Ristband returns to SXSW as official Music Metaverse event partner

In Virtual Reality News

March 6, 2023 – Ristband, a metaverse platform that helps creatives to build their careers and earn an income for their work, has recently announced its return to South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and festivals for the second year in a row as the event’s official ‘Music Metaverse’ world.

The Ristband experience will run from March 12-18 alongside the XR and Music festival experiences at SXSW and will create an access point that brings music and gaming culture together in a shared social platform, extending the reach of the festival to audiences around the world.

Highlights of the event will include unreleased tracks from indie electronic band Miro Shot that will only be available within Ristband’s metaverse platform, plus exclusive collectible NFTs and content for remote attendees.

In addition to the Ristband metaverse aspect of the event and in collaboration with UK immersive agency Mirocolabs, an official in-person music event will take place at The Venue ATX in Austin, Texas. The event will feature collaborations from digital creatives as well as a live virtual reality (VR) concert from immersive startup Mirocolabs, performed by Miro Shot.

“With SXSW’s international reputation as a festival supporting emerging culture and technology under one roof, we are excited to have the opportunity to extend the festival in the metaverse with the true pioneers of this new digital era: the artists who are the driving force of this movement,” said Anne McKinnon, CEO of Ristband.

Miro Shot performed a live mixed reality concert at SXSW in 2022 (shown above). This year the live VR show will feature new music, an entirely reimagined VR experience, and unique access to the latest VR technology. To make this happen, Miro Shot has teamed up with HTC VIVE to utilize its new all-in-one VIVE XR Elite headset, which was announced earlier this year at CES.

“Live music and physical events are at the heart of music culture, while at the same time, exciting new tools that can extend our concert into VR and a gaming platform like Ristband have had an incredibly powerful effect on the reach of our band,” said Roman Rappak, frontman of Miro Shot.

“HTC VIVE is thrilled to be part of this collaboration, bringing Mirocolabs’ immersive concert experience to SXSW on our newest and most advanced headset yet, VIVE XR Elite. We can’t wait to see the look on people’s faces when they dive into a virtual concert, with Miro Shot performing,” added Jeff Pohlman, Executive Vice President of Global Communications/PR at HTC VIVE.

Ristband stated that it expects this year’s Music Metaverse to act as a proof point for the entire live events industry by expanding SXSW to a global audience, and will serve to demonstrate how the metaverse will impact the live music industry. Additionally, the event will showcase how contemporary artists are already using augmented and virtual reality technology to share their music with fans around the world, and will highlight how all events can potentially be transformed into hybrid (live and digital) experiences through the use of metaverse technologies.

To attend the in-person event, attendees must have a SXSW festival pass. Anyone 21+ can attend the digital twin of the event through the Ristband platform. For more information on Ristband and its metaverse experiences for the music industry, please visit the company’s website.

Image / video credit: Ristband / YouTube