Sony Music Entertainment has become the latest major record label to sign a deal with MelodyVR Ltd., a subsidiary of EVR Holdings plc, to produce and distribute music using the emerging technology of virtual reality.

With this deal, MelodyVR has inked deals on with the three biggest music labels in the world. Warner Music Group signed in December and Universal Music Group signed in March.

The addition of Sony Music to its platform adds a music portfolio that represents every genre from numerous recording studios, including Columbia Records, Epic Records, Legacy Recordings, Masterworks, RCA Records, Sony Classical, Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. Anthony Matchett, chief executive officer of EVR Holdings, called the deal “an extremely significant milestone for our company.”

According to research from Allied Business Intelligence Inc., the VR industry is set to reach a market near $60 billion worldwide by 2021. But one challenge the industry faces is a lack of VR content to draw in and dazzle audiences. Entertainment companies seeking to take advantage of the immersive capability of VR have already begun to make inroads into the new industry, with video games, cinema and social currently leading the way.

“MelodyVR now has the ability to create and exploit content with artists represented by all three of the world’s major record labels, who collectively generated over $11 billion of gross revenue in 2016, and positions our company as the world’s only fully licensed VR music platform,” Matchett said.

The platform developed by MelodyVR will support all of the major brands of VR headsets currently on the market, including the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR as well as mobile headsets such as the Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard and Google Daydream View.

Now that the company has signed all three major record labels in the world, Matchett said, the company will focus on expanding its distribution network and increase the potential consumer base at launch. MelodyVR recently announced a global partnership with Microsoft, making it available to more than 500 million Windows 10 consumers. The company is also seeking agreements with leading VR hardware and smartphone makers.

MelodyVR’s platform has not yet launched and there are no details on a release date. Users interested in getting in on the service’s beta can sign up on the company’s website.

Image: MelodyVR