AWS for Industries

Transforming the Future of Music

At Mobile World Congress, Las Vegas, 2022, I had an opportunity, alongside Andrew Zarick, Head of Partnership Activations, Verizon, to deliver a session on How 5G and Mobile Edge Computing is Transforming the Future of Music

The session was an overview on 5G and mobile edge computing technologies, and how Verizon and AWS have collaborated to develop a mobile edge computing platform using these technologies.

5G and Edge Computing

5G is the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications. But it’s more than just an update of what’s come before it’s a transformative change to the way cellular networks operate.

Edge computing offers the same powerful computing, storage, and networking services as the cloud, closer to where data is generated.

Verizon 5G Edge

Verizon 5G is comprised of three spectrum ranges that provide value and support for a wide variety of use cases. Verizon 5G network-based offerings include:

  • 5G Nationwide. Power workforce mobility, connectivity and collaboration, both in and away from the office
  • 5G Ultra Wideband. Enable transformative business use cases from autonomous machines to augmented and virtual reality experiences to massive IoT. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband 1 with C-Band spectrum offers speeds up to 10x faster than 4G LTE2 and even higher speeds are possible with mmWave spectrum.
  • 5G Edge. Help drive higher workforce productivity and enable greater flexibility with the faster speeds and low latency of multi-access edge computing (MEC)

AWS Wavelength

AWS Wavelength extends AWS infrastructure at the edge of the 5G network eliminating extra network hops. AWS services, APIs, and tools are available to developers to build, deploy, and manage the latency-sensitive components of their applications at the 5G edge. There are 4 primary benefits of AWS Wavelength highlighted in the session.

  1. The 1st is Low latency access to end users and devices. This will improve user experience through lower start up time, faster application performance, and higher bandwidth and throughput for content downloads.
  2. The 2nd and 3rd benefits are consistent development experience and the same familiar and powerful benefits of using AWS. For example a media production company would have easy access to compute infrastructure close to media production or media consumption, providing an alternative to on-premises compute. It is elastic, flexible, and pay per use – so all the same experience and value AWS provides to you today.
  3. The 4th benefit is scale and operational efficiency. For scale, you can deploy an application to a global base of 5G users in the US on Verizon’s 5G Network and globally in EMEA, Japan, South Korea, and Canada. For operational efficiency, there is a need for security and resiliency. There’s the built-in security of Verizon’s 5G Network and additional resiliency because your data never leaves the carriers network and it is not subject to the variabilities of the internet at large.

Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength

Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength provides mobile edge computing infrastructure – co-located at the edge of Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network providing ultra low latency and ultra high bandwidth for your applications. These technologies improve both efficiency and customer experience.

Transforming the Future of Music

Verizon 5G Network Edge with AWS Wavelength will help activate greater flexibility with the faster speeds and low latency of multi-access edge computing (MEC).

As we think about the future of entertainment and increasingly, the role that the metaverse will play, having super low latency application performance is paramount. That’s where having cloud resources closer to the end user device matters.

Verizon’s 5G Labs and Capitol Music Group explored how 5G and 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength can help artists reach fans in new and engaging ways, both digitally and in-person as people return to venues.

Lastly, Andrew and I covered several use cases of our joint efforts with partners to showcase how our customers are providing the best in class and personalized experience from your home.

Use Case1: LEVELS, a live Xtended Reality Music Show

LEVELS is a show that was created and produced in house at the Verizon 5G Lab in partnership with AWS, Twitch and Capitol. It’s the first ever live XR music show that uses real-time interactivity from chat to influence the entertainment experience. Each level is part storytelling and part musical performance, and the remote crowd in chat progresses the show by spamming Twitch emotes in chat. LEVELS set the stage for how live entertainment will become more immersive and engaging in the future.

Nija in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIBSBgy7pQo

Use Case 2: Asiahn, Augmented Reality music video experience

First ever enhanced TV streaming experience with Augmented Reality (AR) through video and audio fingerprinting, delivered via AWS Wavelength Zones using Verizon Matchmaker API & triggered from Verizon StreamTV. Real time interactions with high fidelity AR experiences due to low latency provided by mobile edge computing, resulting in a more personalized and immersive experience.

See Asiahn in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVjY3k4pf5E

Use Case 3: Madison Beer, Augmented Reality music video experience

The first ever remote rendering immersive concert built over 5G, AWS Wavelength, and Verizon Matchmaker. The experience was presented at CES 2021. Real-time interactions with high fidelity Virtual Reality and Mobile experiences rendered and distributed over 25 MEC instances across the nation. Volumetric capture paired with realistic concert streaming is an attractive proposition

See Madison Beer in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm_1PWZoW_I

Consumers are excited about the new 5G Edge technology that is enabling immersive media leading to engaging, multisensory digital experiences. An important benefit is the ability to enable real-time interactive events through next-gen technologies such as AR/VR, dynamic content and volumetric streaming, all powered by AWS Wavelength and Verizon 5G.

Jenny Watts

Jenny Watts

Jenny Watts joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2020 and became an Edge Sales Specialist in the Global Telecommunications Industry Business Unit to help lead the launch of the 5G Edge Partnership on Wavelength. Jenny is passionate about the future of 5G Edge Technology and has partnered with customers to drive this cutting-edge technology to the market. She enjoys developing new business models and driving compelling value propositions for customers at the edge. She regularly works with ISVs, developers, systems integrators, and enterprises to unlock transformative, latency-sensitive solutions like inference at the edge, live video streaming, caching at the edge, and AR/VR. She has been instrumental in driving growth and building business partnerships for the Public and Private Multi-Access Edge Compute solutions with Verizon. Prior to AWS, she held sales and leadership positions at Akamai and Verizon driving business transformation and edge strategies with Fortune 500 companies. Since the start of her career, she has been able to be a part of market making technology watching the transformation from pagers to 3G technology enabling Smartphones to 4G data speeds that changed how and where we did business to now the evolution of 5G. 5G is unlocking the potential of how Edge will transform how we interact and do business in the future.