MusicVket2, a 5-Day Music Convention in VR, Starts March 6

TOKYO, Japan, March 2021 -- HIKKY Co., Ltd. is hosting MusicVket2, a music exhibition and market convention taking place in Virtual Reality, from Saturday, March 6 to Wednesday, March 10. Media walkthrough sessions will be available upon request.

Amid the global pandemic, indie music artists and the entire industry have suffered not being able to perform for a live audience. MusicVket attempts to provide artists and their audiences with an online platform to connect and interact via VR. Its second edition, MusicVket2 will feature exhibits by 218 groups and 11 artists/labels, highlighted by live acts that involve real-time performance and state-of-the-art 3DVR graphic effects.

PKCZ®︎ (LDH JAPAN), Beat (WOWOW), BORUTO - NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS - (TV TOKYO), MOKURI project, Seikima II, and Kizuna AI are some of the many artists and labels that will exhibit at the virtual event.

The PKCZ®︎ are a creative unit comprised of 4 DJ artists who will be offering several special events in conjunction with MusicVket. On opening day (Saturday, March 6) at noon JST, PKCZ®︎ will be appear live at Club Emission LIVE Debut, a DJ event organized by international VR artists. This will be streamed live on the PKCZ®︎ official Twitch channel for a wide audience to enjoy without VR devices. At the PKCZ®︎ VR ChamberZ exhibit, visitors are invited to enjoy a special DJ set created for an immersive VR experience, where visitor avatars will learn a new dance move. A select group of fans will be granted an exclusive meet-and-greet opportunity at a secret lounge where PKCZ®︎ members will be present for real-time conversations, all in VR via avatars controlled by members themselves.

Visitors can access virtual venues (on VRChat) from the comfort of their homes anywhere in the world, with or without VR devices, on a computer or smartphone browser. Navigation will be shown in English and Japanese. The VR platform allows exhibitors and visitors to engage in real time voice conversations, while friends can meet, talk and share the excitement of discovering new music. There are no visitor entrance charges.

General exhibitor booths and artist/label booths will be located across 9 sub-venues based on music category such as Pop, Rock, Techno/Club, or Vocaloid. Playing music at the MusicVket listening booths is not only about the audio. Sound is accompanied by motion graphic effects, creating a unique VR listening experience. Visitors can purchase music on the spot in downloadable files or by ordering CDs.

The first MusicVket was held in August, 2020 and hosted 127 general exhibitor groups and 5 artists/labels. It attracted a total of approx. 84,280 visits from all over the world. For MusicVket2, general exhibitors were chosen by lottery after the number of applications exceeded the capacity limit.

Latest information on MusicVket2 will be announced on the event’s official Twitter feed and website.

Virtual Market, often referred to in short as Vket, is an online convention and marketplace on the VRchat platform that hosts C-to-C and B-to-C retail of digital and physical goods. Organized by HIKKY, a VR events company based in Tokyo, Vket has been a rapidly growing bi-annual event since its launch in 2018. In 2020, Vket 4 won the XR Creative Award 2020 and VR Awards’ VR Marketing of the Year. Vket 5, its latest iteration which was held December 19, 2020 to January 10, 2021, featured 74 corporate exhibits and over 1,100 individual creator booths and attracted more than a million visits over the course of its 23-day run.

Founded in 2018, HIKKY is a VR company that organizes, produces, and promotes large scale VR/AR events and contents. Its founding members include top-level creatives who lead the entertainment VR scene and are collectively committed to shedding light on talents that comprise the virtual communities. In partnership with various businesses, HIKKY continues to develop new opportunities and groundbreaking concepts in the budding XR industry.