In recent years, virtual reality (VR) technology, online gaming platforms/metaverses, and the music industry have collaborated to bring music concerts to the digital realm, which provides a unique, interactive and immersive way for fans to experience their favourite bands or solo artists.
VR music concerts in the metaverse are now more popular than ever, but are they just a passing fad, or will we see more of these events by the end of the 2020s? Let’s dive straight in to find out.
What are VR music concerts, and why are they so popular?
Just like you can play a slot machine in a VR casino, walk around the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, or take a front-row seat and experience being a part of NASA’s original Apollo space mission in the virtual realm, you can now attend virtual reality music concerts.
VR concerts (virtual reality or metaverse concerts) are live music events that anyone can experience in computer-generated 3D worlds (aka metaverses or online gambling platforms). These digital worlds can be accessed using any decent wearable Wi-Fi/internet-connected virtual reality headset, such as the Meta Quest 2/3/Pro, Apple Vision Pro, PSVR2, PICO 4, and many others.
A VR concert can be a pre-recorded or live music event, which fans can attend digitally without physically being present at the event, meaning an unlimited number of people can go to each VR concert, unlike a real-world music concert, where only a specific number of people can go because of the size of the stadium/arena capacity.
Wearing VR headsets and attending VR concerts means that you can immerse yourself in the event as if you are actually present, with 360-degree views of the concert setting and other fans/like-minded people (represented by avatars) all around you, just like at a real concert, who you can interact with in real-time.
This relatively new way to experience our favourite bands has opened up the world of music and concerts to millions of fans worldwide who can now watch their favourite bands or solo artists perform (albeit in the digital form) without ever having to leave the house.
They are the next best thing to actual music concerts, and they are taking the gaming, music, and metaverse sectors of the digital entertainment industry by storm.
What are the biggest-ever VR music concerts?
The biggest-ever VR concerts, measured by the number of people who actually attended these events in the digital realm, are the following:
- The peak viewership at the Travis Scott VR music concert in Fortnite reached an incredible 45.80 million.
- Over 37 million fans attended the Lil Nas X concert in Fortnite.
- Ariana Grande was also able to draw an impressive 27 million people for her concert in Fortnite.
- A total of 14.60 million people attended another concert in Fortnite performed by 24kGoldn.
Other iconic bands, DJs, and solo artists, such as KISS, Eminem, Avenged Sevenfold, Megan Three Stallion, Carl Cox, Sabrina Carpenter, The Notorious B.I.G, T-Pain, and various others, have also hosted successful music events in Fortnite or various other major games/metaverses/platforms, such as Sky: Children of the Light, Amaze VR, Sky: Children of the Light, Oculus Venues, Wave, and Meta Horizon Worlds, to name a few.
Final thoughts
Over the coming years, VR concerts are expected to go even more mainstream, and by the end of the decade, there could be a VR music concert that has over 100,00 million people in attendance.
Some of the hottest VR music concerts and immersive music experiences to look forward to in 2025 are In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats, Elvis Evolution, ABBA Voyage, and Metallica on Apple Vision Pro.
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