
A virtual concert, also called V-concert or virtual live, refers to a performance in which the performers are represented by
virtual avatar
In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user or the user's character or persona. Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures, userp ...
s. Virtual concerts can take place in real life, where digital representations of the performers are projected in on stage, or within fully digital
virtual world
A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activitie ...
s. Real life concerts are popular in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, where performances by groups such as
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece e ...
have attracted thousands of fans.
Performers in virtual concerts may represent real individuals, but can also be entirely fictitious characters like
Hatsune Miku
, also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku's pers ...
.
More recently, virtual concerts have taken place in
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
s. Games like ''
Fortnite Battle Royale
''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially r ...
'' and ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before bein ...
'' have been used by artists as venues to reach wider audiences and offer interactive experiences for attendees.
History
Early beginnings
Within the
K-pop
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, g ...
music industry, V-concerts were first introduced by several South Korean record labels such as
SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...
and
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
. In 1998, SM Entertainment attempted to kick start its first
holographic
Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, it ...
debut with
H.O.T. (a now-defunct boy band), but failed to do so.
South Korean revival and expansion
On January 5, 2013, a breakthrough occurred after SM Entertainment held a virtual concert in
Gangnam District
Gangnam District ( ; , ) is one of the 25 local government districts which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Gangnam translates to "South of the (Han) River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of . A ...
with life-sized images of
Girls’ Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece e ...
projected onto the stage, attracting thousands of K-pop fans.
After its first virtual concert featuring
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...
's "
Gangnam Style
"Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
" took off at the
COEX Convention & Exhibition Center
Coex Convention & Exhibition Center (Coex) located in Samseong-dong of Gangnam-gu district, Seoul, is one of South Korea's convention and exhibition centers.
Coex is serviced by Samseong Station on line 2 and Bongeunsa Station on line 9 of the ...
in May 2013, the South Korean record label
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
announced that it plans to establish 20 venues for virtual performances of its K-pop singers by the year 2015 in North America, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.
On July 20, 2013, YG Entertainment launched a permanent virtual concert at the
Everland
Everland () is South Korea's largest theme park. Located at the Everland Resort in Yongin, a city in Gyeonggi-do, it receives 5.85 million visitors annually and was ranked nineteenth in the world for amusement park attendance in 2018. As of 2 ...
theme park in
Yongin
Yongin () is a city in the Seoul Capital Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in the count ...
, South Korea. Under the slogan "''K-Pop Hologram: YG at Everland''", virtual performances include Psy's "
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
" and "
Gangnam Style
"Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
" as well as virtual concerts by
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from t ...
and
2NE1
2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experim ...
.
In video games and virtual worlds

Since the mid-2000s, virtual concerts have also been held in
virtual world
A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activitie ...
s instead of physical locations. The first major band to perform live in a virtual world was
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...
, who performed in ''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'' in 2006. In the same year,
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
appeared in ''
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'' performing his single "
In The Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value'', in January 1981.
Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" w ...
"; the concert is accessible as part of the game.
In January 2019, a virtual music festival called Fire Festival (named as a play on the infamous 2017
Fyre Festival) was held on a dedicated ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before bein ...
'' server. Organized by Canadian producer
Max Schramp
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ( ...
, the event was held in support of LGBT suicide prevention organization
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number where ...
. The following month, on February 2, EDM producer
Marshmello
Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs " Silence", " Wolves", " Friends", "Happier", and "Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in severa ...
held a ten-minute concert on the main map of third-person shooter ''
Fortnite Battle Royale
''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially r ...
''. The concert was viewable to anyone playing the game during that time.
Virtual concerts grew in popularity through 2020 and 2021 due to restrictions set by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
that made it difficult to hold traditional concerts.
More concerts were held in ''Fortnite'' featuring artists including
Travis Scott,
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-p ...
,
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD wit ...
, and
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
as interactive experiences. ''Fortnite'' would continue to host virtual concerts on a smaller and more social-oriented side map called "Party Royale." On April 16, 2020, American singer-songwriter
Soccer Mommy
Sophia Regina Allison (born May 27, 1997), better known by her stage name Soccer Mommy, is an American singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee.
History
Born in Zürich, Switzerland in 1997 to Michelle, an elementary school teacher, and Jo ...
collaborated with ''
Club Penguin Rewritten
''Club Penguin Rewritten'' was a 2017 fangame based on the massively multiplayer online game ''Club Penguin''. It was created by four Indie game, indie developers as an alternative to the original game, which had been shut down by Disney on Marc ...
''
fangame
A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it ...
to host an in-game concert for her album ''
Color Theory
In the visual arts, color theory is the body of practical guidance for color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. Color terminology based on the color wheel and its geometry separates colors into primary color, se ...
''.
Many virtual performances have begun experimenting with
virtual and
augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory Modality (human–computer interaction), modalities, including visual, Hearing, auditory, hap ...
. TheWaveXR, a dedicated platform for virtual reality concerts, launched in 2017. Artists who have performed on the platform include
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music.
Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...
,
The Glitch Mob
The Glitch Mob is an American electronic music trio from Los Angeles, California. It consists of edIT (Edward Ma), Boreta (Justin Boreta) and Ooah (Josh Mayer). Chris Martins of ''LA Weekly'' noted that they "have undoubtedly found the largest a ...
, and
Kill the Noise; the service shut down in 2021. In August 2020, Canadian singer
the Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...
collaborated with social media platform
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
to hold an interactive augmented reality live stream titled "The Weeknd Experience" on various dates, with the first occurring on August 7, 2020.
Production costs
A virtual
K-pop
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, g ...
music video costs over US$180,000 and is about two to three times more expensive than a normal K-pop video.
Criticism
V-concerts have been criticized by K-pop fans because singers do not appear in person and are only electronically projected onto a screen. Some claim that V-concerts could possibly endanger the quality of live music.
[{{cite web, last=Siow, first=Shannon, title=The next big thing in Korea's music industry: Holograms, url=http://asia.cnet.com/the-next-big-thing-in-koreas-music-industry-holograms-62221848.htm?src=twt, website= CNET, access-date=23 July 2013]
See also
*
Metaverse
In science fiction, the "metaverse" is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial usage, ...
*
Virtual band
In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but anima ...
*
Virtual event
Virtual may refer to:
* Virtual (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse
* Virtual channel, a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel (or range of frequencies) on which the signal travels
* Virtual function, a programming ...
References
Virtual avatars
K-pop