UK-based music startup Instrumental has launched a virtual music venue in Avakin Life, a 3D social app developed by Lockwood Publishing. 

Instrumental, which is backed by Chinese media giant Tencent Entertainment, is known for their AI-powered A&R scouting tools. The company also runs frtyfve, an in-house label that manages artists discovered by its software.

We’ve partnered with 3D virtual world @AvakinOfficial to create a digital music venue where users can come and check out amazing live music courtesy of @frtyfverecords.

Our first gig is with Leanna Firestone on April 30th.

Find out more: https://t.co/WL0tWsEOiX pic.twitter.com/LTgjct3KT9

— Instrumental (@WeAreInstrumntl) April 29, 2021

The in-game venue is called the New Music Society, and will showcase live digital concerts for Avakin Life users. According to Instrumental CEO Conrad Withey, there were more than 500,000 virtual attendees at the New Music Society over the weekend, reports Music Business Worldwide. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Leanna Firestone, who has a strong following on TikTok and Spotify, kickstarted the New Music Society’s inaugural gig.

The New Music Society is HERE!
Catch Nashville-based artist Leanna Firestone and listen to her latest tracks. It’s the perfect spot to hang out with friends and lose track of time. Want more from frtyfve? Check out their playlists on Spotify. #avakinfrtyfive #avakinleanna pic.twitter.com/gJBnaDHB7W

— Avakin Life (@AvakinOfficial) April 30, 2021

Avakin Life is a massively popular app, with more than 250 million registered users and over 7 million monthly active users. Through this partnership, Instrumental hopes to give independent artists greater reach to the Avakin Life community. 

“The New Music Society is just the beginning of what we hope will be a number of exciting collaborations within Avakin Life,” shared Lindsay Mitcheson, the Partnerships Director at Instrumental. “It plays to both our strengths as Lockwood develops a music proposition for their global community of users and we use Instrumental’s technology to match talent to those audiences.”

The New Music Society is but one of the many recent collaborations that have emerged between media companies and virtual platforms. Coincidentally, Tencent Entertainment had also led a $25 million investment round in Lockwood Publishing last November. Additionally, Warner Music Group also announced on Monday (3/5) that it had acquired a minority stake in virtual concert platform Wave.