MelodyVR, a virtual reality (VR) music content platform which is a subsidiary of EVR Holdings PLC, has announced a new licensing and distribution agreement today with Sony Music Entertainment. This will give MelodyVR the right to produce and distribute VR content created with Sony Music artists.
Sony Music’s current roster of artists includes both local musicians and international superstars, alongside a vast catalog featuring some of the biggest recordings in music history. It’s also home to Columbia Records, Epic Records, Legacy Recordings, Masterworks, RCA Records, Sony Classical, Sony Music Latin, and Syco Music.
Anthony Matchett, CEO of EVR Holdings, said in a statement: “I’m incredibly pleased to announce our global partnership with Sony Music for Virtual Reality content creation. We are thrilled to be working more closely with the Sony Music team and with their exceptional roster of talent, I look forward to us creating even more amazing content together.”
“Over the last two years our company has worked tirelessly to secure the necessary licensing and rights for the creation and exploitation of Virtual Reality content with the world’s most recognisable, musicians and artists. The completion of our negotiations with all three of the world’s major record labels – Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and now Sony Music Entertainment, is an extremely significant milestone for our company and in my opinion, provides significant validation in regard to our market leading position, our on-going success and the long-term value of our business.”
The deal is a worldwide, multi-year agreement, which will enable VR content created with Sony Music artists to be available first on MelodyVR’s upcoming platform followed by a period of joint-exploitation by both parties.
This is the third major distribution announcement by MelodyVR, with the first coming in December 2016 after revealing a partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG). The second came in March this year, bringing Universal Music Group on board.
“Now that MelodyVR has secured the record label agreements needed to facilitate the global launch of our VR music platform, our focus is to expand upon the distribution network for the MelodyVR app and to increase the size and scale of our potential consumer base at launch,” continued Matchett. “Having recently announced a global partnership with Microsoft, that will see MelodyVR made available to over 500,000,000 Windows 10 consumers, we now seek to enter into further agreements with leading VR hardware and smartphone manufacturers such as Facebook, Samsung, Google, HTC and Sony PlayStation amongst others, further increasing the breadth and reach of MelodyVR.”
The MelodyVR app has yet to launch, with registrations open for the beta. While there’s been no official confirmation on when the app will become available, with this third deal in place it’s possible that MelodyVR will be a one-stop shop for the latest immersive music content. Most VR headset platforms will be supported, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, Google Cardboard and iOS.
For any further MelodyVR updates, keep reading VRFocus.