Musicians and virtual experiences, concerts to conquer the metaverses

Musicians and virtual experiences

In this 2021, various unrelated experiments were carried out, which combined interactive environments, video games and musicians: let's say "musicians" and not simply "music", because being an artist outside the world of video games was a characterizing trait of these projects.

The artists involved did not follow a single path: the fact is that there have been three events which, in the future, could be remembered as forerunners. Before remembering what they were, it is good to understand how the definition of "video game", in these cases, is rather restrictive: it is a definition used in the absence of a more appropriate term. Would multimedia experiences have been better? Perhaps, but it is also true that interaction, moving a character within a virtual world, is a primary, absolutely fundamental part of these experiments.

Oberhasli: one of the most interesting projects in the world. year We will try to approach the question from two points of view: that of gamers, who have been offered content not necessarily related to their tastes, and that of music lovers not accustomed to gaming, to how much they have to work hard to "approach" similar worlds, as much as they are interested in doing it for the possible "reward".

The fact is that these experiences seem to be the seminal ones of the metaverses, that is the means by which the big video game producers like Fortnite or Roblox are trying to turn their product into something a little different. Something broader, more varied and consequently profitable.

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition: one of the exhibitions within the virtual exhibition A month ago it was published on PlayStation 5, PC and Mac (through the Epic Games Store), Kid A Mnesiac Exhibition, which we covered in detail in our review. In this article, as with the experiences that we will deal with later, we will not go into deeper details, but we will limit ourselves to highlighting the substance of the experience. By definition of the authors, Kid A Mnesiac Exhibition "is not a game": it is one of the first sentences you read, and it is a warning to users.

Kid A Mnesiac Exhibition is basically a virtual exhibition organized by Radiohead, mainly in the people of Thom Yorke (singer, musician and leader of the band) and Stanley Donwood (author of the covers of all the discs of the group, except the first): the project involved two software houses, was supported by Epic Games, and was mainly developed during the lockdown. It is a "video game" that celebrates the twenty years of Kid A and Amnesiac, two albums that have marked (and captured) the spirit of the '00s like very few others.

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition: a disconsolate monster observes one of the band's concerts Although it is the most complete and painstaking project among those covered in the piece, it is also the one that has the least hope of originating a future trend. It is a virtual exhibition, full of exceptional music and grotesque scenography, in which you face a journey in the first person: a journey with an unexpected ending, which lasts a maximum of two hours.

As we wrote in the review, the main criticality of Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition lies in the unclear target. For a "hardcore" player who does not know Radiohead, the experience is too little playful, and does not allow you to appreciate much of the art of the group: this is because the songs of Kid A and Amnesiac are fragmented and contextualized on a narrative level. And the latter is also the reason why, on the contrary, the project is very interesting for fans of the Oxford band: there are variations, decompositions and hidden tracks that do not appear in the two celebrated records. At the same time, there are parts that are too playful for a fan who is unfamiliar with exploring a three-dimensional world: the ways to follow are not at all obvious, and a neophyte could miss at least half of the content offered.

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition: the room that hosts the music of The National Anthem The operation was also seen in an ambiguous way by fans of the band. Fans who have been pampered and spoiled and bewitched by the group's historic avant-garde marketing, which in 2000 had anticipated Kid A with mini videos on the internet, when the internet was certainly not as widespread as it is now, which in 2007 it had proposed to the world, in a context in which piracy was rampant, a record that you could pay at will (yes, even zero Euros): we refer to In Rainbows. Kid A Mnesia was experienced differently. Both because it is a celebratory operation of the past, albeit fully contemporary in the means, and because it has been interpreted - by some - as a tool to expand one's audience to a different audience than usual (read "less refined"). The usual prejudices that have always affected video games could enter this discourse, and we use the conditional only for education.

Oberhasli and Fortnite

Oberhasli: the purple hues of the world of deadmau5 Dell ' operation of deadmau5, Canadian DJ and music producer (whose works range from electronics to trip hop), we had talked in depth in this special. Again, let's run a brief summary. The North American musician, through Core (an intuitive game / software to create games / software), has developed his own metaverse owner to promote himself and his music.

The universe in question is called Oberhasli and, unlike Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, it could mark a starting point. It is a primordial, essential metaverse with a strong visual identity, aimed at sharing the creations of its author, and at promoting his music (and his merchandising). Now, if deadmau5's modus operandi were followed by other famous musicians, Oberhasli could really be considered, in the future, a sort of little big bang.

Oberhasli: in plain sight the Core logo, the software / game with which Oberhasli was developed Because the exhibition / concert with which deadmau5 presented it to the world (the first of a long series), attended by thousands of people, was not only a virtual experience, but also an experience in which music and interaction went hand in hand, in which the sounds were influenced by the scenography, by the situations, and vice versa. And where, unlike Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, the events happened "live".

If Oberhasli is the one we believe has the greatest potential to indicate a new direction to the market, there is no doubt that what's happening on Fortnite can prove to be extremely influential. However similar they may appear and how much they may both belong to the emerging world of metaverses, the two operations are different. Oberhasli is a virtual world in which the contents of a real artist are experienced: a parallel place, an interactive amplification of the author and his musical imagination. Provided it doesn't work that way. Fortnite is a video game and a video game is creating its own narrative universe live together with the users: a narrative universe of which "real" celebrities have been part, and will be part, too.

Fortnite: l event linked to Ariana Grande It seems like a small difference, but it is not. If Oberhasli is an emanation of Deadmau5, Ariana Grande's concert in Fornite was a marriage between the singer and a virtual narrative universe: in the past there had already been similar concerts in the Epic Games game, such as the famous one by Travis Scott . Ariana Grande's was different precisely because it was more integrated into the game universe: it was at the same time a concert by Ariana Grande and a concert within Fortnite, well inserted in the context of the work, and declined through it. br>
The target of the two projects is also very different, and for this reason both could prove to be anticipators of some future "movement". Oberhasli indirectly advertises Core, but this is certainly not its fulcrum: Oberhasli is a small metaverse that aims to welcome deadmau5 fans. Basically, a path that leads from music to the "video game". Fortnite concerts essentially offer the opposite path: from the video game, in this case one of the most popular on the planet, to music. And not simply to music, but to music that is narratively contextualized from within an already existing fantasy world.

Two short and extreme examples that could tickle your imagination. Think of a Beatles Oberhasli, in which cover concerts of the band are performed every week, and there are areas inspired by each record of the English group, with shops where you can buy exclusive merchandising from the virtual world, whether digital or material. in your homes.

Regarding the Fortnite model, its potential lies in the fact that, unlike Oberhasli, it is a constantly evolving universe, which is frequented and loved regardless of the artists and scheduled concerts. A real virtual world in which players find themselves to fight in the battle royale, but in the future also to hear concerts, see films or simply meet with friends from all over the world.

Whichever way they go things, this 2021 was definitely a starting point.

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