Virtual reality meets music: MelodyVR enters licensing agreement with ARESA

EVR Holdings plc (EVRH), the creator of virtual reality music content, has announced that its subsidiary MelodyVR has entered into a music licensing agreement with ARESA.

ARESA, the Anglo-American Rights European Service Agency, represents the copyrighted catalogues of companies such as Virgin, Bug and BMG, comprising of thousands of artists’ works from the likes of Adele, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Blondie, Duffy and many more.

The CEO of EVR Holdings, Anthony Matchett, said: “We’re pleased to announce an agreement with ARESA, which represent BMG Rights Management in Europe. [They’re] one of the world’s most prominent music rights holders and represents a vast repertoire of works from some of the industry’s most recognisable names.

“Over the last three years, MelodyVR has worked with 539 well-known artists to create the world’s largest library of original VR content. Today’s agreement with ARESA further enhances our opportunities for the distribution and monetisation of our vast library of content.”

The agreements of music publishers, collection societies and performance rights organisations are all important for exploiting underlying musical works, which are featured throughout MelodyVR’s library of original VR music content.

This several-year agreement enhances the company’s capabilities with respect to such exploitation of its original content throughout numerous worldwide territories, which includes: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom to name a few.

There is a lot of competition in such an industry, with technology companies such as Facebook, Google, Samsung, Sony and Microsoft all competing to market the best VR hardware. In the run-up to Christmas 2017, EVR Holdings expects to see an increase in the number of virtual reality sets bought.

With popular partners already on the company’s side – including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment – and the launch of MelodyVR, EVR Holdings plans to create more VR experiences for its consumers with dominant, “chart-topping” musical artists.