Yon's weekly pulse on the next Internet
Yon's weekly pulse on the next Internet
Universal Music Group & Supersocial team up to launch Beat Galaxy on Roblox; Apple's Vision Pro gets an Inverse reporter emotional; And A16Z sees a future in which game engines are unbundled.
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The Big Story
Universal Music Group (UMG) and Supersocial announce Beat Galaxy on Roblox - a groundbreaking music hub featuring artists and music from UMG.
Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment, and Supersocial, a pioneer in virtual world development (of which I’m CEO and founder), announced the launch of Beat Galaxy, a new music hub on Roblox, the immersive platform for communication and connection.
Building on several successful activations on Roblox by UMG artists and labels, Beat Galaxy is a next-generation social experience centered around music discovery, featuring a fully interactive social space where fans and newcomers can meet, discover, and share their favorite artists and music. From towering amplifiers to a 24/7 virtual club and themed UMG artist takeovers, every aspect of the immersive space encourages discovery.
The Beat Galaxy experience on Roblox is architected to become the virtual epicenter for a wide range of UMG labels and artist integrations, launching with Interscope Records Artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist and actor YUNGBLUD. Each new label integrated into the persistent experience will feature an in-experience takeover including exclusive content from their featured artists, such as custom track runners, dedicated world spaces, and limited virtual items including avatar fashion items and accessories.
Michael Nash, Chief Digital Officer and Executive Vice-President, Universal Music Group said:
“We’re excited to partner with Roblox and Supersocial on Beat Galaxy, which aspires to take the experience of music in the metaverse to the next level in terms of scope, creativity and commercial opportunity. UMG is committed to driving innovation to expand our portfolio of influential platforms such as Roblox, which our artists can use to connect with and engage audiences as technological change continues to transform the consumer landscape.”
Beat Galaxy features songs and labels from UMG’s catalog on the Roblox platform and allows users to socialize and immerse themselves in the music, with fully integrated “track runner” style rhythm gameplay capable of supporting multiple players at once in real-time. Beat Galaxy launches with one of the largest song catalogs of any experience on the Roblox platform, with tracks spanning a wide range of popular music genres from EDM and Pop to Rock and Urban and include hit songs by Glass Animals, Kid Cudi, Becky Hill and more.
In collaborating with UMG, Supersocial is able to bring something unique to the industry. Beat Galaxy creates a next-generation music discovery experience on Roblox that not only provides an opportunity for a fun social gameplay, but creates true utility for music discovery beyond the algorithm in a community-driven way that’s never been done before.
In addition to acting as a rhythm game and music discovery hub for new music and artists, Beat Galaxy will also serve as a future venue for live concerts and themed pop-up shops centered around live performances in-experience. Future expansion includes the ability for users to travel to other virtual UMG worlds and experiences on Roblox via in-experience portals, creating the ultimate interconnected UMG galaxy.
Each playable song in Beat Galaxy is created using cutting-edge beat mapping technology, ensuring the transition from music to movement is completely seamless. This experience-centric approach extends to device-specific controls, supporting gameplay on multiple devices including iOS, Android, PC, Meta Quest VR, and more.
Other bits that caught my eye…
Unbundling the Game Engine: The Rise of Next Generation 3D Creation Engines (A16Z)
AI, and everything else presentation (Benedict Evans)
Reliving My Memories in Apple Vision Pro Almost Brought Me to Tears (Inverse)
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