Roblox adds Listening Parties, extending the reach musicians can have on its platform

Roblox is looking to attract more musicians into the metaverse with new Listening Parties. Using Listening Parties, an artist can debut a new album in certain Roblox experiences that can last over many days. These build on Roblox Launch Parties, which allow artists to customize the virtual experiences they want their fans to have, and only last for the time of the concert. Listening Parties will broaden that reach, allowing musicians to stream their songs in existing parts of Roblox, versus making their own unique worlds. The move gives artists a new way to reach audiences, particularly younger ones, where they are spending time online. Roblox had 48.2 million daily average users in August who spent 4 billion hours on the platform, up 32% from a year earlier, the company announced earlier this month. The first artist to host a Listening Party will be Grammy-nominated Poppy for her new album Flux. Her music will be played in Roblox experiences City Life, The Floor is Lava, Color Block Tower, and Fairytale Life Roleplay. “Music is such a natural part of the way we express ourselves, entertain ourselves, and find connections with other people, and we want to keep finding new ways to make music more of an integral part of the Roblox experience,” Jon Vlassopulos, VP and global head of music for Roblox, said in a statement. Roblox’s move is another way to attract artists’ fans into the metaverse, and shows that the connection between music and video games isn’t going away anytime soon. With Listening Parties, Roblox is stepping further into the musical frontier of the metaverse. Roblox hosted a virtual concert for Lil Nas X in November. Other gaming platforms, such as Fortnite, have hosted concerts for Travis Scott and Arianna Grande. Twitch has live-streamed performances by Post Malone. Over the weekend, Poppy will also join fans in each immersive experience, competing and creating alongside them while answering questions about the album. Her play schedule can be found on her Roblox profile as well as on her Roblox group. There will also be two exclusive free virtual merchandise (also known as “verch”) items available in the Roblox catalog for fans to access. “Roblox is a platform with endless possibilities and seemed like a perfect place to launch my new album,” Poppy said in a statement.

Roblox adds Listening Parties, extending the reach musicians can have on its platform

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