Video games is a sector which targets fundamentally the same market as music, and has done so outrageously well over the past two decades, Music Business Worldwide argues and looks to find lessons for music. MBW picks out five potential areas:

1. Embracing technology -  every great new technology ultimately expands the market for entertainment

2. Diversity of channels - the increasingly overwhelming dominance of premium streaming means music is well on its way to being effectively a single format business again

3. Proactive marketing at all demographics - music may be universal but only a minority have an active commercial relationship with it

4. Deal with the limitations of exclusive rights - copyright needs to be used to facilitate new ideas, rather than to block them

5. View the consumers as an equal - more than ever, popular culture is about the fan as much as it is about the art itself

6. Music needs to embrace its future - the example of the games business shows the benefits of developing a portfolio of channels to market

Korn recently did a performance in 'AdventureQuest 3D'. Late last year The Offspring performed in 'World Of Tanks'. Recently, Travis Scott staged a big concert in 'Fortnite'. The latter is special - "a very different kind of social network" - says Nathan Brown, a video game writer, consultant, and the ex-editor of game industry bible Edge. "It is a pop-cultural phenomenon, yes, but a cross-cultural one as well – a place where Batman can snipe John Wick from halfway across the map, only to get ganked by a 'Star Wars' Stormtrooper while hoovering up the loot. It is the closest thing modern society has to the metaverse”. GQ reports on that particular part of live concert future, merged with video games.

Concerts in video games are more dynamic and immersive than 2D live streams of artists singing to front-facing iPhone cameras - Pitchfork argues in favor of video-game concerts, so they talked to Minecraft festival organizers for some advice. Open Pit is a volunteer-run collective of event organizers who’ve been making virtual festivals in Minecraft since 2018 - Coalchella, Fire Festival, Mine Gala, and Nether Meant. So, why Minecraft - "[it's] is super open—you can do pretty much whatever you want with it. It’s also the best-selling game of all time, so most people either have it or know someone who has it". On the software side - "there’s a lot of custom software that has to be written for the events we throw, but it’s not super difficult to just run your own Minecraft server with some friends". On Fortnite, an event like Travis Scott’s Astronomical has to be run by the developer of Fortnite - "whereas in Minecraft, there’s a lot of flexibility for the community to organize things".

Adult-emo come-backers American Football are headlining a virtual festival Nether Meant in video-game Minecraft on Saturday, April 11 (at 6 p.m. New York time, midnight Berlin time, 7 a.m. on Sunday Tokyo time). The fest takes place in a fictional space called Elsewither, which is based on the Brooklyn venue Elsewhere, NME reports. American Football are joined by Anamanaguchi, Baths, and HANA. AM's Mike Kinsella said “I’m looking forward to (finally) being able to prove to my 7-year-old son that I do, indeed, have a job”. People can watch within the game, or on Twitch. They’re also selling VIP passes to the concert, which offers “special VIP areas in-game” and in-game merch. Proceeds from the VIP passes will go to Good360’s COVID–19 relief efforts.

'Death Stranding' is a highly anticipated new PS4 game from Hideo Kojima, author of 'Metal Gear Solid', and the game will arrive alongside an album of original music, Polygon reports. Scottish pop group CHVRCHES has written the game’s end song - "thinking of the themes of the game and what it is trying to say to […]

Korn will play a virtual concert in MMORPG games AdventureQuest 3D and AdventureQuest Worlds, where characters will receive a “magical concert ticket” to attend the show, where they can pick up loot while battling monsters as the band plays, Kerrang reports. The event is free to play and new players can also attend, as new […]