The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
"I'd personally be happy with a bigger fund-raise to ensure app development was more prompt, than for too much time be taken before roll-out"
I think many would agree Mooney. The new app roll out needs to be prompt, this year, and not become bogged down in delays. This isn't easy to pull off, for any company.
That said, while I'm definitely open to the idea of buying more shares, I'm not going to pull the trigger yet when we know that there is likely to be more dilution coming down the line; the admission document is pretty clear on that. I'm guessing that I'll get the opportunity to buy more shares even cheaper than this, when the next fundraise occurs. The risk is that I'm wrong and we'll never see these lows again of course, but that's all part of the game I guess!
Good post Mooney, which I think sums up a lot of the frustration here. Unlike some on this BB, I don't subscribe to the view that if you have even a single criticism of the company's approach, you should sell all of your shares and never post here again. It's perfectly acceptable to say that this is a company with excellent prospects and a big opportunity ahead of it, which could benefit from being clearer and more communicative on its activity, pipeline and strategy.
Pretending to be pleased that the share price is still in a ditch after a major acquisition isn't fooling anyone.
Bucklerfern, I have to say I'm on the side of the board's bulls on this one. If you've never tried VR and can't see the case for it and don't like live concerts/crowds, it's difficult to see how you're ever going to see the appeal in this company. Maybe just move on to the next one.
Thanks Sjd, very community spirited of you. I’ll email them myself. That way I can be sure it’ll make sense.
Curo, I've seen nothing whatsoever to suggest that you're a 'good techie'. All I see from you is whining about 'trolls' and the fact that others may have a differing opinion to you. Might be time to up your game a little, as the recent longer posts from RestLess and rikkitikki are thoughtful, balanced and actually interesting to read. This is in stark contrast to your 'contributions' to this board thus far.
Yes, I think that frustration is what I'm driving at as well. The Head of Technology for John Lewis is in the FT today saying that their sales of Oculus VR headsets are up 280% YOY. The VR market is exploding right now, for all to see. We're ideally placed to establish ourselves right at the very forefront of the market and it just feels as though, for all the good stuff (the Liam Gallagher show in particular) opportunities are being missed along the way.
It is difficult yes, but not impossible. Movies are being filmed again. TV is being made again. Sports leagues are back up and running, both in the UK and the U.S. Yes, each situation is different and requires different degrees of 'bubbles' and the like, but I find it hard to believe that it would be impossible to 'bubble' the cast of a major Broadway musical, currently without any work or income, in order to rehearse and film a performance of a show for global release, on a ready made VR platform. Or just find and start with a famous play with a small cast - 'Waiting for Godot' has 5 roles FFS. Film that!
I have, yes. I think it's probably their biggest opportunity if I'm honest and one of the main reasons I invested. Whilst I'm critical of their current VR app, there's no doubt that they have formed some great partnerships over the last couple of years. They're working with all the right people in their respective industries. We just need to hope that this is year when it turns in to some tangible, revenue-generating content.
New York seems likely to go in to another lockdown once Biden is inaugurated, I'd have thought. This should be the time when VR comes in to its own (when everyone is forced to stay indoors and seek alternative forms of entertainment). It's why I'm so eager to see Melody strike while the iron is hot on this stuff. They need to be much faster to market IMO.
It's 'you're' and good idea Batsy, you wouldn't want any difficult or coherent opinions accidentally getting through eh?
Font - VR theatre is a really good point and it's a market which hasn't even slightly been opened up yet. I'd love to see evidence of Melody making real strides in this and I hope we start to see some of that filtering through this year. There is a huge audience which has no interest at all in live concerts, but would pay handsomely to watch full-scale theatre productions at home. Disney have started the ball rolling with Hamilton on Disney+, but we haven't seen it successfully attempted in VR yet.
lordfont - I don't disagree at all on the quality when viewing on a laptop or tablet etc. It just doesn't yet quite translate to the VR environment, which is meant to be the company's specialism. Again, the building blocks are all there; it just needs tweaking and incremental improvment. You'll get far more 'bums on seats' globally if the user experience is top notch from the start.
Rumfuddle - I felt the same about the GO, but I will say that the Quest 2 is an exponential leap forward in terms of its quality. For starters they've fixed the horrendous battery life/overheating issues that plagued the GO. It's such a leap forward that one can only imagine where the technology will be in another 3 - 5 years. It's at that tipping point now where it's only going to get better and we should see more and more people beginning to get on board. I'd like to see Melody really focus on nailing the VR experience, because that's the one place where they theoretically have a head start and really could take on the big names.
One of us is able to actually talk about the app, its functionality and how it works in practice. The other one of us is you.
Now pipe down - grown ups are talking.
Of course you want 360 in games, for complete immersion in a virtual world, but 180 degrees is completely sufficient for most of the things NextVR (or Melody) specialise in. Rendering a 360 video for a concert or sporting event is pointless, as you're unlikely to want to turn around and stare at the crowd, while all the action takes place behind you. It isn't worth the demands it puts on the hardware/your internet connection. NextVR understood this and executed it really well in their sports content. If Melody is going to insist on 360 as the only option, then you should at least be able to download your purchased gigs to your device/headset, to ensure that you can watch without buffering. Melody's current advice/solution of 'just get broadband that can support 360 degree 4k video streaming' isn't good enough and turns the app's usability in to a postcode lottery, in the UK at least.
I'm not trying to put a dampener on their efforts, as there is definitely work going in to improving the app. However it's highly frustrating when I open it on my phone and see how much effort has gone in to the interface and presentation etc. Then I open it in VR and it's massively inferior by comparison. It's supposed to be a VR company! I take your point about the Netflix/Amazon apps and it's valid, but in terms of interface and user experience, they're in a completely different league to Melody's VR offering. They're frustratingly close to having a really great product, but it's just not quite there yet.
I completely agree that VR has a huge runway and we're only just starting to see its potential. I had an Oculus Go and just recently bought the Oculus Quest 2. The quality of video is getting better by the day and the technology is improving in leaps and bounds with each new software or headset release; it's very reminiscent of the early days of internet audio/video streaming. The Quest 2 is a game changer - affordable, untethered and very versatile.
That said, it's actually one of my biggest concerns about this company (yes I'm invested, before the usual suspects pipe up). The NextVR app was outstanding and it's perhaps no surprise they were snapped up by Apple. The likes of YouTube, Amazon and Netflix now all have really top drawer VR apps and in comparison, Melody just feels a bit... shoddy. They have a long way to go until the app, its content and the video quality is able to compete with the big boys and I don't know where that investment is going to come from at present. Growing Napster as a priority and developing VR in the background is probably their best bet, but there's a danger of them missing the boat altogether.
I intend to remain invested, as the potential is certainly there and I'm in at a good price. However each time I open the MelodyVR app on the Quest 2, I'm reminded of the mountain they still have to climb.
Well well, here we go! Be really interesting to see where we end up today.
"There is a lot of juvenile rubbish on BBs about MMs misreporting the direction of trades to fool punters."
Nice explanation John. I see that 'buys showing as sells. MMs playing games' rubbish on almost every BB and we need more people pointing out what nonsense it is!
All fairly likely reasons. Most likely of all is:
8 - Lost a packet on this by completely mistiming his buys & sells and is still seething about it
Would also explain all the projection yesterday about how much money he's apparently made this year.
It'd certainly be interesting to get an idea of viewer numbers from the Liam Gallagher gig. It'd be even more interesting to see how much revenue it actually brought in.
On a separate note it seems that our old pal Mulgrew has vanished. Told you it wouldn't take long. Farewell Mulgrew, we barely knew ye.
Yeah, it's just all the troll's posts getting wiped out. He'll be on the naughty step for a bit.
Good questions Scott. Ignore BA, who seems to have appointed himself as the policeman of this board. Needless to say he actually has no such authority.
As ever, it's interesting to compare the puff & bluster of the bulletin board dreamers with the actual reality of the price and its movement upon relist. As is generally the case, the eternal optimists have missed the mark by a country mile. We're back on to 'jam tomorrow' stuff now I see. It's almost as though they don't really understand what they're on about...