The music festival, called Redwood Jam, is set to feature eight of VR’s best up-and-coming indie talent, covering genres all the way from indie folk and acoustic guitar to EDM and operatic vocals. The show will take place in a purpose-built, immersive venue in the Metaverse, modeled after California’s redwood forests and the natural beauty of the state’s parks.
Devine is a well-known figure in the music industry, having worked with major record labels like Capitol Records and Columbia Records, where he signed artists like Lloyd Cole, Switchfoot, and OneRepublic. He also worked alongside some of the biggest names in music, including U2, Prince, and the Beastie Boys, and is responsible for over $2 billion in global music sales.
Besides his extensive experience in music production, Devine is also a successful and highly competent businessman, with experience in business development, marketing, and financial management. Who better to introduce the next wave of virtual musicians in a bleeding-edge hi-tech field?
Devine will make his appearance at the start of the show to introduce the first performer and kick off the day. He’ll be introduced by XPR Labs’ Head of Communications Sullivan Huebner, who led the team organizing the event and oversaw the development of the virtual venue.
“People have tried doing a music festival in VR before,” said Huebner. “The problem is, they tried to put all of Coachella into the virtual environment right away — we’re starting a lot smaller, building a cozy environment that’s fun, exciting, and immersive for a lower user count.” This particular venue, one of many in the XPR Labs catalog, focuses on drawing attendees directly to the stage, using careful environmental composition, user signaling, and special lighting effects.
“I wanted our visitors to feel like they stumbled across the festival in the middle of a forest clearing,” said Huebner. “This venue is really special, and shows the potential for live music events in VR.”
Redwood Jam isn’t XPR Labs’ first foray into VR, and that experience shows. “Getting a bunch of musicians together to perform live in a completely virtual environment — that’s mostly uncharted territory at this point,” said Huebner. “You need the right environment, the right developers, the right performers, and the right staff,” he said, “and I’m proud to be representing the company bringing that experience to this new market.”
XPR Labs is a Quebec-based technology innovator specializing in enterprise applications for VR. XPR seeks to integrate business and VR, to create a sustainable and secure virtual business ecosystem. XPR produced JobCon 2021, a first-of-its-kind HR conference in VR which saw over 60,000 visits.
