PYMNTS Metaverse Series: Warner Music Group Brings Venue, Theme Park to The Sandbox

There’s been a lot of talk about how brands can leverage the metaverse to create exciting and immersive experiences that offer fans access, entertainment and products. Now, Warner Music Group (WMG) has teamed up with The Sandbox, a top decentralized metaverse, for a project that could show the true potential of virtual reality worlds.

The deal will bring concerts from WMG’s top recording artists like Bruno Mars, Twenty One Pilots and Ed Sheeran — as well as blasts from the past ranging from Madonna to Metallica — to The Sandbox.

Blockchain-based metaverses are virtual reality worlds that sell nonfungible token (NFT) “land” that can be developed with anything from games and art galleries to virtual retailers and concert halls. Users create avatars, digital versions of themselves that can be customized with NFT clothing, buy NFT goods, and even purchase real-world goods at virtual marketplaces.

See also: What’s a Metaverse, and Why is One Having a Fashion Show?

Concerts have been one of the big draws of virtual realities, with artists like Travis Scott and Arianna Grande attracting huge crowds — and selling millions of dollars in tickets and NFT merchandise — in metaverses like The Sandbox, Decentraland and the non-blockchain Fortnite, which is transforming itself from a massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming land into a metaverse with a very large gaming component.

Read also: Is the Metaverse Gaming, Commerce or Escapism?

Metaverses broke into the public consciousness in a big way in October, when Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook, calling the company Meta. At the time, he said the company would transform into a metaverse, which he believed to be the future of social media.

Meta isn’t alone. Brands from Gucci to Samsung to Walmart have experimented with or at least expressed serious interest in metaverses as branding and commerce opportunities.

See more: Walmart Meets Meta in the Metaverse

Singing Its Praises

Top record label WMG announced in a Thursday (Jan. 27) press release that it had entered a strategic partnership with Animoica Brands’ The Sandbox to build the top metaverse’s “first music-themed world,” Warner Music Group LAND.

Describing the virtual venue as “a combination of musical theme park and concert venue,” WMG said in the release it “will feature concerts and musical experiences featuring WMG’s leading roster of artists.”

Early artists to explore metaverse concerts have met with huge success. Travis Scott performed for 12.3 million fans in Fortnite, and Arianna Grande attracted a staggering 78 million.

Read also: Are Fortnite Concerts the Future of Live Music?

The WMG deal marks the first entrance of a major music firm into a metaverse. The company’s labels include Atlantic, Warner Records, Elektra and Parlophone.

“We’ll develop persistent, immersive social music experiences that defy real-world limitations and allow our artists and their fans to engage like never before,” said WMG Chief Digital Officer and Executive Vice President of Business Development Oana Ruxandra in the release.

Added The Sandbox Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Sebastien Borget in the release: “We’re shaping The Sandbox as a fun entertainment destination where creators, fans, and players can enjoy first-of-a-kind immersive experiences and be more closely connected to their favorite musical artists through NFTs,”.

It’s a coup for The Sandbox, which has been battling Decentraland for the position of No. 1 metaverse on the blockchain. Other partners include individual musicians like Snoop Dogg, Deadmau5 and Steve Aoki, as well as entertainment properties ranging from “The Walking Dead,” to “The Smurfs.”

The WMG deal, Borget said in the release, “brings the open metaverse one step forward in the direction of fan-owned and community-driven initiatives — the possibilities are very exciting.”

It’s not WMG’s first dip in the blockchain pond. In April, it announced a partnership with NFT developer Genies to create avatars and digital wearables for its artists.

See also: In the Metaverse, NFTs Can Buy Experiences, Luxury and Eyeballs

Virtual Land Rush

One aspect of metaverses is that neighborhoods and entertainment districts crop up, making certain plots of virtual property — The Sandbox calls them LANDS — more valuable than others, just like in any other real-world city. In some cases, these are planned — Decentraland has the Voltaire Art District, where virtual art auctioneer Sotheby’s just landed, but some will grow up naturally.

Read more: Experiential Marketing Meets Social Commerce in the Metaverse

The Sandbox is planning a March sale of “coveted” LAND plots near the forthcoming WMG venue. It’s clear that WMG will be in on that action.

“Our partnership with The Sandbox adds a new layer of possibility in the metaverse, with the ownership of virtual real estate,” Ruxandra said in the release. “As a first-mover, Warner Music has secured the equivalent of beachfront property in the metaverse.”

See also: Metaverse Land Prices Mirror Real-World Real Estate as Investors Flock to Virtual Worlds

It worth noting that this isn’t just hype. In December, someone paid $450,000 to be the neighbor of metaverse early-adopter Snoop Dogg, who responded to a tweeted story link about the sale by tweeting, “That’s a bargain.”