This interview with Kevin Sellors, founder and CEO of technology company Soapbox, is part of Hypebot's Backstage Pass series. Here, we feature conversations with people working behind the scenes to help artists and audiences navigate live music industry economics, logistics, and trends.
Soapbox is an app that gives fans access to artists they could never reach through traditional media. By bringing real humans into your home as holograms, they replace flat screens with intimate moments that feel present, human, and alive. They've filmed real artists in 3D and transformed their performances into life-size holograms in over 180 countries on Meta Quest, artists like: Smokey Robinson, Buddy Guy, T-Pain, Stephen Marley, Soulja Boy, Jadakiss, Waka Flocka Flame, and more.
Backstage Pass is sponsored by venue, festival and promoter marketing solution Bandsintown PRO.
Hypebot: Hey Kevin, thanks for taking the time! First of all, can you introduce us to Soapbox?
KS: "Soapbox films artist performances, demonstrations, and interviews in 3D and brings them to fans around the world as life-size holograms via AR/VR devices. This allows fans to get closer than ever to the actual humans behind the music."
The goal is to highlight the value of authentic human technique and to create new revenue streams for the music business. It also creates historical archives of these artists, so if a kid 100 years from now is studying the blues, they'll be able to have Buddy Guy standing in their bedroom showing them, and telling them what it was all about."
H: I think when people think of holograms they think of stadium-filling names like Tupac and Michael Jackson. And you’ve already worked with megastars like T Pain, Soulja Boy, and Buddy Guy to name just a few. But it strikes me that your offering is not about mega events, rather, intimate small scale performances. Why did you decide to focus on the “home” market?
KS: "I was a recording engineer for years, which gave me the opportunity to stand right in front of great artists in the studio and get an up-close look at the magic that makes these people special. Our mission is to provide that perspective to everyone, especially in today's world, in an age of AI, we want to remind people why human talent is important."
The hologram examples you mentioned were created using body doubles and CGI to recreate artists who are no longer with us. That has its use, I think, but we're focused on filming actual artists and their authentic techniques. We also film them in full 3D, allowing users to walk all the way around them, and for the artist to look and feel like they're actually in your space. Concerts are great, but you can already go see T-Pain in concert. Most people can't have him walking around their own living room, or their classroom.'
"Music platforms are being flooded with AI content, we're building a platform for humans."
H: Similarly, Soapbox’s tagline is “Human First. Tech Second.” At a moment when almost every tech company is racing toward gen-AI, why did you decide the most futuristic thing Soapbox could do was preserve actual humans?
KS: "With the explosion of AI generated content I believe there will be a resurgence in demand for authentic human experiences. This will manifest itself in live shows and real life events, and we believe the proper use of emerging technologies is to use them to bring people closer together, across continents and across generations."
The human element is what makes art valuable, and what makes content valuable long term. We believe that technology is a tool for artists, not the other way around. Music platforms are being flooded with AI content, we're building a platform for humans."
H: What’s something specific that you’re trying to encapsulate with these hologram performances? Is the real product here the hologram technology, or is it that sense of intimacy with the artist?
KS: "The technology is just a conduit, the artist is the whole thing. Just as audio recording captured artist performances, allowing them to be distributed to fans in their own generation and also into the future. We're doing the same thing in another dimension. You can hear what the artist was doing, but you can also walk up and see it and feel it."
H: What do you love about live music more than anything?
KS: "Admittedly, I was always more of a record man, a studio guy. But live shows are great for the same reason that (IMO) the best records are great. They capture a unique moment in time that becomes meaningful to a large group of people."
H: Do artists perform differently when they know the audience will eventually be able to walk around them and watch from any angle?
KS: "It's been interesting to see. For some of them, yes. Filming experiences like drum drills with Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind & Fire, and knowing that fans can walk around and see what his hands and his feet are doing, it's wild."
I think the biggest differentiator we've felt is a sense of gravity, that these moments are forever and that kids in the future will be able to have them standing in their space. For many of them that seems to resonate, with artists from Smokey Robinson to Yelawolf, it's caused them to really open up and share an intimate side of themselves."
H: For an independent artist, what is the business case for creating a Soapbox performance? Is this primarily promotion, fan engagement, a new piece of merchandise, a new revenue stream — or potentially all of those?
KS: "It's all of the above, whether you're independent or not. The labels really resonate with the promotional and superfan engagement potential of having their artist standing right in fans' living rooms. The platform is growing fast with users so far across 185 countries, so it's a unique way to reach a unique demographic."
The platform is monetized and comes out to a rev share that pays the artists, the labels, and the publishers. We're cooking up some surprises on merchandising with Soulja Boy that we will be launching soon."
"The major tech companies are betting on a 3D future, I agree with them..."
H: One of the big obstacles here is still hardware. How much does Soapbox's future depend on VR headsets becoming something closer to ordinary glasses?
KS: "Devices are definitely the bottleneck. The music business taught me the evolution of mediums. Audio recordings went from shellac records to vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks, CDs, and now to streaming. AR/VR devices are our shellac records."
We're working now with some of the major tech companies to bring the platform to AR glasses. This is coming sooner than you think, we already have it working. The content will then go to hologram projection, and beyond."
The major tech companies are betting on a 3D future, I agree with them... We will also be launching a phone app in the coming months."
H: What was the last IRL concert you attended that truly blew you away?
KS: "I was at Martyrs' in Chicago earlier this year with Derek Trucks when he jumped up on stage with Jerry Garcia's guitar, Tiger... Talk about a moment. It was a Grateful Dead tribute band so the place was packed out with fans who understood the situation, that it was Jerry's guitar and that it had recently sold for ~$12M."
I'm standing in this room watching all walks of life, from hippies to suits, at 2am, just lost in the moment. United around a relic from a cultural icon who's been gone for over 30 years. That's the ongoing impact of these artists. If their songs and their instruments are that valuable to people after they're gone, I suspect that the ability to stand face to face with them will be invaluable."
H: If you could nominate one animal for president, which would it be?
KS: "Squirrel, no doubt. At least they understand you gotta save more acorns than you eat."
Learn more about Soapbox.
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