PRS Explores immerses itself in virtual and augmented reality debate
Leading music business professionals and senior digital entrepreneurs discuss potential of immersive technology on industry
PRS for Music hosted an insightful evening of discussion and debate yesterday (Wednesday 8 November) on augmented and virtual reality and the potential impact these new technologies could have on the music industry.
Speaking at PRS Explores: Immersive Technology, artist Chagall, former BBC and DCMS digital strategist Will Saunders, COO and co-founder of Blend Media, Chris Helm, PRS for Music’s Head of Online Licensing Nick Edwards and more all took a closer look at the immersive technology landscape, including challenges and opportunities for rightsholders, creators and the wider music industry.
Representing the rights of songwriters and composers in the UK and across the world, PRS for Music continues to be at the forefront of protecting its members intellectual property as technologies develop and evolve; from YouTube, licensed first by PRS for Music in 2007, to MelodyVR, which signed a licensing deal with ICE (covering PRS for Music, GEMA and STIM repertoire) in August of this year.
This has been a newsworthy year for Immersive Technology as the sector continues to grow. So far, music platform MelodyVR has reportedly seen investment from global star Adele and Channel 4 took a minority stake in Parable VR in March. Clubbing institution Boiler Room also released its first virtual reality stream via Google Daydream. Clearly, the music business is warming up to the potential of these new technologies.
Also speaking were Nicholas Minter-Green, founder and CEO of Parable VR, who provided Samsung Gear VR headsets for attendees to experience immersive content, leading tech journalist Stuart Dredge, and creative rights specialist Ben Green. Ben said: “There’s an argument immersive video is just like any other audio-visual medium: you’ve got rightsholders who are represented within that piece of content. As ever, there’s always a balance between rights the producer wants, in order to distribute the material and make sure it’s on a multitude of platforms and devices, versus the rightsholder who naturally wants to protect their rights – not only their existing rights but any future rights. There is always tension and balance between the existing rightsholder and the producer. Where [the technology is] best used is where they collaborate in tandem, where you get together with a producer and create something new and exciting. Not just a straight performance of a live gig, but doing something incredibly different.”
Nick Edwards noted that PRS for Music “absolutely has to work with the industry as it develops. We are seeing a huge opportunity, although it’s not clear where it’s going to go. There are a few key factors: if something has music in it, we would view it as licensable and would work with the industry to make sure the structure and rights packages that we are able to deliver are robust enough to cover the type of content that is being made available – and that remuneration for our members is at the right level and allows them to get paid when their music is exploited”.
Artist and producer Chagall, whose innovative live performances create sounds and visuals using new technologies such as mi.mu gloves, provided a creative outlook on the potential for augmented and virtual reality. She said: “Whether VR will work depends a lot on whether we make anything good with it. It can be technically amazing, but we need to create things that we actually want to be in or want to be a part of. I think that’s one of the big challenges. I must admit that the first couple of times I tried VR, I didn’t have that ‘wow’ moment. It was more like I’d rather just go to the concert or experience this with other people in the real world. I wasn’t very amazed. But I have since then changed my mind!”
Last night confirmed there are very good reasons behind the buzz around virtual and augmented reality technology. Although there is a shortage of great content right now due to a challenge with funding for longer form content, we can see that it provides many opportunities for creators and it is exciting to consider where the technology will go from here.
About PRS for Music
PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com
