Tag: Lil Nas X
Posted inNews

TikTok’s plans to launch NFTs reportedly run into trouble

Avatar photo by Stuart Dredge

Remember TikTok’s announcement last month that it was launching its first range of ‘TikTok Top Moments’ NFTs, kicking off with a Lil Nas X collaboration on 6 October? How’s that going? Not so well, actually.

That NFT didn’t actually launch, and Lil Nas X’s name has been quietly removed from the TikTok Top Moments homepage. Rolling Stone has been digging.

“A source close to the situation now tells Rolling Stone the release won’t be coming out at all,” it reported, while claiming that another of the launch partners, TikToker (and now recording artist) Bella Poarch “has been actively contemplating pulling out of the program due to worries about its execution”.

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Merch sales from Lil Nas X Roblox gig near ‘eight figures’

Avatar photo by Stuart Dredge

When Lil Nas X performed a concert on gaming platform Roblox in December 2020, it was watched 33m times in a weekend over multiple viewings. Now Roblox has revealed that the show was also a success when it came to sales of digital merchandise.

“The merch for Nas is creeping towards eight figures. We’re in healthy seven figures,” said Roblox’s global head of music Jon Vlassopulos during a recent session at the CogX conference, moderated by Music Ally. “That’s money,” confirmed Vlassopulos. “Creeping towards! Officially seven, but on its way to eight, and that’s with very little working.”

This is part of Roblox’s pitch to labels and artists: that they can hold events on the gaming platform but also make money from virtual merch. Warner Music Group’s chief digital officer and EVP, business development Oana Ruxandra was also part of the session, and talked about this in the context of WMG artist Why Don’t We’s recent Roblox event.

Posted inSandbox

Sandbox Issue 274: OMG, NFTs, WTF? Music Ally’s guide to making and selling an NFT

by Rocio Sanchez

Lead: After two excitable months, the wild, get-in-on-the-ground-floor hype around NFTs is starting to abate somewhat, and while interest – and cynicism – remains high, now is a good time to find out what we have learned so far. So here’s Music Ally’s analysis and guide to making and selling NFTs. What did people who made them find out? […]

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Travis Scott and Lil Nas X hop on the PlayStation 5 bandwagon

Avatar photo by Stuart Dredge

Sony’s new PlayStation 5 console went on sale in some countries last week, with a wider rollout this week. Right from the earliest model, PlayStation marketing has often had strong ties with music, and the PS5 is no exception.

Already this month we’ve seen Travis Scott and Lil Nas X promoting the new console. Scott published a distinctly trippy ten-and-a-half minute video: ‘A Travis Scott + Cactus Jack Experience – PS5: Unboxing Reimagined’.

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Lil Nas X set to play a concert in games platform Roblox

Avatar photo by Stuart Dredge

Games platform Roblox’s music ambitions press on: it’s working with Columbia Music and Lil Nas X on a concert this weekend.

Well, it’s a bit more than a concert. There’ll be a pre-show event on Friday evening involving a Q&A with the artist, as well as the debut of a new video for his upcoming single ‘Holiday’.

Then on Saturday there’ll be a concert performance across multiple stages in the Lil Nas X Concert Experience world – which has already opened up for fans to explore with mini-games and other activities.

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Billie Eilish ‘Bad Guy’ was the biggest global single of 2019

Avatar photo by Stuart Dredge

Billie Eilish is going to need to build a new awards cabinet soon: her latest trophy is the IFPI’s award for the biggest global single of 2019, awarded to ‘Bad Guy’.

The track notched up 19.5m ‘global converted track equivalents’ last year – a metric that includes audio and video streams as well as download sales, weighting each by “relative value” (i.e. the money generated for rightsholders).

‘Bad Guy’ beat second-placed ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X, with 18.4m converted track equivalents, and third-ranked ‘Señorita’ by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello (16.1m).

Eilish’s track has already won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards in January, while it was the second most-streamed track on Spotify in 2019 (behind Señorita) – although Eilish’s ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ was the top-streamed album on that service.

“Billie Eilish has taken the world by storm with her incredible voice and genre-defying sound. She is also an artist who addresses important issues like mental health in her lyrics that clearly resonate with her fans all over the world,” said IFPI boss Frances Moore (pictured above presenting Eilish with her latest award).