How Will 5G Revolutionize the Entertainment Industry?

One of the most pervasive topics in the media in the past few months has been the advent of 5G. Responses to the upcoming technology have ranged from being skeptical of its effectiveness based on already patchy service, to those who are militantly against it, those who suggest the multitude of changes 5G will bring about, to those who claim it will fully transform our lives. With the entertainment industry set to gain from the new internet technology, how will 5G revolutionize it?

Television

More than 46% of UK homes have streaming services to watch TV, with 8.4% more people having at least one streaming service now that they didn't have in June 2019. As this continues to rise and the way we continue to engage with traditional TV changes, 5G could impact this. People will be able to stream without worrying about quality dipping with many people using the internet.

5G will support 100GB speeds, which is 100 times faster than the 100MB typically offered by 4G. This means that downloads will happen faster and that anyone who wants to stream will be able to. 5G is a response to the changing ways in which we are watching TV, as aerials and satellites were in decades past.

This will also impact on what is shown on TV. For example, Manchester United and Vodafone are in talks to team up to enable 5G at Old Trafford Stadium, in order to allow the matches to be streamed in the best possible quality. Vodafone previously helped Manchester improve its 4G capacity back in 2013, so it seems like a natural progression to enable sports fans to see crystal clear streaming quality.

Music

The music industry could also benefit from 5G. Firstly, whole back catalogs could be downloaded instantly with faster speeds and bandwidth. With streaming replacing traditional ways of owning music – from 7% to 80% of the US music market in the 2010s – this requires stronger internet connections to allow everyone to stream when and what they want. The Internet of things capable of 5G, such as faster speeds and more reliable connections, means that there will be a new crop of audio tools that could help existing music industry processes as well as creating new ones.

5G could potentially enable people to enter the industry who were previously circumstantially barred entry. These audio tools could allow people to use what they have at home in order to mix music worthy of the radio. Inspiration for this could come from early IoT music experiments, such as the London Science Museum's 2012-2013 Universal Orchestra with Google, where musical instruments in the museum could be played by anyone through Google Chrome.

For example, BASE Hologram could further create live shows that are more accessible. The company – rather controversially – take the likeness of deceased artists in order to deliver concerts. 5G could improve how this could be done, but instead of focusing on the deceased singers, could open up live singers to wider audiences. For instance, artists could create cheaper shows and engage with more people, and those who don't yet have a concentrated audience could have a tour that extends virtually to more people.

Gaming

The gaming industry would also benefit from 5G. The main benefit would be the higher speeds for the internet, which would undoubtedly lead to a better gaming experience. Specifically, the lower latency in 5G – with latency dropping to as low as 1 ms (millisecond) – would mean that games such as Minecraft and Fortnite would be faster and better to play for people with less reliable internet connections.

The faster speeds mean that players could engage with games they enjoy that require browsers, such as playing online slot games, without having to worry about data caps. Indeed, the better the internet availability, the more people will be able to play on the go, and the industry would be able to match its offering and optimize better for those who might play on mobile rather than desktop.

Immersive gaming is also set to grow based on 5G with the Internet of things being a key area that the technology will aid. Indeed, Pok�mon Go, for example, relies on people roving about with an internet connection and catching virtual Pok�mon in their direct environment, which necessitates a strong internet connection. Faster internet could improve what games could do using this technology. Mobile cloud gaming services would also be on the horizon allowing players to play almost any game on any device using the cloud and internet. The technology relies on streaming and monthly subscriptions.

5G has many implications, most of which won't have occurred to people. In short, faster internet and reduced latency will enable more people to use the internet on the move better than they currently can. The entertainment industry is possibly one of the most important industries and one that continues to adopt new technologies. Finding benefits in 5G is just another of these new technologies.