Metallica and Apple Team Up for an Insanely Expensive VR Concert Experience
Imagine, if you will, a future where you can experience a concert from the comfort of your own home. All you need is a VR headset, some free time, and a digital ticket to get a front row seat to the action without any risk of getting a crowd surfer’s boot to the back of your skull. Sounds like a cool time for us introverted individuals (or people that just can’t be bothered). It’s really not an entirely novel concept, but you bet your ass Metallica has found a way to take the concept of VR concert experiences and making sure it’s the most expensive, restrictive way to do it.
Recently, Metallica and Apple Music announced that they were putting out an Apple Immersive concert experience simply named “Metallica.” Sounds innocuous enough. Filmed during the band’s last M72 stop last year in Mexico City, the experience will feature three classic songs (“Enter Sandman”, “One”, and “Whiplash”) from that set. Apple describes the experience as such:
“This project marks a new foray into immersive technology, using ultra-high-resolution 180-degree video and Spatial Audio to give fans unprecedented access from vantage points as close up as the Snake Pit to wide-angle views. It brings the live show to a whole new level, and to achieve this, Apple built a custom stage plot featuring 14 Apple Immersive Video cameras using a mix of stabilized cameras, cable-suspended cameras, and remote-controlled camera dolly systems that moved around the stage.”
And the crazy thing? It’s all free. Zero dollars. Gratis — as long as you own an Apple Vision Pro. Sure, there are scores of VR headsets that cost just a couple hundred bucks and are compatible with a wide range of digital ecosystems, but why not team up with Apple and their notoriously cost prohibitive Apple Vision Pro headset and make it as exclusive as possible? Seriously, the cheapest Apple Vision Pro headset clocks in at $3,499. That’s fucking bananas.
So if you’ve got a ridiculous amount of cash and either plan on buying an Apple Vision Pro (or you already have one), then enjoy the “free” Metallica concert experience. The rest of us will have to live vicariously through the free live Metallica EP featuring those same three songs.
