For the first time, a new subscription platform for music artists is bringing together musicians and their audiences in a whole new virtual reality world – PRYNTD.

Similar to how OnlyFans operates its own online video content, this immersive music streaming service basically matches the creative needs of content creators and the desires of their fans in virtual reality.

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Musicians and their audiences can now all attend and enjoy digital LIVE music shows, all directly within PRYNTD’s virtual world and from within the comfort of their private space.

“The future is already PRYNTD”, according to its founder Berne Omolafe, who says monetising VR for content creators “who have so far never been able to justify viability and feasibility of creating content for the medium” is the key to driving innovation forward.

He further adds that PRYNTD is creating “sufficient content library for audiences to embrace the vertical and the space to reach its utmost potential.”


How is it “The future is already PRYNTD”

It means that the future is us interacting with what is already around us. What has already been produced, uploaded, recorded – no need to create something specifically for immersive as what we have with us now can be retrofitted.

The future can be retrofitted, even aspects that are not designed to be immersive.

We dream of a world of 3d prints, cybernetics, connected universe of internet of things, 5G and a world mid/post covid.

We see PRYNTD fitting in perfectly here, we see PRYNTD bridging that world, and we see PRYNTD technology future proofing shopping, entertainment and education.

The inspiration behind the music ‘virtual reality’ world

Some members of my team worked on a social initiative backed by EY in 2019, using music to help people create opportunities especially those from socially and financially disadvantaged background.

It gave us deep insight of the role music plays to artists and fans alike.

PRYNTD - virtual music - I Am New Generation Magazine
Music artist – Beyoncé – in augmented and virtual reality – Image Copyright – PRYNTD.

We wanted to create more unique and interesting ways for these artists to engage with their fans and expand their viewership. This led to PRYNTD.

It was a Godsend when lockdown started as it gave artists a wonderful way to live-stream their shows, gigs and concerts that they would have otherwise not been able to perform.

That along with their on-demand videos converted from 2d into immersive (augmented and virtual reality) so they only have to shoot one music video and cut the cost of having to record2 types of videos: regular mp4 and immersive format.

The immersive format also does not have enough of an audience count to justify investing in recording exclusively in that format.

Why the virtual reality field

Immersive has long been predicted to be next frontier, with Tim Cook in 2016 going as far as saying it would become as normal as eating 3 meals a day.

We have the solution for some of its biggest obstacles. We believe we can help get immersive experiences to the point of ubiquity.

More about PRYNTD

We launched in Beta in June 2020, with a team of industry experts and a strong technical team.

Pryntd is an augmented and virtual reality streaming platform, the first to combine on-demand and LIVE streaming by converting 2d content to immersive for content creators to allow their audiences to access on their smartphones, tablets, computers, AR/VR devices.

PRYNTD Team - virtual music - I Am New Generation Magazine - images
(Clockwise) Pryntd team – Jeffrey Hunter (Head of Events), Rennel Gayle (Head of Music), Opeyemi Popoola (Director of Operations), Natasha Papandreou (Head of User Engagement), Natasha Golding (Creative Director), and Berne Omolafe (Founder + Head of Innovation). Image Copyright – PRYNTD.

How does it work

Our unique AI algorithm converts 2d videos and live streams into augmented and virtual reality for audiences to access on their smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs, AR/VR Headsets.

Content creators have the option to create their profile and upload their content, converted in real time. We also provide a concierge service through a messenger service where the content creator can send us their music.

Audiences have options of ad supported free content, ad free subscription to each artist content and live-streams and one-off tickets and merchandise sales.

Why the comparison to OnlyFans

OnlyFans along with Patreon solve a very crucial problem with content creators. That is monetization.

Every content creator believes they can earn a lot more, provided they have the platform and the ability to charge what they think is fair.

OnlyFans has been far more successful at doing that; albeit the reputation of adult content due to their one solution for all approach. Also, Onlyfans is a British company based in London. This is a way to put Britain first.

So, what is PRYNTD then trying to solve

Many industry experts believe that the next frontier of shopping and entertainment is immersive, however the biggest problem to this materializing over the last decade has been ability for content creators to create content.

Severely impaired by lack of understanding of the technology in its complexity and how expensive it has been to make content creation feasible and viable.

For audiences it has been the scarcity of immersive content and the inability to access available content on their current devices.

PRYNTD - virtual music - I Am New Generation Magazine
The future is immersive. Now people have interesting ways to engage not only with content, but with their favourite artists and friends. Image Copyright – PRYNTD.

So far, VR experiences have expected users to have a VR headset which have so far been clunky and expensive. Haptic support and integration have mostly overlooked the entertainment industry due to how expensive it is to implement.

With the average haptic suits costing a minimum of £5000, these are products targeted at training resources and simulations.

In a time of lockdown, where artists cannot tour, perform gigs – which makes a substantial share of their revenues – they need a way to engage with their fans, in meaningful ways.

It also gives us a way to produce merchandise more cost effectively as we have the experience in this field and therefore can access a wider market.

How does PRYNTD provide for the consumers and give the creators a fair opportunity to an income actually reflecting their content’s quality

We strongly believe that putting the revenue model in the hands of the content creators, we believe that they can measure and gage their audiences in order to maximize their revenue and value.

We believe that by providing the platform, we can create a mutually beneficial opportunity for growth and expansion that is not at the expense of our users.

What are the subscription prices

We let content creators set their prices, which can start from £3.99 a month. Ad supported content is free, with ad revenue shared with artist. Artists can also run their own ads with revenue split from 0-30%.

We also see the ability to expand this platform from music to other avenues such as movies, shopping, influencers and other types of content creators, event-based activities that involve live-streaming, functionalities and activities that may benefit from haptic feedback and so on and so forth.

What share of profit goes to PRYNTD

30% of ad, subscriptions, merchandise and ticketing revenue. Artists can also feature their brand endorsements and features for free.

How is PRYNTD matching the demand created by Coronavirus for more ‘at home entertainment’

Now people have interesting ways to engage not only with content, but with their favourite artists and friends.

We feed into the need for artists to perform for their fans through immersive live-streams and with their catalogue of music videos in augmented and virtual reality.

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Will there be a change post-covid

We think there will be a hybrid of live events and live streams. We think people are used to their shows being global so wherever the fans can’t be physically, they will most likely want to be there virtually.

We are enhancing this with haptic feedback support in the form of electro-tactile and vibro-tactile actuators in hydrophobic garments and gloves.

We don’t see the need for immersive experiences going away, we see it increasing with time and adoption. We also see this as an inclusive platform for all audiences.

For example, people that may be at a disadvantage due to a physical or mental inability e.g., autism and not liking crowds but still wanting to experience the content from a creator – this can be facilitated through our support, e.g., haptics.

There are discussions about VR being good for mental health and also concerns that it can lead to feelings of detachment and even panic attacks

We chose music as the way to introduce our technology to users because of its short form We know that 15 minutes or more in a VR headset for users especially beginners can become disorienting.

While we do not want to alienate any of our users, regardless of the fraction of user base, we use music for its feel-good factor, and for its 3-5 minutes content form.

By also making it easy for users to access without VR headset and as AR, we remove the isolation effect of always requiring a headset.

The future of LIVE-streaming music

The future is immersive. Apple is rumoured to be releasing an immersive product in 2022, with their release of the iPad pro 2020 and iPhone 12 with Lidar, which helps with depth sensing – a key component of meaningful augmented reality.

We know they are extremely committed to this dream of an immersive future.

Dan Riccio the former head of Hardware for Apple is now leading the team building the future of immersive experiences, rumoured to be released in 2022.

What does PRYNTD stand for

PRYNTD is a stylisation of the word Print or to imprint. We think about how an image marker – physically printed on a magazine, poster, billboard, business card, a second screen – can trigger a journey of augmented reality.

The user can link through to the virtual reality version of said video, which they can cast to their TV and insert or connect to a VR headset all with haptic feedback.

It is also easily recognisable for consumers and artists to associate it with what we do.

What sets PRYNTD apart from other streaming competitors

We are the first platform in the world to convert 2d on-demand and live-streaming content into augmented and virtual reality with haptic support.

Most others usually provide VR live streaming created from VR, 360-, 270- and 180-degree cameras. This means that the artist would usually have to go to these companies’ studios for their live-performances to be live-streamed.

Our solution gives them the ability to cast their gigs from the comfort of their living rooms, while also giving the fans the ability to watch their music videos in glorious immersive media using their devices native browsers without ever needing to download an app.

We are the only one that has been most adaptive so far to the needs of the content creators and audiences. Our unique AI puts us in a position of bridging the gap between creators and fans.

Images Copyright – PRYNTD / edited by I Am New Generation Magazine

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