8%. Spotify follows in 4rth place at 6%.

What's not included is YouTube, which may in fact have a far larger audience than Pandora, if other studies and empirical evidence is true.

We're in the early days of streaming adoption, so expect this chart to be fluid. It very may be totally scrambled next year at this time.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

How Apple’s CarPlay Can Tip The Balance In Music And Radio

Apple’s new CarPlay iOS-in-the-car program looks to be coming to a new auto near you soon. In a much anticipated announcement, the company has partnered with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo to head up the new joint initiative, with support from vehicles from BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota in the future.

CarPlay allows one to access the features of a current iPhone with a Lightning connector from a touch screen display in the center of the dashboard of the vehicle, or by using voice commands through Siri. This will allow drivers to make calls, use Maps (at last, a navigation system that works), access voicemail, and many of the other features that a driver can’t normally access.

Of interest to the music industry is that not only is iTunes now just a touch or voice command away, but third party apps like Spotify and iHeartRadio as well. This takes us one step closer to the always-connected car, which in turn, can tip the balance of the music industry in many ways.

First of all, remember that radio is still widely listened to in all age groups, but most adults listen heavily on their commutes to and from work. Add to that the fact that radio is still the number one place where music consumers discover new music and you see that despite the inroads from the many forms of online delivery, the relationship of radio to the listener hasn’t changed all that much over time. It may be old technology, but it’s one that we gladly live with. Read more on Forbes.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

The Implications Of iTunes Radio That Everyone's Missed

At long last Apple has launched iTunes Radio and so far the reviews are pretty positive. It’s extremely easy to use and provides enough features that many potential users will not even think about venturing outside the iTunes ecosystem for another service. in fact, a study in June by the GroupM Next determined that 34% of Internet radio users would switch from their current service on Apple’s brand name alone.

Do you think services like Pandora, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Slacker are worried? They should be, as a closer look at the study found that 46.4% of Pandora users, 47% of Spotify users, 46.1% of iHeart Radio users and 53.8% of Slacker users would leave their services for iTunes Radio when it became available.

But lets say that this study is seriously flawed and the attrition numbers aren’t anywhere near what was stated. The other services are still in for a world of hurt for the following reasons that seem to have been overlooked. Read more on Forbes.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

The Clear Channel - Warner Music Deal: Not What It's Cracked Up To Be

It was announced last week that radio station group Clear Channel Communications and Warner Music Group (WMG) entered into a “historic” agreement where the label and its artists would finally be paid for airplay performances on Clear Channel’s 850 terrestrial broadcast stations. The United States is one of the few countries in the world where that hasn’t happened until now, as broadcasters have been resisting the notion for years, successfully fighting any legislation that promises to do so. Performance royalties are paid on satellite and digital radio streams however.

Although the terms of the deal haven’t been released to the public, insiders have intimated that Clear Channel will pay WMG 1% of advertising for terrestrial broadcasts and 3% for digital, which could amount to some $50 million over three years, including an up front payment. For that it receives a discounted rate on digital streams from the 22 cents per 100 streams it pays now to no less than 12 cents per 100 streams. WMG will also receive special product promotion from Clear Channel stations that would include album previews, interviews or other kinds of special broadcast segments, as well as artist appearances at events like the iHeart-Radio Music Festival. 

While there’s generally been praise for this agreement, I’m afraid I can’t be so kind, as it may not be all it’s cracked up to be. When looked at closely, it seems to provide possible downsides for all parties involved, especially the one generally missing from the conversation - the artists. Read more on Forbes.

Search For Music By Your Mood

Here's one that had to come about sooner or later. Clear Channel's iHearRadio Internet radio platform recently announced a feature that allows users to choose their listening options based upon their mood or current activity.

The new feature is called "Perfect For" and allows the user to browse through "hundreds of carefully curated stations" after they browse through a menue of possible moods and activities for the day and time. iHeartRadio has a catalog of over 1,500 stations from across the country, but they're adding "thousands of new stations," so it seems pretty likely that one of them should be playing something to match your current mood.

The feature is available on their iPhone and PC app, but will soon roll out to other mobile and tablet devices soon, according to Clear Channel.

I'm usually pretty suspicious of anything that Clear Channel does since it was one of the prime movers behind today's homogenized radio, but mood listening does seem to be a leap forward. That said, sometimes you want just the opposite of your mood. For instance, if you're depressed, music that reflects that mood may just sink you lower into depression, while something more uplifting might have a better chance of pulling you out of it.

Regardless, sentiment programming just might be a next step into the future of online radio.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Here Comes Apple's Streaming Service

It's been predicted for years, but it looks like Apple is finally entering the realm of streaming music. Reports from The Wall Street Journal now indicate that the computer and music giant has been in talks with the major labels to create a custom service similar to Pandora's that would create virtual music streams based on a listener's song or artist choices. The report also states that the new service would not be available on Android devices, which is Apple's way of maintaining a strong grip on its online music market share.

There's already competition in this space, since iHeartRadio and Spotify besides Pandora offer an algorithm that make custom song choices. Rumor has it that Apple's service will be different in that it will offer a lot greater interactivity than any of the other services however, and their license fee to the labels will be larger as a result.

That said, you can see the shakeout coming already. Pandora's stock fell 17% on Friday, and you'll see a giant change overnight not only in that part of the industry, but online music in general if Apple's service comes to pass.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.