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Warner Music Group will create a location in the virtual world The Sandbox, and it expects that music fans would show their support by purchasing neighboring real estate. WMG defined its new home as a ‘combination of musical theme park and concert arena’ in a press release. Concerts and other ‘musical experiences’ will be hosted in collaboration with The Sandbox. But it's only talked about one thing so far: a special sale of digital real estate dubbed Land, which Sandbox members can purchase ‘coveted’ pieces of in March. The Sandbox has already collaborated on experiences with specific artists such as Snoop Dogg, but this appears to be a larger and more ambitious project.
"Warner Music has secured the metaverse's equivalent of beachfront property," boasted Oana Ruxandra, WMG's chief digital officer of business development.
The Land sale will include areas next to the WMG property, though WMG did not explain whether this will provide any tangible benefits or if buyers will simply derive emotional satisfaction — and potentially higher real estate prices — from the abstract sense of proximity. The Sandbox's Land sales have precedent in virtual worlds such as Second Life, where firms have opened virtual experiences as well. Virtual concerts have also taken over Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox, with the latter signing its own music business deals and hosting ‘listening parties’ where artists may showcase new music. WMG also invested in Wave, a virtual concert platform, last year. The Sandbox, unlike the other platforms mentioned above, is based on blockchain and non-fungible token (or NFT) technology. It's particularly concerned with ownership and allowing players to monetize in-game resources, which is a fundamental component of the ‘metaverse,’ as it's frequently referred to. It has led to a recent campaign to make virtual land a desirable commodity, alongside the similar platform Decentraland, however, some observers remain suspicious of the phenomena. Regardless of the wider economic interests at play, there is one compelling reason to become virtual rather than physical neighbors with a concert venue: if the music becomes too loud, you can just turn your computer off and go to sleep.