Preserving and reinventing the legacy of the music festival in the metaverse

The metaverse is becoming a destination for more brands, businesses and communities to connect. A study from December 2022 revealed that 69% of users believe that the metaverse entertainment will reshape social life.

Recently, the legacy music and arts festival Woodstock, known to be the most famous of 1960s rock festivals, announced that it would be reinventing itself as a digital world in collaboration with metaverse developers Sequin AR.

Festivals in the metaverse they are not something new. As digital life has taken center stage over the years, we have seen virtual PRIDE parades, country-specific cultural events, and the metaverse fashion week.

In the case of Woodstock, which builds its own virtual space, the immense legacy of a physical festival is preserved and reinvented for new generations. Cointelegraph spoke to the Woodstock team and Robert DeFranco, CEO of Sequin AR, to understand how legacy events navigate a digital renaissance.

Jennifer Roberts, a partner at Woodstock Ventures, recalls how the original 1969 festival “defied so many expectations” by bringing together half a million people around peace, music and art. Now the metaverse allows a truly global audience to experience the legacy of festivals.

“We believe that today’s Woodstock Generation is united not by where they were born, but by a shared value system of peace, creativity and compassion.”

Roberts called the metaverse a “democratizing experience” where, despite physical circumstances, people can come together to celebrate what they believe in.

Connectivity is a great motivation for brands and companies to enter the metaverse. More than 90% of consumers They’re curious about the metaverse, so the opportunities to connect on a global scale only increase.

However, just like in real life, organizing an iconic festival for thousands of people is a big task that requires many considerations.

DeFranco affirms that the objective of these types of initiatives is not to replace, but to complement what is available in the physical reality and the legacy of an event.

“There is nothing like being at a live show. The intent is to have a community to participate in and an experience that you enjoy when you can’t be at a live show.”

Roberts said that as he prepares to create this digital plugin, anticipating new needs for artists, audiences, and even genres of music is a new challenge. He also said that leaving room for serendipity in the process should not be overlooked.

“The magic of the original festival was something that resulted from the alchemy of putting different elements together. We have faith that that will happen here too, albeit in ways we cannot predict.”

Since independent artists to pop starsthe music industry has actively adopted Web3 technologies.

Big labels like Warner Music have been especially active in bringing performances to digital reality, especially after the announcement of their own music-focused Web3 platform that you are creating with Polygon.

However, according to Roberts, when it comes to legacy it’s not just about keeping the past alive, it’s about looking to the future.

“This is not about enshrining the past, but a way to engage new audiences and write the next chapters of history.”

Over the next seven years, the metaverse is expected to create a market valuation of USD 5 trillion according to recent reports.

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