Universal Music strikes a deal with MelodyVR for virtual reality footage

Universal Music Group is expanding its catalogue of virtual reality music content: tt has struck a deal with EVR Holdings to create content for its acts on its labels as Def Jam, EMI, Capitol. Island, Polydor, Decca, Interscope, Republic and Virgin EMI.

Universal acts include Drake, The Rolling Stones, The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey and Florence + the Machine.

The planned interactive experiences will cover concerts and live performances to music videos and behind-the-scenes content.

The deal calls for these to be posted initially on EVR’s app MelodyVR, available on all major virtual reality and mobile devices.

This will be followed by a period of “joint exploitation” by both companies. Both will share revenues from monies made from the Universal clips. Universal has also taken a small stake in the UK business, similar to Warner Music last year.

Michael Nash, UMG’s EVP of Digital Strategy said: “At Universal Music, virtual reality is one of several exciting new arenas, enabled by the evolution of technology, which we are developing for our artists to create deeper connections with their fans.

“Given the depth of engagement possible with VR, many of our artists are interested in producing more of this content and we have a robust pipeline of projects coming soon. We’re excited to work with MelodyVR to make these incredible new experiences available on their platform.”

EVR Chief Executive Anthony Matchett added: ““UMG represents a significant number of the world’s most popular chart-topping artists and we look forward to working closely with UMG to create and distribute ground-breaking virtual reality content as well as to hosting UMG artists on the MelodyVR platform.”