Warner Music Group will launch Rhythm City — a “music-themed social roleplay experience” — on the gaming platform Roblox on February 4th. Not only will Rhythm City host events and shows from Warner’s artists, it will allow users to take on roles like DJ, producer, or dancer as they explore the virtual world and purchase digital items only available on Roblox. Rhythm City was developed in partnership with Gamefam, a metaverse-focused gaming and content company.
Source: Warner Music Group Partners With Roblox on Rhythm City
The use of celebrity promoters heated up in 2021 during the massive bull run in crypto. Last year, celebrity crypto ads filled prominent slots in the Super Bowl, the largest marketing event of the year. Lawyer Sean Masson, of law firm Scott + Scott, who has filed several proposed class-action suits, said celebrities found they could be compensated simply for touting a token, without realizing their legal obligations under federal and state rules governing endorsements and compensation.
Only four new songs by groups made it into the official Top 100 singles of last year, which was dominated by solo acts and a smattering of classics by the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Arctic Monkeys. So why have bands struggled to find success compared with solo megastars like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift? The obvious culprit is social media, according to Chris Price, head of music for Radio 1 and 1Xtra, and the executive in charge of the stations’ playlists.
One popular alternative to the ‘pro-rata’ streaming royalty model is the so-called ‘user-centric’ (UC) model. Here, the ≈70% royalty-bearing portion of an individual user’s subscription fee is paid out only to artists that specific individual has listened to; there is no central ‘pool’ of royalties. Universal Music Group, however, is on the record as having concerns about the UC model.
