During the summer of 2022, AmazeVR brought fans the first-ever VR concert tour featuring three-time Grammy Award-winning artist, Megan Thee Stallion, in her “Enter Thee Hottieverse” tour across 15 U.S. cities. AmazeVR then released the concert online before Winter 2022 through the Meta Quest App Lab for Meta Quest 2. Now, AmazeVR Senior Manager of Strategy & Operations, Joseph Choi takes us inside the personas of the in-theater and at-home concert productions…

We believe fans are always looking for new opportunities to engage with the music they love and connect with their favorite artists. Most fans of music don’t have the luxury of seeing their favorite artists in concert for a myriad of reasons–scheduling conflicts, geographic location, or financial burden to name a few. However, our VR concert offered the immersive experience of seeing your favorite artist up close and personal. Through our proprietary technology, we created an entirely new musical experience that brought fans closer to the artist than ever before.

Our “Enter Thee Hottieverse” VR concert toured across 15 major U.S. cities during the summer of 2022, garnering over 15,000 concertgoers and selling out at every venue. Immediately following the success of our in-theater VR concert experience, we launched our VR concert on the Meta Quest App Lab for at-home users in November 2022. Below are findings based on a survey of 507 in-theater customers from our “Enter Thee Hottieverse” tour, and findings based on data we compiled from at-home viewers. While the data continues to evolve, we have found these particular demographic trends interesting, when compared to either in-theater concert consumption or VR consumption as a whole.

Age Trends

We observed the 25 to 34-year-old age group had the strongest presence during the in-theater tour, yet the largest customer demographic for the at-home concert is currently 35-44 year-old. Below is the age distribution we observed for our in-theater VR concert tour:

● 18 – 24 (19.13%)
● 25 – 34 (56.41%)
● 35 – 44 (20.71%)
● 45 – 54 (2.17%)
● 55+ (1.18%)

One speculation we have for the at-home viewership being older (on average) is because this demographic potentially has a higher disposable income (i.e., a higher likelihood to purchase their own VR headset), and/or less interest in attending a concert in-person.

Guests over the age of 18 were permitted to attend the VR concert by themselves, while guests 17 and under were permitted as long as they were accompanied by an adult. Guests under the age of 13 were not permitted to attend.

Gender Trends

The audience in-theater skewed female, while the at-home concert audience skewed male.

In-Theater Attendees:

● Female (84.2%)
● Male (13%)
● Non-Binary (2.56%)
● Prefer not to say (0.20%)

At-Home:

● Male (57%)
● Female (10%)
● Unknown (33%)

Overall, VR has been adopted more quickly by male audiences, who have found more applications in gaming and sports. As adoption continues and more people get familiar with VR, we believe we’ll see this even out with a more equal gender balance.

Ethnicity and Race Trends

In-theater concert attendees self-identified as one or more of the following ethnicities:

● Black or African American (78.11%)
● Hispanic or Latino (9.66%)
● White or Caucasian (6.11%)
● Asian or Pacific Islander (4.54%)

VR trends shared by Touchstone Research show minorities are more passionate and interested in VR experiences and have more awareness of the VR options available to them. Megan Thee Stallion is a Hip-Hop/Rap artist, a genre that is a large part of Black and Latino culture.

Geographical Trends

Geographical limitations were present with the in-theater VR concert, as the tour was U.S.-based and hit 15 major cities with a large Megan Thee Stallion fanbase along the route.

When looking at geographical data from the at-home concert, more than 50% of the audience was from global markets including China, South Korea, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK. This came as a surprise, as most Megan Thee Stallion fans reside in the U.S. However, China, Europe, and the U.S. do lead VR spending and adoption worldwide which leads us to believe that users from these hotspot countries would be willing to try new, quality experiences.

Furthermore, even viewers who previously weren’t familiar with Megan Thee Stallion discovered our VR concert through strong word-of-mouth recommendations about the clarity and quality of the visuals. Those users then took to Reddit to compare experiences and shared who they would like to see take the VR stage in the future.

VR is opening opportunities for all demographics to enjoy experiences that may not be as easy or accessible for them to attend. For example, age may play a factor. If people have young children and cannot get out as much, or do not feel comfortable moving around or standing during an in-person concert, they may be more inclined to try a VR experience. Cost can also be a huge factor in a user’s willingness to try VR. Despite its premium experience, VR concerts can be experienced affordably at scale. Users also are not constrained to a certain timeline with at-home VR, and can enjoy with their own crowd if introverted or anxious in public situations. These are just a handful of applications VR has in today’s world.

We envision our VR concerts being complementary to in-person concerts. And as VR adoption continues to grow, we believe VR concerts will set a new paradigm for artists and fans to connect and interact.

Joseph Choi is Senior Manager of Strategy & Operations at AmazeVR.

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