At the Hollywood-centered VR on the Lot conference this week Sony Music offered the first public look at Kygo’s Carry Me project, featuring Julia Michaels. The project was shown on a PlayStation VR headset and it offers gorgeous pulsing environments driven by the song, and it is something Sony considers a “premium” experience worthy of being sold to buyers on PS VR, Rift and Vive.
The VR music video was created in a game engine and directed by MPC VR, a major visual effects and VR Production studio. The project is not a 360-degree video, instead created entirely in the game engine with elements of Kygo, a.k.a. Norwegian star Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, captured via a kind of point cloud outline while playing keyboard.
Here’s the song that forms the basis of the VR experience:
The project is the latest example of musically-driven VR experience, following a number of projects like La Peri ($10) and Impossible Travel Agency ($5) which feature environments carefully crafted to complement the music in a way that seems inspired by Disney’s Fantasia. None of these projects use 360-degree video, which we’ve seen from performers like U2 and Paul McCartney. Instead, the virtual environment is one you can move around inside, meaning it is better made for higher-end position-tracked VR headsets like Rift, Vive and PS VR than a 360-degree video in which you can’t lean around. 
Sony wouldn’t reveal a price for the experience. Pricing is a problem for some developers as most of the people buying these first headsets are gamers looking for highly interactive experiences that resemble traditional games, with prices above $10 and entertainment value measuring in hours. This means even well-made and genuinely gorgeous musically-driven experiences can get mixed reviews from people disappointed either by the amount of interactivity or length of the experience.
Whatever it ends up getting priced, look for this gorgeous VR music project in November. I really enjoyed hearing the track for the first time in the neon cosmic environments throughout the 3.5-minute song. I’m curious to see what price Sony chooses for the experience and how buyers respond.
