A new venture founded by music, gaming, and wellness experts is launching a virtual reality app designed to harness the therapeutic benefits of singing.
To make this happen, Realize Music, Inc. has struck strategic agreements with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) that will bring 1 million tracks to the Realize Music: Sing app, with new tracks landing weekly. The company says more music deals are on the way.
Realize Music: Sing will launch in North America on January 23, 2025, on Meta Platforms’ Meta Quest VR headset. Realize Music says it’s developing versions of the app for Apple, Samsung, and Sony PSVR2 devices, as well as adaptations for mobile devices, PC and Mac computers, smart TVs, and other media.
The app will launch with an introductory discount subscription price of $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year.
The Realize Music: Sing app will bring people “into a deeper relationship with their favorite music and artists… by creating immersive audio-visual journeys while utilizing vocalization aimed at providing therapeutic benefits,” Realize Music said.
The aim is to reduce stress, promote relaxation, and release endorphins, which helps relieve pain and improve mood.
“Harnessing the power of music to foster health and wellness is a natural fit for us.”
Bryan Stone, Universal Music Group
“UMG has a long and successful track record of partnering with innovative new platforms in critical spaces with exciting potential, like health and wellness,” said Bryan Stone, UMG’s Senior Vice President, Business Development.
Stone added that “harnessing the power of music to foster health and wellness is a natural fit for us. We hope that the Realize VR experience will improve people’s lives, offering a unique new aural experience to promote self-care while singing along with our artists.”
“We believe that music has always been a bridge for self-expression, and this partnership with Realize Music amplifies that connection by providing an innovative experience that blends entertainment with self-care,” said Allan Coye, EVP, Global Head of Recorded Music Business Development, WMG.
“Together, we’re reshaping how fans experience music – turning it into a powerful tool for relaxation and personal expression – while creating unique opportunities for our artists to reach their fans in exciting new ways.”
“Together, we’re reshaping how fans experience music – turning it into a powerful tool for relaxation and personal expression – while creating unique opportunities for our artists to reach their fans in exciting new ways.”
Allan Coye, Warner Music Group
On top of an extensive library featuring music “to suit every musical taste and mood,” Realize Music: Sing’s features will include “voice-reactive environments” in which visuals respond to a user’s singing, “lyric visualization” with lyrics transforming into “capitivating visuals,” and interactive activities such as 3D painting and air drumming.
Users will also be able to create and share playlists.
“Fear of judgment keeps more than 80% of people from ever enjoying one of the oldest human traditions, and that’s a real shame,” Realize Music co-founder Mike Wilson said.
“Singing has perhaps the most well-documented physiological and psychological benefits in the burgeoning new science of music for wellness, and we are here to invite people to a personal, private, focused experience that will consistently produce joyous results.”
“Singing has perhaps the most well-documented physiological and psychological benefits in the burgeoning new science of music for wellness.”
Mike Wilson, Realize Music
Wilson is a prominent gaming producer and publisher, known for such seminal video games as DOOM and Fall Guys.
Joining him as CEO is music and wellness industry expert Mark Roemer, who Realize Music says has spent more than 20 years “at the intersection of gaming, tech, marketing, distribution, wellness, and content creation.”
The Realize Music team also includes veterans of Sony, Meta, Rockstar Games, and the Guitar Hero franchise, among others.
“Singing for our own pleasure is a practice that the vast majority of us in Western cultures have lost, as singing has become performative and for talented professionals only.”
Mark Roemer, Realize Music
“Singing for our own pleasure is a practice that the vast majority of us in Western cultures have lost, as singing has become performative and for talented professionals only,” Roemer said in a statement.
“We are here to change that, inviting the armies of shower singers of the world to enjoy the most exhilarating personal music experience ever imagined.”
Neither UMG nor Warner are new to the wellness music game, with both companies partnering with various companies and investing millions into exploring new wellness-related music applications.
In 2022, UMG partnered with music wellness tech company Music Health on an app called Vera, which is meant to help dementia patients through music.
In 2023, UMG struck a partnership with Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global to create Sollos, a music-centric wellness app. That year, UMG also partnered with generative AI startup Endel to create “AI-powered, artist-driven functional music” for sleep, running, relaxation, and other purposes.
This year, MBW unearthed a patent from Universal for a method to generate binaural beats and add them to existing music. These beats can be used to generate various mental states.
Most recently, earlier this week, UMG announced it had partnered with Cardiff-based Rescape Innovation to explore a new virtual reality treatment for anxiety that incorporates personalized music.
Warner Music has also invested in the wellness space. In 2022, it joined a $14 million funding round for LifeScore, a music tech company focused on sleep, health, and wellness, among other things. LifeScore launched its own music label in 2023.
WMG also partnered with British health tech startup MediMusic in 2023 to explore the potential of music as a therapeutic tool. And its label Spinnin’ Records signed a deal with Endel in 2023 to create 50 AI-generated wellness music albums.Music Business Worldwide
