“So U2 has a new music video. It’s being presented by Apple Music. Neither of these things count as ‘news’ — hell, Bono is the silhouette that signaled ‘Artists’ in iTunes for years,” Angela Watercutter reports for Wired. “There is one reason, though, why you should take note of the ‘Song for Someone’ clip: It’s virtual reality.”
“Created by Chris Milk and his VR company Vrse, the experience—which made a soft debut on an Apple-branded bus outside the band’s London show at O2 Arena this weekend and is now available on the Vrse app — ties together images of the band playing the song in an empty Toronto venue with fans singing the Songs of Innocence track all over the world,” Watercutter reports. “More importantly, it also shows that Apple, one of the largest technology companies in the world and one very focused on creatives, is finally showing public-facing interest in virtual reality.”
“‘It was an amazing experience working with the people at Apple on this project,’ says Milk. ‘[Apple Music head] Jimmy Iovine is, of course, interested in music and innovation and has been a huge supporter of this project from the beginning —and was instrumental in making it come to fruition,'” Watercutter reports. “When asked what the company’s involvement means for its future plans, however, the streaming service’s head of content, Larry Jackson, would only give a ‘no comment.’ Jackson, though, did allow that Apple’s support for the piece ‘signals and symbolizes something,’ adding that Apple Music is already working on a similar partnership with Vrse to make a ‘post-apocalyptic action film’ in VR for the band Muse.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Check out the Vrse app via the App Store here.