During Roblox’s latest annual developers conference, music played a major role in the announcements concerning the next stages of the game’s development.
By the end of the year, Roblox will be launching a feature called “Now Playing”. This will enable users to discover and share the music they’re listening to in real time, while interacting with their virtual environment. Not only will they be able to view the tracks they are currently listening to, but also interact with them via likes, shares, and even check rankings of the most-listened-to songs on the platform.
Roblox has signed a strategic partnership with music distributor DistroKid, which will enable the integration of a large catalog of music, with genres ranging from pop and electro to rock, rap/hip-hop and even country. It is not yet known whether the distributor’s entire catalog will be available.
However, it’s important to note that, for the time being, the agreement between Roblox and DistroKid does not provide for direct royalty payments for artists whose tracks are played on the platform. At first sight, this might seem a limitation for independent musicians…
Yet this feature offers a real marketing opportunity: even without royalties, Roblox could represent a powerful lever for artists, especially for independent musicians or those looking to expand their audience. The opportunity to share music with millions of daily active users on the platform could generate considerable interest, and translate into increased listening on other DSPs such as Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer. Roblox could thus become a way of attracting new listeners and redirecting them to other revenue-generating channels.
Alongside the initiative with DistroKid, innovative projects have also been launched with the startup Styngr, which is collaborating with majors such as Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) to integrate licensed music into Roblox. These agreements should enable the availability of a wider music repertoire, offering users a richer and more diversified musical experience.
This announcement represents a new stage in the merging of the video game and music industries.
