Live Virtual Gigs in the Gaming Metaverse

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Live Virtual Gigs in the Gaming Metaverse

In November last year, a live virtual gig took place in the gaming Metaverse of world platforms. Rapper Lil Nas X took to the stage in Roblox, and performed in a free-to-view event, which broke all previous records to become one of the the most viewed concerts of all time, pulling in a worldwide record-breaking audience of over 35-million visits.

Roblox is a platform of over 50-million user designed video games. The concert was their first, but they have also partnered with music label Monstercat and delivered an album release party for Ava Max. Could this collective gaming audience be the music world's perfect audience of the future?

Taking inspiration from Lil Was X's videos and songs, various stages were created for in-game virtual performances using PBR rendering, lighting, shadowing and facial recognition technologies available on the Roblox platfom. Speaking ahead of his performance, Jon Vlassopulos, global head of music at Roblox, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Columbia Records to bring Lil Nas X fans and the Roblox community together in an entirely new way.“This concert with Lil Nas X will transport players and their friends into the metaverse, and bring to life the future of what immersive, social experiences can look like.”

The experience is a long way from the first pixelated forms of performers or being able to control Michael Jackson in the 1990's 'Moonwalker' whilst he rescues children to the sound of his hit 'Smooth Criminal'. However, the online gaming world became a far greater player when Grand Theft Auto realised the potential of licensed music. They allowed players to access perfectly curated radio stations whilst creating chaos and mayhem in the streets of Miami.

Michael Jackson in the Moonwalker video game

Roblox are not the only gaming platform to take on the music gig. Fortnite allowed Travis Scott to host a gig from a stage in the water off the resort of Sweaty Sands. People attended the concert from wherever they were in the game, as their personally created avatar, whilst they continued to fire at the people around them.

The following concert was brief, just a 10-minute pop of Scott's hits, with incredible visual pyrotechnics. The world of Fortnite transformed kaleidoscopically around Scott and the artist came right up to the viewers, giving the sense of being able to reach out and touch him. One moment, fire poured from his body; the next, his face melted to reveal a robotic skull. According to developer Epic Games, more than 28m people watched the show.

Gaming Metaverse platforms like Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite are being chosen for these live virtual gigs because their worlds are moving into something beyond gaming. The platforms are used by kids wanting to hang out with their mates and socialise, a virtual environment which has become so relevant and meaningful to the users during the pandemic lockdowns.

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10
Dec

Portsmouth Based Tech Start-Up encourages local business to benefit from Kickstart, as December 17 deadline looms.

Local companies are up against the clock if they want to benefit from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s generosity. The deadline to register for the Government Kickstart scheme, which pays for hand-picked new recruits to boost businesses, is Friday 17th December, so time is of the essence. Local entrepreneur Dr Shena Mitchell is founder of Jeeni, the ethical music streaming service with an audience outreach of over 3 million music lovers, and she is full of praise for Kickstart. “I have been hugely impressed by the quality of the applications, all our new recruits have been brilliant and they are a great asset to my team. So far we have recruited Marketing Executives, Sales Executives, Technical Developers, a Partnership Coordinator, as well as a Human Resource Manager to handle all these new recruits for us. In fact, we’ve been so impressed with the quality of our new applicants, that we’ve applied for another six recruits.” Her company has been working with their specialist partners Gradfuel, who are consultants for the Department of Work and Pensions, which is where the Kickstart grant funding comes from. “It’s a great opportunity for companies like ours to bring keen young graduates on board for a minimum of six months, and scale up our business. We not only do the right thing by helping new talent, but the cream of the crop could stay with us for years to come. Best of all, there’s no financial risk, with over £8,000 worth of grant money to support each young person taken on board.” The Kickstarter benefits are remarkably generous, and with only days left to register, Shena is offering to help local businesses take advantage. Benefits include £1,500 upfront grant funding from the UK Government, for each young person they enrol, in addition to their salary. 100% of their salary covered for up to 6 months and up to 100 hours a month. “Our partners Gradfuel are the experts in the market, and have raised £18.7m in Kickstart grant funding so far. We’ve had a 99.5% success rate in our applications, against the market average of 22%, supporting over 1,400 companies to process their Kickstart applications.” Full information and a direct link to registering for Kickstart applications is available on https://jeeni.com/kickstart/ shena@jenni.com 07703567196

06
Dec

Artist Focus: Barbudo

If you were to picture yourself at a beach festival, with an Aperol Spritz in hand, the funky sound of Barbudo would be sure to get you moving. The brothers Ben & Harry Stanworth plus their best friend Elliott Salter, hailing from Havant (South of England) have created their own unique blend of modern Funk, Soul and Disco, with some Psychedelic chord progressions throughout their discography. The sweet vibes of Barbudo take inspiration from Michael Jackson, Chic, The Bee Gees and Prince, artists that Ben & Harry’s parents would often play to them at home during their days out on the disco scene. Parliament, Funkadelic and Anderson .Paak are three names they said they would love to support at a live show, and this is hardly surprising considering their style! Their track ‘Realise the Reality’ I found notably brilliant, with the knock of a ‘Thundercat’ beat, but written in a major key. The song encapsulates their playful, joyful identity. You could say they make you want to talk about that ‘Secret Admirer’ (their 2018 single). Ben’s seemingly nonchalant tone is brilliantly confident and elegant, with great vocal licks and kicks that are very original and identifiable. Their track ‘Magnolia Mansion’ is a great flagship to their genre stirring pot. A classic bassline and an excellent, clean drum beat sure to get a crowd moving. Their cool use of chords on a Wurlitzer type electric piano gives a lovely chilled vibe to the verses, before the clearly disco influenced guitar brings us to the front and center stage of the ‘Magnolia Mansion’. Overall, I have been blown away by Barbudo, and await their next release. Their melodies have definitely struck a chord with me (pun intended). How can Jeeni support artists like Barbudo? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team Check out Barbudo’s Jeeni page: https://jeeni.com/?s=barbudo

03
Mar

Artist Focus: Nnaomi

Describing her own music as “euphoric, experimental and nostalgic”, Nnaomi is paving her own exciting path in the RnB and neo-soul corner of music. Portsmouth based Nnaomi has been an essential Jeeni artist for some time now and has most recently added her newest single, ‘Hate Me’ to one of Jeeni’s most rapidly advancing and growing channels, RnB (https://jeeni.com/channel/all-channels/r-and-b/). “At just over 2 minutes long, 'Hate Me’ still manages to progress so organically and timely; it takes its time to set the pace and tone of the story told in the lyrics. At the climax of the track, it feels like Nnaomi’s painful memories begin to swirl more unstably around her head as samples and synths begin to distort, warp and spin around the stereo space. These flittering pieces of audio eventually start to drown out Nnaomi’s voice, painting a tragic image of her thoughts and guilt becoming overpowering and too much to process.” Check out the full review of ‘Hate Me’ here: https://jeeni.com/blog/nnaomi-hate-me-single-review-blog-jeeni/ This newest track promises a lot from Nnaomi and if her short collection of singles says anything at the moment, it’s that she can deliver on them all. Nnaomi describes her singles as “little stories”, “I say this because the songs I make come from my real emotions and real experiences, the beats I choose actually bring emotions and thoughts out of me I feel like I suppress because I’m surprisingly not very good at talking about my feelings, so instead I put it in songs. It’s the easiest way for me to express myself”. From this analysis into her own work, it’s no longer a mystery as to why so much emotion is contained in tracks like ‘Like Me’ and ‘Hate Me’. Mental health, and processing emotions healthily is certainly a recurring theme in Nnaomi’s work, as she explains, “Something that inspires me is my own ability to take advantage of the fact that sometimes my emotions are intense, finding a way to execute it in a healthy way has been amazing because I’m so used to bottling it up, which wasn’t beneficial”. Besides from her methodology in utilising emotions as a key inspiration for her work, Nnaomi’s has some specific masters in the alternative RnB genre to thank for her curious and adventurous creative tendencies. Progressive soul artist, Frank Ocean is a major influence for Nnaomi, as is modern neo-soul singer, SZA. When asked about the similarities in the titles of ‘Like Me’ and ‘Hate Me’, Nnaomi noted that the connection was both coincidental but likely sub-consciously intended at the same time, “I wanted to portray my mental state in a way that was artistic. “Like Me” was written when my views and thoughts on certain things were hopeless and reminiscent. “Hate Me” is like the healing sister. The one that’s accepted the way that “love” and its experiences can sometimes change you for the worst. A much more self-aware and grown-up outlook on love and how to deal with it”; a poignant and layered insight into this partnership of singles. Nnaomi hints at longer projects in the future, however she's currently happy “taking it one step at a time” with fantastic singles like ‘Party’s Over’, ‘Like Me’ and ‘Hate Me’. She’s also excited to arrange more live shows this year as restrictions are the lowest they’ve been in years. Follow Nnaomi on socials to stay updated on what she’s working on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nomesm_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naomim_0/ Check out Nnaomi’s showcase on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/nnaomi/ How can Jeeni support artists like Nnaomi? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. artist biography • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.

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