Seeing Ariana Grande appear with an outfit full of glitter, her characteristic ponytail, on an out-of-this-world stage, is something that anyone who attends one of her concerts hopes to find.
However, it is not what someone playing the popular Fortnite video game would expect to see when logging into their account for a pitched battle. Still, this happened.
This event is not something new. Although there was great expectation for Ariana's concert, the platform already had the precedents of two high-level artists: Marshmello and Travis Scott, who have managed to gather tens of millions of spectators in their respective presentations.
But what does this mean for the music industry? We are not only talking about a format change but infinite possibilities are opened in terms of experiences since, as Epic (the company behind Fortnite) has shown with each virtual event, these are created to suit the audience needs, thinking not only of the needs arising from the current world situation but also of their individual experience within the game.
This collaboration involved the Epic team and Ariana's team in such a way that each player was able to experience this concert uniquely: through mini-games that amplified the experience, making them part of it, without limiting them to being mere spectators; an incredible opening sequence as an introduction to the concert reminiscent of Mario Kart's iconic Rainbow Road, the perfect prelude to a highly anticipated event and, finally, the opportunity to use your favorite skin by being part of the audience.
Although this event did not have great surprises, the precedent set by it and its predecessors, make very clear the new trends for musical events, in which collaboration is a very important key to open doors to new markets, new audiences, and new possibilities.
How do you think the trend of virtuality changes the paradigm of events and music distribution in the short term? Come to Indiefy and together we find solutions to the new needs of artists around the world, become part of our community!
