British singer-songwriter Myles Smith will become the latest artist to host an exclusive virtual event in Epic Games‘ hit video game Fortnite.
News of the virtual concert was announced at Sony Music’s Immersive Tech Day on Tuesday (October 22), where the company highlighted its activity in the immersive entertainment and gaming spaces via its Sony Immersive Music Studios (Sony IMS) division.
The Myles Smith virtual concert was developed in partnership with Sony Music and RCA Label Group UK and was produced by Sony’s IMS unit.
Previous Sony Music-related music activations in the immersive space over the last few years have included Travis Scott on Fortnite and Lil Nas X on Roblox among others.
Sony Corporation of America unveiled its Los Angeles-based Sony Immersive Music Studios unit in January 2021. The subsidiary focuses on “developing immersive music experiences through the power of creativity and technology.”
MBW broke the news in 2020 that Sony Music was building a team ‘dedicated to reimagining music through immersive media’ – using Fortnite maker Epic Games‘ Unreal Engine.
Sony says that its IMS division built the “fully realized” virtual world and “an advanced avatar” for Myles Smith leveraging its expertise in using Epic Games’ Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), the game creation toolset and Fortnite publishing solution, and its MetaHuman for UEFN framework.
Additionally, Myles Smith’s performance was developed using Sony RX0II cameras in combination with motion capture technology from UK-based specialist Move AI, which enables 3D animation creation to happen anywhere without the need for special facilities, suits or markers.
Sony Music demonstrated this technology at its Immersive Tech Day in London on Tuesday, which featured presentations from Brad Spahr (Senior Vice President & General Manager of Sony Immersive Music Studios), Dennis Kooker (President Global Digital Business and US Sales Sony Music Entertainment) and other senior Sony Music executives.
Myles Smith’s virtual event, produced by Sony IMS, premieres on October 25 at 10 AM PT and will feature an avatar of the artist performing three tracks within the world of the game – including his hit Stargazing – on a special Fortnite island created for the virtual event.
Smith’s other hit, Wait For You, and his latest release, Whisper, will also be performed during the virtual event, which, according to Sony Music, will see Fortnite users “go on an interactive adventure” through a variety of immersive environments”, which have been “designed directly in relation to the songs”.
Myles Smith has amassed over 1 billion streams on his tracks in 2024. Stargazing has spent the most weeks in the UK’s Top 10 single chart of any UK act in 2024 (12 weeks) and is the market’s best-selling 2024 single release by an English artist this year.
Myles smith currently has two tracks in the UK Top 100 singles charts and hit No.1on airplay with Stargazing in the UK, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.
“This project has been amazing to be part of. To be able to connect with fans and people, who may never have heard my music before, in a new way, feels really exciting.”
Myles Smith
Myles Smith said: “This project has been amazing to be part of. To be able to connect with fans and people, who may never have heard my music before, in a new way, feels really exciting.
“In a generation where it can be hard to break through and to find your community, to have the ability to have a direct interface with them is awesome.”
“Working with an artist like Myles creates an exciting opportunity for us to look beyond traditional marketing practices and develop collaborations that align with his creativity and authentic storytelling.”
Stacey Tang, RCA UK
Said Stacey Tang, Co-President, RCA UK, added: “Working with an artist like Myles creates an exciting opportunity for us to look beyond traditional marketing practices and develop collaborations that align with his creativity and authentic storytelling.
“This project underlines our continued commitment to empowering our artists to lean into cutting-edge immersive experiences to reach and engage with fans.”
The first project from Sony Immersive Music Studios division back in early 2021 was a virtual performance from Epic Records-signed singer-songwriter Madison Beer to showcase songs from her debut album, Life Support.
At the CES conference in Las Vegas in January 2024, Sony Music showcased three applications of what it described as its “next-generation immersive music experiences” led by the Sony Immersive Music Studios team.
In 2021, Sony Group Corporation – parent company of Sony Music Group – spent USD $200 million to acquire a 0.7% stake in the Fortnite maker Epic Games.
That investment followed a heftier stake acquisition in 2020, when Sony spent $250 million to acquire equity in Epic worth around 1.5% of its business.
On April 11 2022, Epic Games confirmed that Sony had agreed to spend $1 billion to acquire an additional stake in its company.Music Business Worldwide