UMG, Interscope Partner With Nokia On One Republic Virtual Reality Music Video

Universal Music Group

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP, INTERSCOPE RECORDS and NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES are teaming up for a new "fully immersive" virtual reality experience for "Kids," the new single from ONE REPUBLIC, to premiere at ADVERTISING WEEK, NEW YORK. The song is from their fourth studio album, "Oh My My," which is coming out OCTOBER 7th on MOSLEY/INTERSCOPE RECORDS.

The video, which was directed by HAL KIRKLAND and produced by CHRIS MILK’s VR studio, HERE BE DRAGONS, was shot with the NOKIA OZO, the first professional VR camera available to purchase for content creators.

The “Kids” VR experience will premiere at this year’s ADVERTISING WEEK, N.Y., during the “VR is ‘Kids’ Play'" lunch and panel presented by UMG and the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL on SEPTEMBER 27th at the NASDAQ BUILDING. At this time, the VR experience will be made available exclusively on the WITHIN app for fans to download or stream on their smartphone or VR headset at home. The “VR is 'Kids’ Play'" panel will be moderated by JANE ROSENTHAL, executive chair of TRIBECA ENTERPRISES and will feature singer-songwriter ONE REPUBLIC's RYAN TEDDER, WITHIN founder/CEO CHRIS MILK, video director HAL KIRKLAND, NOKIA’s Head of Presence Capture GUIDO VOLTOLINA and UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP & BRANDS Head Of New Business BART SAUNT.

Commented TEDDER: “Virtual reality is something that’s incredibly interesting to us because it gives us the opportunity to engage fans in a new way. We’re excited to be able to give our fans a way to step inside our music and live in our latest single.”

UMG Chief Technology Officer TY ROBERTS added: “With ONE REPUBLIC and NOKIA, UNIVERSAL MUSIC and INTERSCOPE are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in virtual reality. As we continue to develop projects, music fans will become fully immersed in the music they love, whether that’s walking around a stage during a concert by their favorite artist or becoming part of the story in a music video. This cutting edge technology is opening up thrilling new opportunities for artistic expression that we have only begun to realize.”

UMGB EVP MIKE TUNNICLIFFE commented: “ONE REPUBLIC is paving the way with fully immersive virtual reality music videos. This is the first of hopefully many projects in partnership with NOLIA, the leader in VR camera technology. As more artists engage with VR projects we will have more opportunities for our partners to be part of this exciting new way for fans to experience their favorite artists and music.”

The video will be available on WITHIN, MILK’s virtual reality app, and at OneRepublic.com beginning at 12:01a (ET), SEPTEMBER 27th before becoming widely available through other distributors including OCULUS, SAMSUNG VR and LITTLESTAR, as well as FACEBOOK 360 and YOUTUBE 360. UMG is the industry leader in virtual reality with a library of more than 60 titles including SHAWN MENDES, DNCE and U2 concert experiences.

« see more Net News