Artists are gaining global recognition faster than ever. Serving this worldwide audience with live performances is one of the biggest challenges artists, management and labels have to face. The best examples of this are internationally renowned producers and DJs, such as the duo Pan-Pot. Even with tightly timed live performances around the world, they reach only a relatively small fraction of the fans who are interested in their music. Added to this, are limiting factors such as the capacity of venues or unpredictable events (e.g. Covid). While advanced digitization offers a range of options for live streaming events, the user experience is limited to just consuming the event. At the same time, young target groups who are used to interacting in the digital sphere, e.g. in games, are growing up. With the help of innovative technologies in the field of extended reality, the barriers to entry live events can be broken down and fans can be actively involved in shows in a virtual space.
By combining multiple technologies provided by NeXR to its customers as a one-stop shop for creating events in extended reality, artists like DJ duo Pan-Pot are able host global events where the audience and the artists interact with each other in virtual space. Our body scanner was used to create virtual avatars of the duo beforehand. In our own motion capturing studio “OnPoint”, movements, gestures and facial expressions of the artists were recorded and transmitted in real time via live stream e.g. on Twitch and facebook. Our virtual production team also created an individual, creative and interactive concert environment. This was developed together with the artists (Pan-Pot).
The virtual music event was promoted in advance via a social media campaign. Within 4 days, more than 134,000 people worldwide became aware of the virtual concert. More than 15,300 campaign interactions were generated. The live stream was viewed by the audience for a total of 29,500 minutes. More than half of the viewers can be located in the age range between 18 and 34 years.
Pan-Pot is a Berlin-based DJ and producer team for electronic dance music. The duo is composed of Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix. Together, the two have already released 4 studio albums and have nearly 40 single releases to their credit. Pan-Pot is managed by IN X SPACE.
Like many other artists, Pan-Pot is witnessing a paradigm shift in the music and events industry. The digitization of recorded music is already complete – fans consume music almost exclusively through streaming providers. At the same time, video and streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch are becoming increasingly central channels not only for artists announcement, but also for concert experiences.
Around the world, the virtualization of concerts is being driven forward at high speed. Well-known examples are virtual performances by ABBA (“ABBA Voyage”), Travis Scott (“Astronomical”) or BTS (“Permission to Dance”).
This development creates challenges for artists, management, and labels that can easily be turned into opportunities with the right concepts and technologies: It has never been easier to build and reach a global audience. This creates new revenue streams for artists, promoters, and labels alike.
The virtualization of events is not intended to replace real-life concerts. Instead, there is a sensible supplement via digital channels that allow unlimited scalability. A concert in a hall with 20,000 visitors can quickly become a global live event.
NeXR Technologies offers artists like Pan-Pot the possibility to massively expand the reach of concerts and events via extended reality channels, creating a new immersive experience for performers and audiences.
Using the DJ duo Pan-Pot example, we show what an ideal process for realizing a virtual live concert might look like. In doing so, all personnel and technical resources for the realization of the VR concert could be provided in-house.
The collaboration with Pan-Pot came about when we were approached by our partner IN X SPACE. The duo expressed strong interest in trying out these new technologies. In their own words, “this is the future.”
Using our self-developed and patented NeXR body scanner, we scanned the DJ duo with the help of over 100 cameras. The resulting 3D avatars were then visually refined by our character designers. The audience was assigned pre-produced avatars. Participants could use their own home computer webcam to move their virtual avatar. This also gave Pan-Pot a direct impression of how actively the audience participated in the concert in front of their own monitors.
In the next step, we developed the virtual concert location together with the musicians – a futuristic-looking industrial hall with the feel of a Berlin electro club. In parallel, so-called “reactive stages” were created, i.e. stages and visualizations that react to sound and made the concert particularly lively.
On the day of the event (15/12/2021), Pan-Pot were guests in our OnPoint Motion Capturing Studio. There, the DJ duo set up their equipment and were dressed with motion capture suits. Just in time for the start of the live broadcast, the two DJs stood on a virtual stage and performed in front of hundreds of fans, who were also faded into the virtual environment via avatars. In addition, some fans were able to win exclusive tickets for the event and experience this extraordinary evening on site.
During the concert, artists and audience could interact with each other. Pan-Pot saw the participant avatars via screens in the motion capture studio and could actively influence the mood. In addition, the energy level of the audience was measured and fed back to Pan-Pot. Other special effects such as the oversized duo dancing in the middle of the club were added and the audience could visually make Pan-Pot glow via the mood in the virtual space.
The main streaming channel used for the concert was Twitch. Monetization options were also activated there. For example, viewers could buy cool effects via Twitch Interactions, which could then be seen live during the show.
For the conception and realization of the Pan-Pot Virtual Live Concert, NeXR teams from “3D Avatar Creation”, “Motion Capturing”, “Body-Scanner” and “Virtual Production” areas were involved. Leigh Flores, producer at NeXR, was in charge of the project. In addition to Pan-Pot itself, the organizer IN X SPACE was responsible for the project on behalf of the client.
We scan the artist to create a digital avatar or build fictional ones.
Our production team creates customized, interactive stages
in a virtualized environment
Artists are captured in real time in our MoCap studio to feel more connected to the audience.
Broadcasting the virtual concert for a VR or 2D audience on a global stage.
Producer
NEXR Technologies SE
Having already achieved success in the execution of virtual events in the B2B sector, we decided to extend the virtual broadcast of live events to the music industry as well. The DJ duo Pan-Pot then approached us with their wish to be able to hold concerts despite limited possibilities during the Corona pandemic. We then created the framework conditions and the technical solution to carry out a live concert.
Clearly, the biggest challenge was to create the most immersive concert atmosphere possible. We implemented tools like DMX Light and adapted the virtual environment to the essence of the DJ set. In close coordination with the artists, we were able to capture the club feeling and transfer it into virtual reality. The fans had the feeling of being at a real show.
As fate would have it, one of the two DJs and one of our motion capturing studio team members involved in the project had their birthdays exactly at the time of our last Pan-Pot show. Through the successfully performed virtual live concert, they will forever remember the great atmosphere and the closeness to the fans during the show.
The interest and enthusiasm for the virtual Pan-Pot concert could be clearly seen in all project phases. There was a high level of interaction on the part of fans during promotion, at the live event and after the concert (on demand in the re-live). The DJ duo could already see during the show how much fun they were having performing in the virtual space. “I can totally see that this is the future” said Tassilo Ippenberger a few minutes after the live show.
The concert was promoted shortly beforehand with an ad campaign across Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube channels. This generated more than 1 million ad impressions. More than 134,000 users actively noticed the ads. With 15,300 engagement signals, the promotion also recorded a very high level of interaction. This clearly indicates that the topic is of interest to a broad audience and has spiked the curiosity of many users.
It is also known to us that more than 50% of concert viewers are in the 18-34 age group. At the same time, the share of the 35 – 44 age group was also significant at around 40%. This shows that non-digital natives also show great interest in virtual (music) events. The vast majority of concert participants, on the other hand, were male – every 5th participant was female.
The event was also well received internationally, with 14 different nations watching the live stream, including Spain, USA, UK, Colombia, Hungary, Poland and of course Germany. Just under a quarter of viewers stayed in the stream for the entire live performance, which lasted almost 2 hours. In total, all viewers combined spent nearly 29,500 minutes in the live stream. The concert was later uploaded to YouTube as a re-live. There, it has already recorded over 10,000 additional views.
“It’s been great to work with NEXR. Our growing partnership – which began in 2020 – brings together headline DJs/artists, top audiovisual creatives, and leading virtual production experts to create truly innovative shows – all right here in Berlin!
Due to the great enthusiasm for the Extended Reality event and the positive signals from the advertising campaign, further virtual concerts with well-known artists are planned. At the same time, we at NeXR are currently in close contact with several music labels and management teams of well-known artists who would also like to take the step into Extended Reality.
Professional motion capturing in Berlin
We create photo-realistic avatars that our partners can use in real time.
Follow press coverage of NeXR Show and our Virtual Concerts.
We create photo-realistic avatars that our partners can use in real time.
Follow press coverage of NeXR Show and our Virtual Concerts.
NeXR Technologies SE
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10969 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 30 403 680 14-0
E-Mail: sales@nexr.io
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