India’s First Metaverse concert & Future of of virtual music events
Metaverse - a virtual world for immersive experiences where people across the world can meet, play, watch, and trade - has gained traction this year after major companies such as Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft have pivoted their focus to the internet's next iteration. And a new area where many Indian companies are trying to make an entry.
India’s first Metaverse concert
A digital world that simulates reality, wherein we have our own avatars, and are interacting with people we know or strangers via complex kinds of interactions. It could be watching a concert, going for a vacation, seeing a boxing match, landing on another planet or purchasing land on virtual planets. We can access the Metaverse through gaming devices, virtual reality and augmented reality devices, PCs, and mobile phones. It’s almost like plugging in to the matrix and living life through and in this “Metaverse” realm.
In the west, the music industry is already open to the idea of virtual concerts in the Metaverse. Big artists like Marshmello, Travis Scott, and Ariana Grande have all performed in virtual concerts because there is money to be made.
And now, India is also not left behind. India’s first Metaverse concert was hosted in the Somnium Space VR and was organised by Cryptic Entertainments with Sparsh Dangwal and Sparsh performing a recorded show. Yes, this will be almost like a live concert where you will see a little cartoon(y) avatar of yours there who can talk to other people attending the concert, dance, and enjoy like you would in an in-person concert. Virtual experience mimics how a concert in the physical environment takes place, but this one is more immersive and there are no physical limitations on the number of people attending ( it was attended by 25-30 people - good start for a new artist in a new technology).
As of now, the community is small, so whosoever is coming in the Metaverse are the ones who are early adopters, tech enthusiasts, or someone from the crypto industry.” Still, Gumber plans to hold another experimental concert in the coming days.
Future of virtual music events
The Metaverse is a concept in continuous development. In the west, the music industry is already open to the idea of virtual concerts in the Metaverse. Ariana Grande’s October 2021 performance in Fortnite - around 78 million Fortnite users attended Grande’s show, 12.3 million people attended a virtual concert by Travis Scott in Fortnite.
Facebook (Meta) hosted a few concerts last month, Young Thug on December 26, DJ David Guetta on December 31, and finally EDM duo The Chainsmokers for a New Years’ Eve concert to ring in 2022. Despite being completely free, the concerts seemed to get incredibly little traction or notice from anyone outside of Meta offices. There was barely any mention of any of the performances on social media platforms like Twitter or even Facebook, let alone on news and music publications.
Many consider the metaverse the future of everything digital because it can encapsulate different realities simultaneously. However, like with every innovation, metaverse concerts anticipate clear advantages but also challenges to win before becoming fully mainstream.
The limitless undeniable opportunities offered by the metaverse indeed represent the main benefit that captures innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and professionals from all fields. The next level of virtual reality is a new creative way for performers to express themselves and engage with their fans.
Virtual concerts will also be desirable from the artist’s perspective because they do not require travel and the number of viewers is not limited by venue size. There is naturally also an economic driver, as virtual venues do not demand the same amount of stagehands, security or other costly infrastructure, and also because the number of middlemen is reduced.