Digital music solutions provider 7digital Group has launched an online concert hub for classical music.
Leading classical artist management agency HarrisonParrott chose its eMusic Live platform to raise the curtain on Virtual Circle.
7digital recently partnered with New York-based digital music firm eMusic to launch the eMusicLive platform, allowing the live music industry to stage virtual concerts.
This is the first such partnership since the formation of the joint venture with eMusic.
Virtual Circle is a full-service content hub for artists to host livestreams and monetise digital engagement at a time when the classical music economy has been affected the most by shuttered concert halls and logistical difficulties which will continue to affect live performance in the post-pandemic world.
Virtual Circle is part of HarrisonParrott’s long term digital strategy to ‘make beautiful music experiences more accessible while also giving audiences multiple ways to support the artists’.
It will feature performances from their roster of 300 international artists, touring clients, orchestras, chamber orchestras, symphonies and dance groups, alongside other partner organisations.
HarrisonParrott artists will be able to utilise commercial features such as ticketing and ticket bundles featuring music or merchandise, as well as up-sells to high-resolution master recordings or VIP experiences such as artist Q&A sessions.
Virtual Circle will also provide new and different engagement opportunities with fans, including workshops/masterclasses, interviews, album launches and listening parties.
Paul Langworthy, CEO of 7digital, said: “With tours and residencies effectively stopped, supporting artist monetisation is imperative. 7digital’s platform along with eMusic Live will do just that.
“The pairing of HarrisonParrott’s artists and the eMusic Live platform will ensure that the audience receives immersive, intimate, one-of-a-kind performances, and give the HarrisonParrott artists the tools to build real, sustainable relationships with their fans and a new wider audience, with the security of a reliable income.
“When we announced the launch of eMusic Live, we identified artist monetisation as a key growth market and a strategic priority for 7digital. Collaborations such as Virtual Circle demonstrate the strength of demand for the eMusic Live offering and the opportunity for it to become a significant revenue source for 7digital.”
Jasper Parrott, Chairman of HarrisonParrott, said: “Virtual Circle is a platform that will push open boundaries currently impeding creativity and imagination in ways which will enhance the enjoyment of stunning performances and build sustainable pathways for the support of classical music and the arts.
“After reviewing the solutions in the market, eMusic Live was the standout platform for Virtual Circle because it allows our artists and partners to grow their public and their business in many exciting new directions.
“Virtual Circle will bring innovative, exciting quality content to fans around the world, and let our artists benefit from commercialisation features like ticketing, VIP experiences and music purchases.
“This is the path forward critical to sustaining the vibrancy of the classical and arts community.”
To launch the platform, Virtual Circle will host several exciting performances streamed for classical music fans worldwide, starting on 8th December 2020 with a performance of Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No.1 by the Oslo Philharmonic on the 155th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Klaus Makela will conduct the dance-inspired concert.
There will also be a follow-on performance on 17 December 2020 by French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, in a programme with works by Beethoven, Messiaen, and Stockhausen, with a world premiere by Kurtág, and several performances in January 2021 by leading ensembles MAGIC Manchester Camerata and Echo Collective.
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