Byta Presents: #HowWeListen Live: In Conversation Roman Rappak: Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer – Ristband / ristband.co
Navigating the Metaverse: The Convergence of Music & Gaming
Wednesday 10th April, 9am PT / noon ET / 5pm BST (UK)
Live online via Zoom: Free registration here!
Our next guest is Roman Rappak the Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of music and gaming platform Ristband & frontman of the electronic alternative band Pivots (formerly Miro Shot).
“I run my band like a startup and I run my startup like a band”
Rappak has directed award-winning short films, soundtracked games and scored films, released and toured two full-length albums with his previous band Breton (FatCat / Warp), as well as creating immersive cinema experiences that toured from the BFI London to the ACMI Australia. His band Pivots (formerly Miro Shot) created the world’s first XR live music concert, touring art galleries, venues, cinemas, warehouses and festivals in the UK, France, Germany, Dubai and Holland, from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Amsterdam (CBK) to the Barbican in London. They premiered their US show at the Official Future x Music stage at SXSW 2022. Rappak was tipped as one of Music Ally’s ‘Ones To Watch’ in music and technology in 2022. His band Pivots is currently touring and releasing new music.
Ristband was launched in 2021 when the founders received a grant from Epic Games in recognition of their innovation excellence, pushing the boundaries of game engines to create live story worlds, and bridging the gap between physical events and digital spaces. In 2023, Ristband won the SXSW Audience Award for their official Future x Music hybrid event, and Ristband’s founders have respectively been recognised by IQ Magazine as one of the live music industry’s most visionary professionals and by Music Ally as “one to watch in the music and gaming space.” In 2022, Ristband won ‘Best Designed Metaverse’ at the Paris Metaverse Summit.
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation is a monthly free live and online one-on-one interview event. Each event features an in-depth one-on-one interview with someone from deep within the music ecosystem by Byta founder Marc Brown. Our next event is a conversation with Roman Rappak which looks at the convergence of games, gaming and music.
Key takeaways will include:
- New Revenue Streams: The integration of music into games.
- Expanding Audiences: Video games provide musicians with access to vast and diverse audiences worldwide.
- Brand Building: Collaborating with video games allows artists to build & strengthen their brand.
- Creative Collaborations: unique opportunities for creative collaborations.
- Live Virtual Performances: potential for live performances within game environments.
- Music as an Integral Element of Gaming: Music can enhance the narrative, drive emotional engagement, and create immersive experiences.
- Cross-Promotion Opportunities: shared marketing efforts and exposure to new audiences.
- Innovative Distribution Channels: an innovative distribution channel, debut songs within games, etc.
About the Event
The series is designed to deliver the knowledge to enable tomorrow’s artists and industry leaders to better manoeuvre their way through the music ecosystem. Providing fun and insightful Q&A along the way!
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation is hosted by Byta’s founder, Marc Brown, whose deep music business background and digital audio knowledge have helped him deliver unique insights to audiences from Tallinn to Toronto. Marc is a former label owner, A&R, manager and radio plugger.
Event Format
An introduction will introduce industry insights & Byta updates and tips on what you can do yourself to better increase the chances of your success.
Followed by an in-depth one-to-one conversation.
About Byta
Byta (“Bee-tah”: the Swedish word for exchange) is unrivalled in taking advantage of the unique properties found in audio files. By simplifying the reading and writing of file metadata, converting file formats and delivering fast yet secure streaming, the platform enables everyone to send and receive digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Byta has also launched #HowWeListen, a not-for-profit organisation that complements the company’s ultimate goal: providing artists and their teams with the tools and knowledge needed to move their careers forward.
About Roman Rappak:
Roman is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of the music and gaming platform Ristband. He writes and performs in the band Pivots (formerly Miro Shot). As a filmmaker he has directed short films, documentaries and music videos for artists such as Sinead O’Connor and Charlotte OC, winning short film awards and screening films at international film festivals. With his first band Breton, Roman released two full-length studio albums, toured the world, performing at festivals in front of 10k capacity crowds, as well as empty rooms and badly organised parties in warehouses and cinemas in Europe and the US.
Roman began working on immersive live music events with bands and orchestras with a show called “Surrounded” at the BFI London and the ACMI in Melbourne, which led to the start of his new music project Pivots (formerly Miro Shot). They are the first band to have performed mixed reality live concerts at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Amsterdam. Their debut album “CONTENT” was released in May 2020, with our live XR concerts, exploring the themes of data, technology, gaming, and online culture as a modern narrative of this digital era. The band is an open collective of musicians, coders, filmmakers and designers who created the world’s first immersive multi-sensory live VR/AR concert.
About Marc Brown
Marc is the founder of Byta / byta.com. Run as a distributed team across three continents, Byta enables the sending and receiving of digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Built for everyone working with music today.
His extensive music business background and considerable digital audio knowledge have helped him deliver unique insights to audiences from Tallinn to Toronto.
Marc got his start at murderecords, Canada’s premier artist-owned label, during the mid-90s. After working in A&R at the legendary London indie, Creation Records, and then at Alan McGee’s Poptones, Marc started his own boutique UK radio promotion company off the back of his success with The Hives. For over ten years, Marc worked with an impressive list of indie rock luminaries, including Wilco, Bloc Party, Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, Spoon, and Refused as well as legends such as Tom Waits, Yoko Ono, Booker T and Mavis Staples.
Marc currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.