Our friends at Entertainment One (eOne) have long been on the cutting edge of music, but they have truly outdone themselves with their latest announcement. ‘Floodlight,’ a new music platform created in partnership with Secret Location, aims to enhance and forever change the fan experience through state-of-the-art video technology and a wealth of unique engagement opportunities no other platform can match.
The idea is simple: Floodlight will bring audiences closer to their favorite eOne music artists with exclusive content and unique one-time experiences, delivered directly by the artists. We love music journalists as much as anyone can, but the key to strengthening support for your artist in 2016 is through allowing fans to feel as if they are able to connect directly with that artist from anywhere on the planet. Floodlight cuts out any middle man that may exist in that process, be it a music blog or a third party service like Facebook Live, and offers fans access to their favorite artists presented by the artists themselves. Engagement does not get any more direct than that until you can place a hologram in everyone’s home.
The first offering on the Floodlight platform will be an exclusive 3D virtual reality video for the song “Take it All” by Pop Evil. The Michigan based rock act has sold 1.3 million singles to date, and their current album Up debuted at #1 on the Billboard Independent Chart last fall, with 14 million streams to date.
The video for “Take It All” was shot at the 2015 Aftershock Festival, using two 360 / 3D camera rigs that captured every angle of the event in 3D. The footage was edited and stitched together to create an immersive virtual reality music video. When fans put on a headset they find themselves on the stage, above the crowed and inside the music. Pop Evil VR is designed to immerse fans in the energy of the band and provide the ultimate concert experience.
Here are two quick teasers for the video, including one that demonstrates the 360 experience:
360:
The pre-order site for Floodlight’s Pop Evil 3D kit is now live. The bundle will include a Pop Evil branded Google Cardboard 3D viewer, a Pop Evil 360 APP, an autographed CD and a Pop Evil t-shirt, previously unavailable for online purchase. The video can then be viewed on the APP with the viewer beginning on May 27, 2016. The VR app will also be available for independent download from the App Store and Google Play.
Additional Floodlight exclusives have yet to be revealed, but we expect more news on the platform to emerge in the coming weeks.
As the reach of individual posts on social media continues to fall, more platforms like Floodlight are no doubt possible. The key to their success will be offering something that is not found anywhere else online that has equal or greater value to consumers than what is already available. The ability maintain something like that, not to mention scale it, will require constant planning and dedication on the part of the artists, as well as the people around them.
If you know of another platform like Floodlight, or if you have an idea to improve fan engagement online, we’d love to hear it! Email james@haulix with your comments and we’ll reply within 24-hours.