Oculus and Tidal are partnering to bring livestreamed music performances to virtual reality, the companies announced Wednesday.
The exclusive concerts will be streamed on the Venues app on the Oculus Quest starting later this year. The performances will also be available in regular 2D video and high-quality audio on Tidal.
All of the performances will be available at the same time on Oculus — which is owned by Facebook — and Tidal.
“At a time when livestreamed performances are seen as the new norm, Tidal’s partnership with Oculus provides music lovers an elevated concert experience with more interaction and dimension than past livestreams,” Tidal Chief Operating Officer Lior Tibon said in a statement. “Oculus is revolutionizing the live music experience and matched with Tidal’s HiFi audio quality, members will be able to remember what it feels like to stand in a large crowd at a concert venue.”
The lineup for the exclusive virtual concerts hasn’t been revealed yet. The partnership was announced just after the Facebook Connect event, in which Facebook revealed the new Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.
The Oculus-Tidal tag team could capitalize on a new era of music performances, as the coronavirus pandemic has kept concert venues shuttered to prevent the disease’s spread. Many artists have taken to performing on livestreams or producing online concerts to attract fans.
But a push into VR may make those shows feel even more like a regular concert experience, something music lovers have been missing for months now.
