The Future of Transmedia and Music
On April 10, 2017 the popular band the Gorillaz released an app to promote their new album “Humanz”. The release brought their fans and music lovers everywhere together and excited as a community for the new album. This interactive project is a new way for future artists and musicians to connect with their communities.
Who are the Gorillaz?
The Band is made up of two extremely talented artists: Lead guitarist/singer from Blur, Damon Albarn and comic book artist for Tank Girl, Jamie Hewlett. These masterminds are one of the first groups to have a virtual band, consisting of four members 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle.
Active since 1998, they’ve created a brand across various platforms and have stretched the boundaries of transmedia. They have been part of the new media world for many years, telling different stories through this virtual band in music, visual art and digital forms.
The App
The Gorillaz app is an interactive augmented reality experience. It allows you to explore the space within “the hallowed halls of the Gorillaz house”, and uncover VR experiences, playlists, 360 music videos, as well as behind-the-scenes of the new album.
A week after this app release, Gorillaz announced that they would host the “largest ever geo-specific listening experience.” Much like the Pokemon-Go craze, the Gorillaz created a geographical scavenger hunt, allowing fans to be the first to listen to the new album over the course of three days. To access this feature fans had to physically find a GPS within the augmented reality app that would lead them to one of the 500 specific geographical locations. For Toronto, the access point was at the heart of the city: Yonge and Dundas square.
Review
When I first found out about this app through Pitchfork, I had to download it right away because of its unique user experience. It was advertised everywhere on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Moreover, its limited time and geographic specificity made you want to be part of the hype. In fact, their app also allows you to take a photo of what you are viewing and post it directly to any of your own social media accounts to share your experience.
The narrative of the Gorillaz has been ongoing. They’ve been developing the personalities and stories of the virtual band members through music videos, comics, lyrical content and now, via this new app. You can explore their virtual house and get a better understanding of their interests and who they are in an interactive and immersive way. You control where you go within the house.
However, an app like this is more of one-time experience. Once they’ve explored the Gorillaz’s house or gone to the exclusive listening party, fans it’s unlikely that the public will be coming back to the app; that is, unless Gorillaz update it and develop the idea further with future albums. Furthermore, the hyperlinks hidden within the house occasionally brought you outside of the app to another platform and thus, broke the feeling of being immersed in their univers.
Overall though, this app has created a new way to explore music and furthered a narrative that is constantly changing.
Work Cited
Gorillaz. “Gorillaz App (Trailer).” Online video clip. Youtube: April 11 2017. Web.Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Heneck, Dylan. “What do the Gorillaz look like in real life?” IndieShuffle, 7 Apr. 2017, www.indieshuffle.com/news/gorillaz-real-faces-damon-albarn/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Warner Music Belgium. “Gorillaz Humanz House Party in Brussels.” Online video clip. Youtube: April 24 2017. Web. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
