The global music industry is undergoing a profound transformation. As digital platforms reshape how music is produced, distributed, and experienced, virtual entertainers (AI-generated, animated, or holographic performers) are emerging as a new frontier for business renewal.
From metaverse concerts attracting millions of attendees to virtual artists designed for global audiences, virtuality offers new ways to scale creativity beyond the limits of physical venues, touring logistics, and geography. For an industry increasingly dependent on live performances, virtual entertainers create opportunities to diversify revenue models, extend artist lifecycles, and build transmedia brands that span music and digital culture.
The project Virtual Entertainers: An Emerging Dimension of the Music Industry is led by Principle Investigator Joshua Silberstein-Bamford at the Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain, University of Jyväskylä. Other team members include Post-Doc researcher Muniba Rauf, Post-Doc researcher Fabienne Silberstein-Bamford, and Doctoral researcher Lotta Kourilehto. The project is supported by a 2-year grant of €150,000 awarded by the Liikesivistysrahasto (Foundation for Economic Education) in its 2025 grant round.
The project team aims to provide a comprehensive overview of virtual entertainers and examines audience discourses surrounding them. The research will focus on the challenges, risks, and opportunities virtual entertainers present for business renewal and growth. By comparing audience reception in Finland, Japan, and South Korea, the project explores how technologies such as AI and holograms influence global access to music and open new, potentially more sustainable, forms of live entertainment through virtual concerts.
Aligned with the Business Renewal focus area, the project will investigate innovative models and strategies for scaling digital entertainment, particularly virtual concerts and AI-generated entertainers. Using a mixed-methods and cross-cultural approach, the research will generate practical insights into how virtual entertainers can be responsibly developed, marketed, and scaled in local as well as international markets.
The findings will support music companies, creative entrepreneurs, and policymakers in navigating digital transformation and identifying new paths for growth in an increasingly virtual entertainment economy.
The research group “Virtual Entertainers: An Emerging Dimension of the Music Industry”, led by PhD, Senior Lecturer Joshua Silberstein-Bamford at the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies, was awarded a grant of €150,000 in the focus area Business Renewal. This grant will enable the group to advance research on the evolving role of virtual performers and their impact on the music industry, fostering innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
#BusinessRenewal #VirtualEntertainers #MusicIndustry #DigitalInnovation