Ryan Mee, CEO of Fulcrum Metals, reviews FY23 and progress on the Gold Tailings Hub in Canada. Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Thanks for sharing RestLess, all exciting stuff.
The first live gig I think will be an 'artist' which would rule out New Order. They would be great but I don't think they will be at the red hot core of our Melody target audience.
Do any of the OneDirection'ers have any gigs coming up? I think it will be an artist who is already on the platform. Ed Sheeran would be a real coupe though, and he does keep chirping on about ticket tout market. Make a virtual stand Ed, and send this into Orbit!
Thanks for that restless. Its good to be reminded of the potential here 1 or 2 years ahead. Its going to be massive. in the present market unrest sp might be stuck at low levels for a while. Long term holders will benefit in a big way when the technology improves and becomes widely adopted. I think many investors are going more defensive at the moment but when sentiment and the technology improves this is going to give potentially life changing profits for the patient long term holders.
Great summary Restless... building nicely ... bring it on...
The article can be found here - http://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/virtual-insanity-how-vr-is-transforming-the-music-business/073917 but you have to subscribe to get access.
I wonder if mentions of Ed Sheeran, Abba and hypothetical examples or if the author of the piece has some insight as to to who Melody are working with behind the scenes.
Ed Sheeran is touring but if we're to believe the show will be this year (as the article states), there would only be a couple of weeks to promote the live stream as his latest gig this year is November 9th. He does fit the bill of 'globally renowned artist' though.
If the first show is this year, surely Melody will launch is more territories beforehand in order to take advantage of the big splash this 'globally renowned artist' should make. Right now, as far as I know it's only available in the UK, the US, France, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Austria and Belgium.
As a final point, I have discovered some rather exciting news buried in FAQ section of Melody's website:
'What if I have a different kind of VR headset?
MelodyVR will be launching on all major VR platforms over the course of 2018. Register your email address at the bottom of the page to find out when the app will be available on your headset, or follow us on Twitter or our blog for updates.'
In summary then, we now have about 50 working days in 2018. If the dates that have been put forward are going to be delivered on, we can expect 3 RNS updates (or one combined update) within the next month at the very latest.
By Jan 1st 2019, Melody will have streamed its first live show, be available on all platforms as well as potentially being available in new territories. Very exciting times ahead.
“We’ve been experimenting with journeys around things like ‘mood’, certain types of music that take you to quiet and peaceful places. The artist might be anything from Kygo on the top of the W Barcelona hotel with the sea and the skyline behind you, to Sigrid at Brighton Pavilion with blue sky above.”
As the market has matured, the VR price point has lowered – an Oculus Go headset currently retails at around £199 – and analyst firm IDC tips the market to swell from its current 8.1m units to 39,2m by 2022.
“We’ve certainly seen big jumps in technology and accessibility over the last 12 to 24 months,” says Kammins. “Unfortunately, consumer adoption and actually owning the hardware has not been happening as quickly as anyone in the space would have liked. But I think as the price of entry goes down, and the capabilities go up, immersive experiences will be commonplace for the average consumer in the not too distant future.”
“Where the industry’s at now, it’s just about education and adoption,” concludes Hancock. “We’ve seen the curve starting to kick in – the decrease in prices and more headsets for the market – and for us it’s now just about growth.
“Everyone loves the platform, and the opportunity of what we bring to artists, fans, labels, publishers, venues and promoters is obvious for all to see.”
He smiles: “We’re fortunate enough to be privy to what’s coming maybe 18 months down the line and it’s pretty mind-blowing. Without going into too much detail, it’s lighter, more accessible, cheaper and better quality, and as the industry progresses it’s only a matter of time before it’s down to a pair of glasses.”
that four main factors are most likely to prevent a fan from attending a show: geographical restrictions, being underage, ticket availability and affordability. “Those key four drivers remain as prominent today as they did when we founded the business, and promoters, venues and everyone across that chain can see that,” says Hancock.
“One of our main investors was quite instrumental in the BSkyB/Premier League deal in 1992 and there was a worry then that people wouldn’t come to matches because they were being screened live on TV. They then had something like a 26-year run of physical attendance, merchandise sales and season ticket sales, all improving every year. The reason there are half a billion Premier League fans in Asia is because it was televised.”
The firm recently inked a series of venue deals with The O2 and Alexandra Palace in London and Birmingham’s NEC Group to relive gigs by the likes of Kasabian, Imagine Dragons, The Chainsmokers and The Script.
“There’s a temptation to go, ‘We’re not going to spend hours every day in VR’ and of course we’re not,” notes Lambert. “It’s somewhere on the spectrum between watching videos on YouTube to the relationship you have with Netflix, or going to gigs or the cinema. It’s a special kind of experience that gives you something you can’t get any other way.”
Later this year, MelodyVR will pilot live streaming real-time concerts, offering virtual tickets to sold-out shows. “When I was at Ibiza Rocks, we would have Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding coming through and, as you can imagine, the 3,000 tickets sold out pretty quickly,” recalls Hancock. “The reason we wanted to be able to produce real-time live was that ability of removing capacities to venues. So if a million people wanted to watch show at The O2 featuring their favourite artist, they could do.”
Kammins agrees: “It’s a way of getting more fans into the ‘venue’ and allowing them access to vantage points that would otherwise be literally impossible – standing next to Bruno Mars or Ed Sheeran on stage; being with Bruno in the Green Room right before goes on; being with Wiz Khalifa when he’s talking to his band...
“Beyond the intimate moments there are other reasons that fans may want to engage – shows outside of their home area, or an iconic concert from the past. Imagine a recreation of a VR Woodstock, it could be pretty amazing.”
Huge festivals such as Glastonbury could also be ripe for VR opportunities. “That idea of, ‘I want to watch this person now and then jump over to another stage’ becomes a reality all of a sudden,” says Hancock.
A further innovation concerns the concept of ‘journeys’ – the VR equivalent of playlists, says Lambert. “An awful lot of the motivation for people wanting to spend time with VR is a sense of escapism,” she suggests. “It’s not very often that you are literally not doing anything else – even if you’re watching Netflix you’re probably looking at your phone – so escapism is a big part of it.
.could…’ way are made possible in VR because we can create that sense of transporting you anywhere.”
Opening up a new revenue stream, Hancock says the technology has received widespread support from the industry, with deals agreed with all three majors and the majority of publishers.
“They’ve seen many a technological revolution over the last decade and I think the companies that had gone ahead of us in different formats changed some mindsets so, at face value, we’ve had very little resistance,” he explains. “It’s been more about educating what the possibilities are and allowing people at labels to work out how that resonates with a specific artist or campaign.”
Alex Kammins, Warner Music VP, global digital business development, notes that the label has been “bullish” about VR for quite some time. “We have a very strong network of VR partners in all areas of the value chain,” he says. “We look at VR as a potential way that fans can engage with their favourite artists in a much more immersive, intimate way than any person could access in the real world.”
He continues: “We’ve worked closely with Google’s VR team, which is called Daydream, and Facebook’s VR team, Oculus, and we have a broad network of other players in the space that we have talked about experimenting with. Those range from live capture all the way to more video game-like experiences.”
Hancock, who in a former life was commercial manager for the Ibiza Rocks brand, stresses: “We’re a music company powered by technology and we’re all music people, so a lot of it stemmed from existing relationships. It’s a cohesive process; it’s not a case of, ‘The label said this and we’re not talking to the artist,’ it’s very much a clearly defined path with everyone involved.
“The selection and breadth of artists that we’ve worked with really helps people that might not be sure about the tech, where it’s going to go or whether it’s right for their artist,” adds Lambert. “To see everything from the London Symphony Orchestra, to Katherine Jenkins, to Post Malone, to a big DJ shows that, whereas it could have been the case that the only people experimenting with music in VR were the Björks of this world and other deeply creative people. People are starting to understand that there is a real mass market proposition and with it a sense of demand about what’s possible.”
And Hancock wishes to make one thing abundantly clear – VR is here to supplement, not replace, traditional concerts. “Promoters see it as a positive,” he insists. “It will never cannibalise live, if you can get there, you always will.”
The world’s biggest concert promoter, Live Nation, certainly appears convinced by its potential. The company partnered with US video service Hulu for On Stage, a series of mini films mixing documentary and performance, which has featured acts such as Lil’ Wayne and Major Lazer. It also teamed with Citi and NextVR to broadcast dozens of shows in VR.
Melody VR exists on the principle
Have you heard? ABBA are returning to the stage. Well, kind of…
Last year, Benny Andersson announced the quartet will appear alongside a live band – in digital form. The project is the biggest virtual reality hook-up yet in a sector that, to the uninitiated, can seem more mouth than trousers.
Steven Hancock, co-founder and COO of Melody VR, the only licensed VR music platform in the world, will deliver a case study at Wednesday’s (September 26) inaugural Music Week Tech Summit Together With O2, examining if VR is about to transform the way people experience music.
Hancock tells Music Week that momentum is very much on the upswing. “When you’ve got people like Mark Zuckerberg standing on stage at [Facebook keynote] F8, saying he’s going to personally pledge to get a billion people into VR in the coming years, it’s powerful,” says Hancock. “The turning point was the 2014 acquisition of [tech company] Oculus VR by Facebook for $2 billion (£1.5bn). That put a line in the sand.”
Based in London’s King’s Cross, Melody VR unveiled its concerts app in May, which allows fans to watch immersive performances of sold-out shows, initially via Oculus Go and Samsung GearVR headsets. Concerts by The Who, Rag’N’Bone Man, Niall Horan and Post Malone are among those currently available, with fresh performances rolled out weekly.
Offering multiple vantage points known as “Jump Spots”, the technology gives fans complete control over what they see and where they stand during a performance – on the front row, deep in the crowd or even up-close with the artist on stage.
Hancock, who founded Melody VR with Anthony Matchett in 2015, cites accessibility as a key selling point. “It allows the fan and artist to get a level of engagement that’s just never been available before,” he tells Music Week. “Putting you on stage, in the dressing room, in a recording studio or on a jet plane with your favourite artist in full VR is absolutely mind-blowing and fans go crazy for it.
“In terms of what it means for the industry, again, it’s accessibility, growth, new audiences and the ability to monetise content in a new format, which is certainly exciting to all of the rights holders within the space.”
“It’s been a long time since artists have had a new creative platform to be able to play with,” notes former Spotify senior marketing director – international and current Melody VR chief marketing officer Nikki Lambert. “Adding that depth, dimension and the feeling you’re really there that comes with VR is actually quite unique.
“When a 2D piece of content is created, it has to be produced by virtue of what it is, so somebody’s deciding what you see and when you see it. With VR, the audience decides what they see and when they see it. Some of the interactive worlds and experiences we create just wouldn’t be possible any other way – we can put you on the moon performing your next video! All of these things that seemed abstract in a, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if I co