Sony Music has hosted an Immersive Tech Day, featuring execs from the major as well as the wider company and partners in gaming.
The key announcement was a new Myles Smith performance in Fortnite, which the UK breaking artist developed in partnership with Sony Music and RCA UK.
The audience of journalists and executives was treated to a preview of the three songs from Smith launching on Fortnite on Friday (October 25), as well as a behind-the-scenes film.
The activation underlines the opportunities for artists in terms of virtual performance and verch (virtual merchandise). It follows key activations with Travis Scott and The Kid Laroi in Fortnite; Lil Nas X and Zara Larsson in Roblox; Madison Beer’s Immersive Reality Concert Experience on PlayStation VR and Oculus VR; and Inko’s simultaneous music video and Fortnite game using Sony and Epic Games technology.
Shelby Cox, vice president of global partner marketing for Sony Interactive Entertainment, said: “There has been a seachange on the push for our companies to work collaboratively.”
Here, Music Week looks at some of the key insights for the future of music and gaming, as well as fan engagement…
SONY ‘HACKS’ FORTNITE
Sony famously worked with Epic Games on the Travis Scott Fortnite performance, which saw a peak of more than 12 million gamers participating in the event.
That was a landmark moment in music and live service gaming. But since then, Epic Games has released its Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), the game creation toolset and Fortnite publishing solution, and its MetaHuman for UEFN framework. As a result, labels and artists now have autonomy to create their own islands in Fortnite and engage with a vast global audience.
“You’re really leveraging this for your artists,” Rachel Stones, creative partnerships director, Epic Games, said in conversation with Dennis Kooker, president global digital business and US sales, Sony Music Entertainment.
Sony Immersive Music Studios has created the Nitewave island with special artist takeover events and with music core to the gameplay. Players compete to control a soundtrack of songs from Sony Music artists.
The latest artist event launched this week with a UEFN showcase from Farruko. The game features eight songs from his catalogue, along with Farruko-themed branding such as his avatar, custom assets and weapon wraps.
Stones said an upcoming Nitewave takeover featuring Doja Cat is “awesome”. In celebration of the fifth anniversary of Hot Pink, the game play will pay homage to both that album and Scarlet.
Perhaps the most intriguing announcement was how Sony is advancing the role of music within gaming.
“You managed to sync the music to the environment by hacking the system,” said an admiring Stones.
Kooker said Sony is working to customise the game mechanic around the music.
“We realised that in order to make it an experience that made sense with the music, it [Fortnite] needed to be adapted,” he explained.
Brad Spahr, SVP/GM, Sony Immersive Music Studios, added: “Nitewave shouldn’t just play music in the background… visuals are synchronised with the music.”
MOTION CAPTURING MYLES
RCA UK co–president Stacey Tang took to the stage to outline the development of breakthrough star Myles Smith’ virtual performance in Fortnite, created in partnership with Sony Music Immersive Studios.
The event premieres at 6pm on October 25 and will feature an avatar of Smith performing three tracks – Stargazing, Wait For You and Whisper – as fans go on an interactive adventure through immersive environments.
The performance was developed using Sony RX0II cameras in combination with innovative motion capture technology from UK-based specialist Move AI, which enables 3D animation creation to happen anywhere without the need for special facilities, suits or markers.
Myles Smith said: “This project has been amazing to be part of. To be able to connect with fans and people, who may never have heard my music before, in a new way, feels really exciting. In a generation where it can be hard to break through and to find your community, to have the ability to have a direct interface with them is awesome.”
Stacey Tang said: “Working with an artist like Myles creates an exciting opportunity for us to look beyond traditional marketing practices and develop collaborations that align with his creativity and authentic storytelling. This project underlines our continued commitment to empowering our artists to lean into cutting-edge immersive experiences to reach and engage with fans.”
The project was created alongside Smith’s recording commitments.
“We took him out of the studio, which A&R weren’t that pleased with, but he got the day back later and there are loads of great songs banked,” said Tang.
The RCA UK co-president also enthused about the realism of the avatar (“This really is Myles!”), adding: “Our job is to deliver career artists and to tell their stories.”
BUILDING 'BLOX
RCA act Jade is the latest Sony artist to use gaming platforms for “expanded creative expression and fan connection that go beyond performance through an innovative new verch initiative on Roblox,” said the major.
In support of Jade’s singles Fantasy and Angel Of My Dreams, she introduced four new free limited edition collectible UGC items on the platform via AVNU: Where Music Meets, Sony’s music-centric destination for Roblox created by Sony IMS.
It follows similar activations for artists including Mimi Webb, Ben Goldsmith and Altégo.
“Gaming comes up frequently as a passion point,” said Adam Cardew, VP, digital and audience development, 4th Floor Creative at Sony Music, of their artists.
Under the verch initiative, fans can redeem offers for special artist-themed Roblox items by completing challenges within AVNU and following the artist on streaming platforms.
With Jade, fans selected between specially designed virtual angel wings, text aura, backpack and arm warmers. To earn one of the exclusive pieces, Roblox players had to “perform” Jade’s single in AVNU’s nightclub rhythm game. That unlocked a Discord link to follow Jade on one of four DSPs and pre-save the song.
SUPERFAN POWER
During the Sony Music Immersive Tech Day, it emerged that the major has made two key acquisitions in order to boost promotion, commerce and fan insights for artists. It enables them to quickly tailor strategies for reaching fans globally.
Songwhip has been added as an in-house tool for helping Sony Music artists quickly generate websites and link-in-bio solutions that can centralise content marketing online and drive engagement.
The Fansifter start-up will support artists and their teams by making it easy to use data and insights to understand and create strategies for reaching their audience according to their level of fandom – from casual to superfan.
Jacob Fowler, chief product officer, Sony Music Entertainment, gave a demonstration of the speed and efficiency of their latest tools for fan engagement.
“There is a growing concern that with all the algorithms in play, content wasn’t reaching the fans and artists weren’t getting the engagement,” he said.
Negla Abdela, MD, Ministry Of Sound, said the tools would enable the label’s artists to “build a deeper connection” with fans.
Songwhip also has cost benefits for the major.
“Building an artist website for every artist on the roster can be cost prohibitive,” she said. “As quick as it is to create [with Songwhip], it’s also easy to customise.”
Abdela also welcomed the addition of Fansifter to their engagement strategy.
“It makes it very easy for us to understand the audience, especially when we are starting from scratch with a brand new artist,” she said.
GAME ON
Amid all the excitement about virtual performance and immersive experiences, the revenue model is less obvious than the traditional retail sale or streaming remuneration.
In-game performances essentially deliver marketing and promotion for artists, with heightened fan engagement, as well as verch sales.
In terms of the revenue return for Sony (and artists), Dennis Kooker acknowledged that the virtual area will become “more commercial over time”, adding that the “marketing and commercial opportunities are intertwined” at present.
There’s also the impact on streaming consumption resulting from virtual performances.
Epic Games’ Rachel Stones identified an 8.7% increase in consumption across all platforms following the use of a Jam Track in Fortnite.
RCA’s Stacey Tang stressed the importance of a virtual content piece being able to “express an artist’s values”.
Subscribers can read our Myles Smith interview.
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