Last night, Apple streamed its first-ever music awards. Although this was a short notice before they streamed, the company still pulled in millions of views all across the world for a live performance of the Artist of the Year, Billie Eilish. Although there were other artists that took home some awards, Billie was the only one invited to perform in the Steve Jobs Theater. This is the first time that anything like this has been done inside of the theater inside of Apple’s headquarters.
Billie Eilish is not only loved in the virtual industry for her incredible music, but for her performances inside of virtual reality in the past. Through Oculus Venues, the singer and songwriter has performed for the virtual world for free multiple times. Two different times, we had a chance to perform her greatest hits and latest songs from her albums. These shows have already cemented their place in the hearts of both virtual and common fans.
Although this stream wasn’t available in virtual reality (other than virtual desktop with no surrounding video), we still think there was a wide variety of viewers, some of which from the virtual communities. This makeshift concert was all acoustic. Her brother would be playing the piano or the guitar as Billie would sing her best hits. Eilish also broke out the ukulele, the first time she had played it for an audience in over a year.
The entire show lasted just over 90 minutes, with her speaking to the audience between songs and interacting with the few fans that were there. The audience sold out the Steve Jobs Theater, although that is a feat she could’ve done without any prior promotion. There are only enough seats for 1,000 people, and we didn’t see any people filling the standing room.
The virtual streams that Eilish hosted during her concerts also had plenty of viewers, but the numbers didn’t even flirt with the amount of people that were viewing inside of the Apple Music app last night.
We hope to see Billie again in the virtual worlds once again, and hopefully it is soon in Oculus Venues. For more VR news and community updates, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
