Video game platform Roblox announced this morning that it has partnered with Sony Music Entertainment that will enable the two companies to work together to create music experiences for the Roblox community, including ways that Sony Music artists can reach a new audience and generate profit.
The announcement follows last month’s news of a $ 200 million lawsuit filed by a group of music publishers claiming Roblox allowed developers to build virtual boomboxes in their games that use copyrighted music without the Permission to stream the artist or payment.
The editors in the lawsuit included Universal Music Publishing, Big Machine Records, Concord Music Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Group, and Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Roblox responded to the litigation by saying it was “surprised and disappointed” with the lawsuit, which was a “fundamental misunderstanding of how the Roblox platform worked.”
It claimed it did not tolerate copyright infringement and it used filtering technology to prevent unauthorized recordings. It also said it responds to valid Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) opt-out requests by removing all infringing content.
However, the company’s deal with Sony Music shows that Roblox understands the value of an official partnership with a music company.
Roblox hasn’t specified exactly what kind of “commercial activities” it has for Sony Music artists and their fans, but it had worked with the music company on previous events, including its very first virtual concert with Lil Nas X in November 2020 and this May a virtual Zara Larsson launch party. The concert drew over 36 million players while the launch party drew over 4 million visitors – the highest of any launch party on Roblox to date.
The Roblox platform generally allows artists to reach fans through a variety of activities, including virtual concerts, merchandise sales, and other integrated in-game activities. We understand that the agreement is not accessible through Roblox Developers, however, on the recordings of artists from Sony Music Entertainment.
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“Sony Music artists have been at the forefront, the millions of music fans in Roblox’s vast user community with pioneering initiatives like small By doing The industry’s first virtual performance by X on the platform and Zara Larsson’s most recent listening party event, “said Dennis Kooker, Sony Music Entertainment’s president of global digital business and US sales.” We are delighted with this new agreement on the extension. our successful partnership with the Roblox team to open up further commercial opportunities at the interface of music and gaming. Online immersive environments represent a significant opportunity to reach a growing number of fans who want to use virtual communities to enjoy musical experiences together, “he added.
The deal comes at a time when Roblox’s audience is getting older. The company reported a 128% increase in user engagement from users over 13 in its results for the first quarter of 2021 – a time when music is becoming a more important part of young people’s lives and they are interested in engaging more directly with favorite artists . The game company’s daily active users also rose 79% to 42.1 million in the quarter, while revenue rose 140% to $ 387 million.
“Sony Music has been a fantastic partner and I am excited to deepen and extend our relationship. They really understand the tremendous opportunity the Metaverse offers their artists and we are determined to help them open up new creative and commercial opportunities on Roblox, ”said Jon Vlassopulos, Vice President and Global Head of Music at Roblox.
This isn’t Roblox’s first record label partnership. Last month, the company announced a similar deal with BMG, which also focuses on future collaborations and revenue-generating opportunities for artists and songwriters.
