MelodyVR CEO On Building a Global Music Business Out Of Virtual Reality
"Before we started there was no VR music company. It just didn't exist," reflects Anthony Matchett, founder and CEO of MelodyVR. Four years later, the London-based business is now the owner of the world's largest library of virtual reality music content, has licence agreements in place with all three majors and a number of independents (Big Machine, Roc Nation) and has worked with over 650 international artists, including Post Malone, Wiz Khalifa, Blake Shelton, Kiss, The Chainsmokers, Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragons, Rag'n'Bone Man, The Who and Bloc Party.
However, despite generating plenty of press coverage, mainstream adoption of VR technology is yet to significantly take hold. Matchett is confident that will soon change. "These sort of things don't happen overnight," he says, predicting a buoyant future for the potentially game-changing world of virtual reality music.
Billboard: It's been six months since the initial launch of the MelodyVR app, which has since been rolled out to eight additional European countries. How has it performed?
Anthony Matchett: It's been great. What we're seeing now is that more people are getting Oculus Go [devices]. Our user numbers are increasing on a daily basis and its growing really quickly. As you would expect, we see more users on iPhone [using MelodyVR's mobile teaser app] than in VR at the moment, but that gap is closing. One thing we have noticed is that when we have got amazing artists sharing content we have created on their social media channels, loads of their fans are really excited to get it. The problem is that they haven't got a VR device yet. That is obviously a frustration, so we're looking into developing an iPhone or Android version of our platform that can work with a very low-cost viewer bundled with content.
What has the app taught you about how consumers interact with music VR?
The one resounding thing that we know is that music fans really love the unobtainable. That can be a number of different things, from being onstage with a band at The O2 to something as simple as being in the studio while an artist is recording an album.
How much content are you currently distributing on MelodyVR?
10-15 artists a month is our current rate.
How do you see VR developing in the music space over the next five years?
...Right now we're in Europe and the U.S. Up next is Australia and New Zealand and Canada. Following that parts of Asia. Beyond that we'll look to every corner of the globe.
See the full story here: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8483712/melodyvr-ceo-anthony-matchett-interview-virtual-reality-music-biz