Chicago-based Live Nation, the promoter that handles thousands of live concerts including Lollapalooza and Bonnaro, has partnered with California-based tech company NextVR to produce concerts in VR.
Live Nation will build a studio, location not announced at this time, to produce concert shows so fans can experience the concert at home or at the live outdoor venue.
Live Nation the shows will draw more ad revenue and bolster ticket sales for future live concerts.
Live Nation’s first TV show set to premiere this fall will be “Earth Works,” with Vice’s new cable channel Viceland, “Earth Works” grew out of “Live Nation TV,” a joint venture of Live Nation and Vice that was created in 2014 to produce short-form series and documentaries from music events.
“We’ve built a media company in a year, and now is the big moment with our sales forces combined to sell those to the biggest brands in the world,” says Hosi Simon, the Vice executive who helps run Live Nation TV.
Besides licensing the joint venture’s material to Hulu, Live Nation will also make a few virtual-reality concerts with the streaming service. NextVR, which streams sporting events and concerts in virtual reality, recently struck a deal with Live Nation to produce long-form live concerts for the next five years.
Live Nation recently acquired Greenlight Media, producers o branded content for advertisers and InDMusic, specializes in boosting the viewership of videos on YouTube and other online portals, saying the new company is helping to boost attendance at many of its venues and events, Bloomberg reports.
