#11: 2025's Music Business, Music Growth Hacking 101, First Steps in Music & VR - MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE
Hellooooo!
Last week was a fascinating one. I flew to London last minute for an event, registered MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE as an agency (that’s right), and I changed apartments. Plenty of inspiration for this week’s newsletter, so let’s go!
Had a great think session about the music business in 2025, organised by Peter Jenner and the UK Intellectual Property Office. To check out what I presented there, tap on the image above or click here.
Music 2025: Access or Experience? >>>
For the Midem blog, I’ve been doing a series of articles on applied innovation, like how music companies can think more like startups. Now I’ve written a guide to growth hacking for the music business containing explanation and practical examples that you can apply right away.
Music Business Growth Hacking 101: How to Scale Your Fanbase & Revenue Sustainably >>>
Music & VR: what to keep in mind
In the first issue MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE, I talked about VR as music’s next frontier. I received a thoughtful response by Tima Vlasto, a designer and developer who has ventured into VR. The following quote is about a VR music video done with Oh..
“Anyone with a technical background was quite impressed. Except for a few jaws dropping from the tech-savvy in her fan base, no one else really was, when they normally are.”
Tima goes into more detail in Marketing Virtual Reality to the Music Industry.
Right now, I think VR music experiences work best for artists with audiences with a highly tech savvy component, like Run the Jewels or Grimecraft, or when specifically targeted to VR communities. There are numerous groups and communities on Facebook, Reddit and Slack, all eager to check out new things to do with the medium.
Virtual reality is demanding. People like passive entertainment, because it’s casual, so when you demand full attention, you need to make sure your experience deserves it. This means:
Avoid repetition and looping
Create an (audio)visual storyline
Research other VR / 360 videos and give people something new
Understand your audience (this goes first)
Must read-guide >>>
The audience right now is small, but growing fast, very vocal, eager to try new things and influential. I believe it’s absolutely worth building these experiences, but they need to be designed very carefully.
It’s also new terrain. When entering unexplored terrain, it’s not unlikely you’ll step into something you really don’t want to be stepping into. But shit happens. Embrace it as a learning experience and make a resolution to develop even better experiences in the future.
Top stories this week
YouTube is investing $60M in a new music biz venture >>>
Is YouTube’s music domination finally coming to an end? >>>
With music now ubiquitous, why are festivals more popular—and profitable—than ever? >>>
Freemium conversion rate: why Spotify destroys Dropbox by 667% >>>
Secret’s former CEO about “the inherent problem with anonymous apps” >>>
How music streaming service exclusives make pirating tempting again >>>
Declining legacy music formats continue to hold back growth >>>
CreativeAI: on the democratisation & escalation of creativity >>>
In closing
I’m back in London at the end of next week and still have time open for meetings to discuss collaborations. Please get in touch.
That’s all! If you know someone who might be interested in these mailings, please forward them this email or this link. You can further support me by retweeting this tweet - it helps your followers subscribe to MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE with just one click
Love,
Bas
@basgras - linkedin
musicxtechxfuture.com
Regular insights about the future of music, media & tech. Written & composed by @basgras.
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