🧬 Virtuals Are Transforming Music
Plus meet virtual artist 'Polar' and LVMH and Olaplex's new virtual employees
Good afternoon!
Welcome back to The Splice 🧬 by VirtualHumans.org: a weekly newsletter curating the latest news, developments, and insights in the virtual influencer space.
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🧬 Core Strands from This Week
Virtual Influencers Are Transforming the Music Industry with Virtual Concerts and More
🔎 The Synopsis: Persona-based music groups like The Archies or The Gorillaz have existed for decades. But now, in the age of social media and the metaverse, virtual influencers are rising as a new class of artists, revolutionizing the industry with NFTs and more.
🧬 The Splice: Releasing music gives virtual influencers new ways to connect with their audience, whether it’s by asking for feedback on a new song or an interactive virtual concert. Using a virtual persona also allows many musicians the freedom of pseudonymous self-expression without worrying about their privacy.
Who is Virtual Music Artist and Dancer, Polar?
🔎 The Synopsis: Today, we sat down with Polar, a virtual influencer with over 1.6 million followers who love to watch her re-record popular songs like ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish. Check out our interview with her to learn more about her career and why she wears her mysterious face mask.
🧬 The Splice: “I think we are already living in a reality where it doesn’t matter if you are a human or virtual person. The only thing that matters is what you stand for and how engaging your art is.” —Polar
🌟 Brand Campaign Spotlight
LVMH Unveils New Virtual Ambassador ‘Livi’
🧬 The Splice: When LVMH first announced their virtual brand ambassador for the 2022 Innovation Awards, they didn’t reveal much beyond a photo. Now the new virtual employee has a name: Livi. In her first video appearance (linked above), Livi announced the startup finalists for the Innovation Award. She will also co-host the awards ceremony on June 16th from her virtual apartment.
🔭 What We’re Looking at This Week
How virtual influencers could help create a more inclusive fashion industry in the metaverse
🔑 Key Quote: "Virtual influencers present a huge opportunity for fashion brands to improve inclusivity within the industry by giving creative agency to minority groups when creating virtual representations. Increasingly, we will see virtual influencers help to promote inclusivity and celebrate diversity among different groups — doing so in a way that helps fashion brands connect with wider audiences, and develop new story worlds that broaden their reach and represent people from all walks of life.” — Glossy
OLAPLEX Launches Virtual Team Member
🔑 Key Quote: “The AI was created to be a visual representation of the entire Olaplex team, merging images and emotional quality from more than 240 brand advocates and employees. The voice of the AI is a synthesis of around 15 team members that account for differences in accents, gender and tone of voice. The results were overlaid to resemble a real person using visual effects and facial compositing.” — Global Cosmetics Industry Magazine
Miquela Releases First Song in Two Years, “Masterpiece”
🔑 Key Quote: “It took me a few listens of the surprisingly smooth track before fully catching those lines, and realizing references to her non-realness were scattered throughout the song. (‘My frame vibratin’ like you’re touching on my wires,’ she whispers on the song’s opening lines.) We won’t deny that listening to it can certainly feel a bit uncanny, but the acknowledgment of her robot-ness does grant the song some appealing edge.” — NYLON
Best,
VirtualHumans.org
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Insights by Makena Rasmussen, and Christopher Travers.