LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VR/AR entertainment and technology company WITHIN and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced a new strategic alliance to create and develop augmented reality and virtual reality music experiences featuring artists from UMG’s roster.
WITHIN and UMG will work together to create multiple immersive experiences that will be distributed on WITHIN’s app. In addition to providing consumers with premium experiences, the partnership also aims to expand and integrate augmented and virtual reality across the creation, production, marketing and promotion of new musical tracks, from the recording studio to the release parties, concert stages and beyond.
“Music is one of the most uniquely transformative mediums of human expression; combining it with immersive AR and VR experiences creates a new artform exponentially more powerful than the sum of its parts,” said Chris Milk, Co-Founder and CEO of WITHIN. “This partnership allows us the incredible opportunity to work with top artists at UMG to create ever more meaningful and expressive immersive music experiences.”
“We are huge admirers of Chris’s innovative and creative work in music and VR, as well as the premium experiences WITHIN offers to music fans,” said Michele Anthony, Executive Vice President at UMG. “Working with our labels and artists, UMG has produced numerous VR experiences and this agreement will help evolve our strategy. Together, UMG and WITHIN will push the boundaries of how audiences experience music and create new ways for artists to forge deeper connections with their fans.”
WITHIN is the premier destination for immersive stories and experiences. The company currently offers the best immersive experiences from renowned creators, including two music experiences in partnership with UMG artists. Earlier this year, WITHIN created an interactive, colorfully animated VR music experience for The Chemical Brothers’ song “Under Neon Lights” featuring St. Vincent. Using a new technology called WebVR, it is accessible through all major web browsers. Last year, the company also distributed the exclusive worldwide premiere of “KIDS” by OneRepublic on its app.
About WITHIN
WITHIN is the premier destination for innovative, entertaining, and informative story-based virtual and augmented reality. It brings together the best immersive experiences from the world's finest VR creators—from gripping tales set in worlds of pure imagination to documentaries taking you further inside the news than ever before. WITHIN supports all major headsets, including Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, and Google Daydream. To get started experiencing WITHIN’s ever-growing roster of experiences, just download the app for iPhone or Android.
WITHIN was founded by award-winning filmmaker Chris Milk and renowned technologist Aaron Koblin with the goal of exploring and expanding the potential of immersive storytelling. WITHIN collaborates with companies including 21st Century Fox, Oculus, Google, Apple, NBC Universal, Lytro, The New York Times, Vice Media, and the United Nations, as well as artists including U2, The Chemical Brothers and OKGO to bring to life and distribute premium immersive stories in a variety of genres.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. Universal Music Group is a Vivendi company. Find out more at: http://www.universalmusic.com.
Mica Hahn
prwithin@praytellagency.com
Andy Fixmer
+1-310-865-0132
andy.fixmer@umusic.com