Sony has premiered a new 3D immersive music video for RCA Records artist Tate McRae’s hit single you broke me first, powered by Unreal Engine, the games engine from Fortnite maker Epic Games.
Sony Corporation acquired a minority stake in Epic Games last July, making a strategic investment of $250 million.
The Unreal Engine-powered video, described as “a mind-blowing visual 3D immersive experience” featuring a choreographed dance routine, was created specifically for Sony Corp’s Spatial Reality Display. A 2D version is also available on YouTube (see below).
Sony’s Spatial Reality Display is a new product based on Sony’s Eye-Sensing Light Field Display technology.
According to Sony, the tech follows the exact eye position of the viewer to create a highly-realistic virtual and 3D experience.
“It’s got a high speed sensor which as you move your head from left to right, up and down, it changes the perspective of the object, with the real-time rendering algorithm and the micro lenses to create the best 3D image,” said Nick Colsey, VP Business Development, Sony Electronics.
Tate has over 1.4 billion streams to date and has been featured as an artist to watch by Apple, Amazon, YouTube and Pandora.
Her single, you broke me first currently has around nearly 800m streams.
This new immersive music video follows MBW’s discovery last May that Sony Music was building a team “dedicated to reimagining music through immersive media”.
In January, Sony Corporation of America announced a new subsidiary called Sony Immersive Music Studios, which is focused on “developing immersive music experiences through the power of creativity and technology”.
The division is led by digital entertainment veteran Brad Spahr, who according to Sony is “an award-winning developer of next-generation experiences at the intersection of music, immersive reality, and gaming”.
The first project from the new Los Angeles-based Sony Immersive Music Studios division was unveiled exclusively at the virtual edition of CES 2021 technology conference in January: a “groundbreaking” virtual performance from Epic Records-signed singer songwriter Madison Beer in partnership with Verizon, to showcase songs from her debut album, Life Support.
Performing as “an ultra-realistic virtual avatar”, Sony claimed that Beer’s performance was “powered by cutting-edge innovations in real-time 3D creation technology”.
The new project with Tate McRae is the fifth in the Sony Collaboration Series, a brand campaign produced by agency Ralph, and part of Sony’s ongoing strategy to highlight the ties between Sony Music artists and Sony assets including technology, gaming and film.
MBW has previously noted that 2020 arguably became the year that Sony’s “One Sony” strategy evolved from concept to reality.
“Using Sony’s Spatial Reality Display to create a different look for my song was so cool and exciting.”
Tate McRae
“Using Sony’s Spatial Reality Display to create a different look for my song was so cool and exciting,” says McRae.
“The ability to transform myself into this 3D universe and showcase my dancing and song in a whole new way was just unthinkable and Sony helped me achieve the impossible. I mean come on, it’s a mini Tate!”
“We are excited to celebrate the tremendous success Tate has had with her hit you broke me first in an entirely new way with this collaboration.”
Tomokazu Tajima, Sony Corporation
“We are excited to celebrate the tremendous success Tate has had with her hit you broke me first’ in an entirely new way with this collaboration,” said Tomokazu Tajima, Head of Brand Strategy Division, Sony Corporation.
“A Sony Collaboration Series continues to follow our Purpose statement of filling the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology, and this visual 3D immersive experience is an example of yet another way Sony technology can unleash creativity.”
Emma Worth, Creative Lead at Ralph, said: “It was amazing to get hands-on with the Spatial Reality Display to see what it would allow us to achieve creatively, especially with the out-of-this-world performance skills of Tate and the tools at our disposal from the world of games, like Epic’s Unreal Engine.
“The collaboration showcases the 3D screen of the Spatial Reality Display and allows audiences to experience the music video like a moving pop up picture book, or futuristic music box and see everything happening from different viewpoints.
“It will be fascinating to see how the Spatial Reality Display is put to use by other artists, plus in the wider world of interactive entertainment.”Music Business Worldwide