Some of the advanced technology from the Sphere in Las Vegas is about to land in one of New York City’s most famous entertainment venues.
MSG Entertainment will be adding Sphere Immersive Sound to Radio City Music Hall in a $7 million upgrade, with the new audio tech set to make its debut in time or this year’s Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. It will become available in January for all concerts and events in the venue.
“We’re committed to providing artists and fans with an exceptional experience, and the addition of Sphere Immersive Sound at Radio City Music Hall, which has always been known for its incredible acoustic environment, felt like the next logical step both in the progression of the technology and the evolution of the venue,” says Josephine Vaccarello, executive VP of live for MSG Entertainment.
MSG Entertainment and Sphere are both controlled by the Dolan family, and led by James Dolan.
The sound system has become one of the hallmarks of the Sphere, alongside that venue’s 160,000 square foot screen.
The system being built at Radio City uses more than 7,000 individually amplified loudspeaker drivers to enable consistent and clear sound in every seat, and also allows for things like spatial audio, which can send different sounds to different points in the theater.
“This is a total game changer for Radio City – guests will be fully immersed in a way that is not possible with traditional audio systems,” Vaccarello says. “With this technology, guests seated in the front row will have the exact same audio experience – same volume, same clarity of sound – as guests seated in the last row of the third mezzanine. Essentially, every seat becomes the best seat in the house.
“For a production like the Christmas Spectacular, which features a live 36-piece orchestra at every performance, audiences will be able to hear every individual instrument with perfect clarity, and hear sound move around the room,” she adds. “Artists performing at Radio City will have greater control and the ability to customize the audio experience for the audience by ‘carving out’ or ‘cancelling sound’ in specific locations.”
Sphere has been working to bring its tech, which is the brainchild of Dolan, to other venues for some time.
A version of the system was installed already at New York’s Beacon Theatre, which MSG Entertainment also operates, and the company says that its tech, backed by new features like “3D Differential Beamforming Technology” and “Intelligent Audio System Synthesis” will be able to be added to venues of all sizes and layouts in the future, suggesting a possible growth area for the business, following its previously-announced Sphere in Abu Dhabi.
“We’re always exploring ways to enhance the experience for both artists and the audience – it’s never tech for tech’s sake,” says Vaccarello. “Our portfolio includes some of the most iconic venues in the world and we want to thoughtfully incorporate the new technology that the team at Sphere Studios develops in ways that have a measurable impact.”
The Sphere has balanced a lineup of musical residencies, which have included the likes of U2 and the Backstreet Boys, with regularly-scheduled programming, the latest of which is The Wizard of Oz, which was reimagined for the venue with a real tornado, flames, and flying monkeys, alongside a rerecorded score.
