Crack Magazine is one of the world's most respected voices in music and youth creator culture. Talent such as Bjork, Thom Yorke, MF Doom, Aphex Twin, Dave, Central Cee, and Beabadobee. One of the most successful pieces of content we have ever produced was our Aphex Twin cover where we used Augmented Reality technology to bring the image to life in 3D. Gaining worldwide recognition among media and fans. Since then we have been fascinated with how we can use emerging technologies in the digital world and merge these experiences with our printed publication. We see a future where a hybrid model exists -- both worlds complement each other delivering something innovative and original. Recently we won some funding to build our own app which has recently been approved by the app store. It has been built with an impressive augmented reality toolkit framework so we now have the foundation to be delivering this content regularly as part of a new business model. This funding will grant us the opportunity to launch an interactive digital edition of our magazine with technology at the core that is able to interact and augment with its physical counterpart. The funding will allow us the runway to create the content needed to establish ourselves in this sector, increase digital sales and subscriptions, and ultimately open up a new revenue stream for the business. Content we aim to be publishing include: * Augmented Reality cover activations * Volumetric captures and augmented reality performances of artists * Hidden BTS video activations * A.I driven NeRF's Neural Radiance Fields to create 3D scenes from our 2D photographs * Moving image graphics and animated 3D rendered objects * Triggered additional Audio We recently launched a reader subscription service during the pandemic with the aim to build a community of our most loyal readers and essentially become financially beholden to our followers rather than relying wholly on advertisers. Having the option to offer deeper levels of engagement for readers is a vital tool to add value for supporting us and for us to become more financially sustainable. This fund will enable us to launch the app and digital hybrid of the magazine with a 6 month runway of innovative content that will establish ourselves in the market, boost subscribers, attract new clients, and open up new revenue streams for the business.

Bringing audiences together via music in our isolated-but-connected times, Crack Magazine will build and launch a free app designed to bring this innovative music content into the hands and homes of fans. Crack is Europe's biggest independent music magazine with a history of innovation in music content. Whether it's producing 360º live sessions with ambisonic audio, teasing major cover stories with geo-tag treasure hunts, distributing virtual reality headsets across the UK for free, or bringing our pages to life through augmented reality, we are industry leaders in adapting and innovating in the field of music and entertainment. By pairing musicians with creatives in the world of technology and digital design, the app will be a place for tailored experiences designed specifically to be enjoyed at home. In the same way events like Manchester International Festival and SXSW debut newly commissioned work to physical audiences, our app will be a place for new frontiers in music content with a focus on hologram performances, audiovisual collaborations and virtual interactions between fans and artists. This will be a showcase for new kinds of creativity. Technical approaches will include the use of 3D capture and machine learning to create unique holographic recordings of performing artists. These can be streamed via the web to viewers anywhere in the world, and then integrated into Augmented Reality experiences where viewers at home can bring the experiences into their living room. As well as live performances, we will expand the stories in Crack Magazine's digital version and bring them to life using this technology. The COVID-19 crisis has shown artists need to find new ways of staying connected with their fans. It's also highlighted shortfalls in the tools available to make their performances aesthetically and visually dynamic. Social media platforms compromise audio quality and are only fit for lo-fi setups, while traditional audio broadcasters limit the scope of creative possibilities. Our objective is simple; build a space for imaginative performances and forward-thinking creativity powered by new technology. We will use our musical knowledge and relationships with tech companies to create extraordinary experiences with amazing artists and demonstrate how creative and groundbreaking technology will shape the future of music entertainment. From working on our current Innovate UK project, we have found that what we are building has significant potential for global B2B revenue streams outside of content on our own channels. We have already been invited and pitched to a USA ‘household name’ media house for further R&D to build a 10 camera rig and develop a strategy for how the technology could be utilised for projects within their IP. We are currently awaiting feedback on this proposal. We would like to use this extension funding for a thorough investigation period of the prototype we developed over the last 5 months. We need to examine the robustness of the technology in a real world context, develop onboarding and documentation strategies for clients, test marketing materials and develop a pitch deck for investment as we have an exclusivity deal on the technology for 12 months, meaning we must expedite our route to market. We will also use this funding to explore wider uses of the technology to see where it may be used to tap into additional markets such as Virtual Production, and Live XR broadcast performance, and integration with Virtual Reality development pipelines.