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Versailles 400
‘VERSAILLES 400’
A LIVE PHYGITAL ALBUM
Recorded at the Château de Versailles on December 25, 2023 both live and in virtual reality.
In a historic event that seamlessly blended past grandeur with future innovation, iconic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre took centre stage at the Hall of Mirrors within the Château de Versailles for VERSAILLES 400, a spellbinding concert as part of the UNESCO World Heritage site 400th anniversary celebrations. Widely recognised as the godfather of modern electronic music, Jarre's performance on Christmas Day December 25, 2023 marked a groundbreaking moment forging the glory of historic France and the future.
Sony Music are now releasing the event as a live album, which in the spirit of the concert itself, will be available exclusively as a product which combines both physical and digital elements (“phygital”). A beautiful double LP vinyl package will be accompanied by exclusive digital content which is only accessible to owners of the physical product.
This extraordinary concert-event transformed Versailles’ architectural crown jewel, the Hall of Mirrors, into a contemporary musical arena. The technical setup involved creating a breathtaking light show that danced across the historic walls, mirrors, and ceilings in real life to an audience of 800 people; while in the metaverse hosted on French platform VRROOM, Jarre’s avatar performed in a virtual Versailles to a global audience in a shape-shifting hall with 8-bit elements, portraits of classic historic notables alongside futuristic characters often seen in Jarre’s iconography, and other future-forward eye catching graphic designs. The mixed-reality audiovisual programme was broadcast on French national TV (W9) & Radio (RTL), and was beamed across the globe via the EBU/Eurovision Services.
For this first ever electronic music concert within the Château de Versailles, the hour-long set Jarre performed presented brand new productions of material from his latest album releases including OXYMORE and the GRAMMY-nominated ELECTRONICA alongside favourites from his extensive back catalogue.
Versailles 400 is much more than just a concert. It explores new artistic territories, including visual expression, and where AI becomes an artistic partner, creating a multisensory experience that transports the audience into a completely new artistic universe.
The setlist was developed based on the concert-show scenario presented by Jean-Michel Jarre in the Hall of Mirrors on December 25, 2023. Transitioning through his avatar from the real stage to an imaginary virtual gallery, specially reconstructed for the occasion, featuring the sets and creatures crafted by the musician using artificial intelligence.
A hybrid and immersive show, where the audience is carried from one world to another, while remaining connected to reality, is a concrete example of how artificial intelligence can enrich the artistic experience.
The result is now captured in a live phygital album – the first of it´s kind – which on top of 2 x 180g Vinyl offers the user a truly unique digital experience to be entered via phone through a custom NFC sticker inside the Vinyl sleeve.
Digital bonus content includes:
- a special greeting by Jean-Michel Jarres Avartar
- exclusive Making Of photos of the events visuals, created by Jean-Michel Jarre and his team
- bespoke AI animations of the Hall of Mirror
- an in-depth interview with Jean-Michel Jarre about the event and it’s unique set up
- a lossless audio streaming version featuring an electro version of JB Lully's "Walk to the Turcs Ceremony" the new single "Epica Oxygene," and fresh renditions of existing tracks
The product is available numbered to 2000 copies only. The digital experience is unique to its owner and cannot be shared.
it's only on video streaming
The first ever phygital JMJ-release was in 1997 with the URL