Roblox Brings Sony Artists To The Metaverse: What Investors Should Know

One of the most popular mobile games announced a strengthened relationship with a large music publishing company.

Sony has worked with Roblox on the Lil Nas X virtual performance in November 2020 and a Zara Larsson launch party in May 2021.

What Happened: Roblox Corp RBLX announced a partnership with Sony Music, a unit of Sony Group Corp SONY.

“Under the agreement, Roblox and Sony Music will work together to develop innovative music experiences for the Roblox community that offer a range of new commercial opportunities for Sony Music artists to reach new audiences and generate new revenue streams around virtual entertainment,” the press release reads.

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Why It’s Important: The collaboration with Lil Nas X has shown the value of Roblox and its massive audience. The Sony partnership highlights the potential monetization efforts Roblox can provide and marketing opportunities for partners.

More than 36 million people watched a live virtual concert on Roblox featuring Lil Nas X that marked the debut of the song “Holiday.” Mini-games, virtual merchandise sales and a scavenger hunt were also featured by Sony and Roblox at the time.

The Zara Larsson launch party had more than four million visits and featured mini-games, virtual merchandise sales and a virtual rendering of Zara’s Swedish lake house.

Sony called both existing virtual events successful and highlights the massive user community that Roblox offers.

“We are just scratching the surface of what Roblox can deliver to the music industry and to music fans around the world,” Roblox Global Head of Music Jon Vlassopulos said.

Roblox users spend billions of hours each month on the platform according to the press release. The platform offers an opportunity for artists and brands to get their items seen by millions of people in a unique way capturing the growing trend of metaverses.

“Roblox provides a unique and creative way to engage and attract millions of fans as well as drive new revenue streams through virtual launch parties and concerts, integrated in-experience music, persistent artist worlds and virtual merchandise,” the release said.

Roblox reported 43.0 million daily active users in the month of May, up 28% year-over-year and down 1% from the month of April.

The company expects revenue of $149 million to $151 million for the month of May, up 123% to 126% year-over-year.

Roblox will report second-quarter earnings in August.

RBLX Price Action: Shares of Roblox are up 1.01% to $86.89 on Tuesday at publication.