The year 2020 marked a turning point in virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) technology consumption. On October 13, Meta released the Oculus Quest 2, a standalone VR headset with an accessible base price of 299 USD. By the first fiscal quarter of 2023, Quest 2 sales had reached approximately 18 million units, vastly outperforming previous VR/AR systems and significantly expanding mainstream adoption. The marketplace continues to diversify, with Meta and other companies unveiling ever-evolving systems.

Rhythm and dance-based games constitute a major sector of the VR/AR gaming industry. Catering to diverse musical tastes and gameplay motivations—including dance, fitness, socialization, and competition—these games reshape boundaries between physical embodiment and digital performance. Multiplayer modes create dynamic virtual spaces where players can interact in real time, forming self-selected communities around musical preferences, skill levels, and gameplay styles.

Building on discourse surrounding social play in non-VR rhythm games, this paper demonstrates how multiplayer VR/AR rhythm/dance games complicate notions of public and private performance, enhance machine evaluation and feedback mechanisms, and expand the possibilities for embodied co-presence in digital spaces. Examining Beat Saber (2019–) and Synth Riders (2019–) as case studies, this paper integrates insights from digital ethnography (Tom Boellstorff et al.) with ludomusicological perspectives on participatory digital performance (Kiri Miller), social gaming (William Cheng), and game sound (Karen Collins). I argue that these games not only reflect but actively shape new paradigms of musical interaction and social connectivity in the metaverse, positioning player actions within a (meta)diegetic framework where gameplay mechanics and self-expression become mutually reinforcing.

Social media has fundamentally reshaped musical practices, fostering new forms of community, participation, and engagement. This paper explores emerging modes of collective musicking on the Chinese video platform Bilibili, expanding Christopher Small’s (1998) concept of musicking to digital contexts. While Small positioned musicking as a countermeasure to the dominance of Western classical music, this study argues that collective musicking on Bilibili challenges the hegemony of offline music by facilitating participatory, interactive, and decentralized musical experiences.

Three key dimensions of digital musicking are examined. First, Bilibili’s unique danmu (弹幕, “overlaid commentary”) transforms seemingly solitary acts of listening, viewing, and remixing into highly participatory and community-driven engagements. Second, the paper investigates the role of AI-driven voice synthesis, particularly Sovits, as a case study in human-nonhuman musical collaboration. AI-singing technologies allow users to generate and manipulate vocal performances, blurring distinctions between performer, listener, and creator. Third, collective musicking on Bilibili transcends temporal and spatial constraints, enabling asynchronous yet interactive musical experiences that reconfigure traditional notions of liveness and co-presence.

Drawing on long-term participant observation and digital ethnography, this study situates Bilibili’s musicking culture within broader ethnomusicological discussions of virtual communities, digital co-creation, and participatory music-making. By analyzing how users engage with AI and platform-specific affordances, this research highlights the shifting dynamics of agency, authorship, and musical sociality in online spaces. In doing so, it underscores the significance of digital musicking as a transformative force in contemporary ethnomusicology.

After abolishing 38-year martial law in 1987, Taiwan entered a new period in which freedom of speech, publishing, and assembly were no longer restricted. Ever since, political participation has become a part of daily life: people talk about politics, go on the streets to fight for their rights, and exercise their civil rights by directly voting for their presidents, mayors, and legislators. In this flourishing era of civic participation, music plays a crucial role in mobilization and engagement with its feature of bonding people emotionally, expressing their identity, and promoting specific ideology.

With my internet-based ethnography and personal experience, this paper will focus on the role of music and social media in mobilizing the Blue Bird Movement—a significant civic protest in Taiwan that emerged in response to a controversial legislative reform proposal in March 2024. The study explores how participants used cyberspace, particularly social media platforms like Threads, to organize and amplify the movement. The focus is on the use of AI-generated music and the creative integration of digital symbols, such as hashtags and fan culture, to engage the public. These tools allowed for efficient mobilization both online and offline. Additionally, the paper discusses the controversial political statements made by celebrities, including Mayday and Jolin Tsai, during their China tour, which sparked debates within the movement. This research highlights the intersection of digital and physical spaces in modern social movements, illustrating how AI-generated music and online collaboration shape contemporary protest strategies and political discourse in Taiwan.