UPDATE 1/8/2016: WE WON!!!!! That’s right, “An Unseen Sky: The VR Experience” won Best Animated VR Music Video! I’ll be posting another blog about our experience at VR Fest soon, but I just want to thank my developer Elemental Spark and the VR Fest for awarding us, as well as everyone who voted in the preliminary round before it went on to the final judges! So awesome!

UPDATE 1/4/2016: Thank you so much to all who voted for us… Because of you, “An Unseen Sky: The VR Experience” made it into the finals! The awards will be announced on Thursday, January 7th, 2016 during the Virtual Reality Festival. We’ll also be there showcasing the video as well as “Gravity VR” and “The Invasion of 2012” all day at The Palms from Noon-Midnight. Hope to see some of you there!

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since we launched “An Unseen Sky: The VR Experience,” the amazing Virtual Reality music video for the title track from my album An Unseen Sky. Developer Elemental Spark created something magical and groundbreaking that helped us get the attention of many news organizations and even Google themselves, due to our cutting-edge use of this new VR technology within a music video – something that had literally not been done before. Within weeks of our release, various artists such as Bjork and Squarepusher started to release VR music videos, and now, as we enter 2016 (which will end up being the year of VR), it’s pretty much a requirement for all the biggest names in Hollywood and the music industry to start releasing VR projects… But we were there first, and it’s been a wild ride.

Now that 2016 is around the corner, it’s with great pride that I announce a few awesome things… First, and most importantly… “An Unseen Sky: The VR Experience” is nominated for Best Animated VR Music Video at the 2016 Virtual Reality Festival! We premiered the video at last year’s festival, so to be nominated now is truly an honor. The competition is judged by a combination of judges and audience voting, so please go to the VR Fest Voting Page and Vote for us in Category 13: Best Animated VR Music Video.

Second, and if you’ve been following along in my last blog post or on my Facebook page then you already know this – there is a new, updated version of the video now available! “An Unseen Sky 360 Video” is now available on Youtube, Littlestr and Facebook. This is another new technology that is separate, but completely related to regular VR. Elemental Spark was able to take our experience and rebuild it in a way that makes it so you can view it right on your computer or phone, without a VR headset. Now you can use your mouse, finger or keyboard to move around your perspective as the video plays, allowing you to experience the video in 360 degrees. Seriously, try it right below this paragraph, embedded in this blog post… And if you do it on your phone, you can even pop it into a Cardboard headset or Gear VR (for you Samsung users) and experience it in the fully immersive VR of the regular versions. The newly updated version is also coming as a regular Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift app as well. But even without the headset, it’s truly amazing… Like I said in my last blog post… The future rules.

I saved the the big one for last… Elemental Spark and I are collaborating on another VR Music Video! You all remember “Gravity,” my self-made music video for the song off my FREE album Another Sky… Well, he is in the middle of taking it and bringing it into a fully immersive 360 degree Virtual world. From the little bits and pieces I’ve seen so far, it looks incredible. I don’t want to go too deep into what the new experience is going to include yet, as Elemental Spark is still working on it, but this one is aimed squarely at blowing minds and melting brains haha. It’s going to be trippy, crazy and awesome. And it should be premiering at the 2016 Virtual Reality Festival in January! I’ll be posting links soon with more info, but you can already sign up for free tickets to the event here: http://vrlounge.formstack.com/forms/light_nightclub.  We’ll be showcasing both of our videos at The Palms Hotel & Casino on Thursday, January 7th and at Light Nightclub on Friday, January 8th. I’ll have definite times listed soon, but if you’re going to be in Las Vegas on those dates, you might as well register for your FREE tickets now!

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So there you have it. There’s a new version of “An Unseen Sky: The VR Experience” available now in 360 Video… It’s been nominated for an award… And we’ve got a new video, “Gravity VR,” coming next month. Plus, Elemental Spark has some amazing other projects up his sleeve (you can read more about his stuff on his website, and check him out on Instagram @elemental_Sparke or on Twitter @ElementalSpark ). 2016 is going to be awesome.

David Rosen is an award-winning music composer. He composes original music for films, commercials, jingles, video-games and all other kinds of media projects. He has a vast music library of original tracks available for licensing and is also available for custom compositions. Contact him on the ABOUT page for pricing and availability for your next project.