Roblox has signed a new deal with Sony Music Entertainment that will see the platform host innovative music experiences for players.
The deal, which Roblox announced yesterday on its website, will offer Sony artists “commercial opportunities to reach new audiences’”
Several Sony artists have already worked with the platform, including Lil Nas X and Zara Larsson. Both artists performed in the virtual game world for players and fans alike, breaking records for the number of visits.
36million people watched Lil Nas X’s performance, which included the debut of his single ‘Holiday’. Zara Larsson similarly broke records with 4million visits, a record number of visits for a launch party.
“Sony Music has been a fantastic partner and I am pleased to deepen and lengthen our relationship,” said vice president and global head of music for Roblox Jon Vlassopulos.
“They truly understand the massive opportunity that the metaverse presents for their artists and we are committed to helping them unlock new creative and commercial opportunities on Roblox.”
Roblox has drawn its fair share of criticism from the music industry, as numerous publishers accused the developer of allowing users to upload artists’ music within the game. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) filed a $200million lawsuit last month against the developers of Roblox.
NMPA president and CEO David Israelite claimed the developer “earns hundreds of millions of dollars by requiring users to pay every time they upload music onto the platform [but] take virtually no action to prevent repeat infringement or alert users to the risks they are taking”.
Elsewhere, England and Manchester United football player Marcus Rashford recently gifted a PS5 to a nine-year-old for his charitable work.
The young boy said Rashford inspired him to start running for FairShare, a charitable food redistributor.
