Roblox reveals most popular concert of 2021
Twenty One Pilots delivered the most popular music concert experience on Roblox in 2021, according to a new report.
The experience, which took place last September in collaboration with Warner Music Group, included a five-song set from the Grammy-award winning duo with the first-ever fan-dictated setlist.
Pre-concert quests, exclusive custom-designed virtual merchandise, behind-the-scenes footage and a Q&A were also included in the experience.
Fans in over 160 countries joined the virtual event, with nearly 70% of attendees joining from outside of the US – the game’s most engaged market.
Twenty One Pilots’ offering also earned second place on the top 5 events (both music and otherwise) that engaged over 30% of visitors in the 17+ age group, according to Roblox’s end-of-year report.
The only other music-related event in the top 5 was KSI’s launch party which saw the YouTuber and rapper perform songs from his chart-topping debut album ‘All Over The Place’.
Roblox’s daily active users increasing from 32.6 million in 2020 to nearly 50 million across 180 countries in 2021
Roblox’s report also showed stratospheric growth for the platform, with daily active users increasing from 32.6 million in 2020 to nearly 50 million across 180 countries in 2021.
The median daily active user visited 55 unique experiences over the course of 2021, the report reveals, and the fastest-growing demographic is 17-to-24-year-olds.
Roblox describes itself as “an online community where people come together to play, create and explore millions of 3D virtual worlds together”.
The platform’s first foray into in-game concerts was a virtual concert with Lil Nas X in November 2020 which garnered 35 million visits.
In January 2021, Roblox’s global head of music told IQ that one of the platform’s missions was to “double down on what we were already doing and grow our music offering significantly so music becomes an organic part of our users’ daily experience on Roblox”.
Other notable music experiences that took place on Robox last year include Royal Blood’s virtual concert and a concurrent virtual edition of EDC (Electronic Daisy Carnival).
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Tinder for festivals: a modern-day summer of love
Location-based mobile dating app Tinder has partnered with live music giants AEG and Live Nation to create “Festival Mode”, allowing users to match with fellow festivalgoers at events across the United States and UK.
Attendees of festivals including All Points East, British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park and Bonnaroo can add the official festival badge to their profile, allowing them to view and match with other Tinder users who are attending.
“Claim your badge to let others know which festival you’re attending and find someone who wont mind that you haven’t showered in a few days,” the Match Group-owned dating app posted on Twitter.
Thye company explains that the app consistently records a surge in activity over festival weekends, as “music festivals unite people around a common passion – music.”
“We wanted to create a new experience that makes it easier to connect with other concertgoers before even setting foot on festival grounds”
“We wanted to create a new experience that makes it easier to connect with other concertgoers before even setting foot on festival grounds,” says Tinder chief marketing officer Jenny Campbell.
“We’ve partnered with some of the biggest names in the entertainment and events industry to make that happen, and we couldn’t be more excited to help Tinder users find their crowd during these events for the rest of 2019.”
Other events available in the festival mode include UK-based Parklife and Lovebox, as well as US festivals Hangout, the Governors’ Ball, Firefly, Faster Horses, Hard Summer and of Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas and Orlando.
The feature can be toggled on and off, giving users the freedom to view and match with those not attending the festival as well.
Festival Mode began rolling out on Wednesday 1 May. Event-specific badges will be available for users approximately three weeks prior to each festival.
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Electric Daisy Carnival heading for China
EDM festival juggernaut Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) will touch down in China for the first time this April, promoter Insomniac has announced.
In partnership with local promoter Zebra Entertainment Enterprise, Live Nation-owned Insomniac will transform Shanghai’s International Music Park with “awe-inspiring stages, incredible laser and light displays, imaginative theatrical performers and world-renowned dance music artists” for the inaugural EDC China on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 April.
“To bring EDC halfway around the world is a milestone for our entire Insomniac family,” says Pasquale Rotella, founder and CEO of Insomniac. “China marks EDC’s sixth international location, and I’m excited to connect and create beautiful new moments with the country’s passionate and ever-growing dance music community.”
Insomniac’s flagship EDC Las Vegas festival welcomes more than 400,000 fans over three days each year, with international events including past and present EDCs in Mexico, India, Brazil, the UK and Japan.
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EDC UK “postponed indefinitely”
Insomniac Events, the Live Nation-owned promoter of dance music festival franchise Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), has cancelled a second event for 2017, announcing yesterday the ‘indefinite postponement’ of EDC UK.
The cancellation of EDC UK, which had taken place at the 65,000-cap. Milton Keynes Bowl since 2013, comes after Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella revealed EDC New York would also “take a break” this year, although that festival is expected to return in 2018.
“Our plans to grow and improve the festival at Milton Keynes have not developed as we had hoped,” reads a statement, “and we are not going to be able to stage EDC UK this July in a manner that meets all of our high expectations.
“Our plans to grow and improve the festival at Milton Keynes have not developed as we had hoped”
“As a result, we are indefinitely postponing the show until we can properly reimagine all areas of the experience. We apologise for the inconvenience we know this causes, and we thank you for your understanding.”
Despite the winding down of EDC UK and, temporarily, EDC NY, there will be at least one new destination on the EDC festival calendar in 2017: at the Zozo Marine Stadium in Tokyo.
A man in his 20s lost his life after “falling ill” at EDC UK 2016 (pictured).
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EDC Japan is a go for 2017
EDC Japan, the delayed inaugural east-Asian edition of Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival, is confirmed for next spring.
The festival was originally slated for this year but was put on hold in March, along with the cancellation of EDC Puerto Rico and Beyond Wonderland Bay Area.
“Dance music has become a global phenomenon that we are fortunate enough to share with our EDC communities around the world in India, Mexico and the UK,” says Rotella. “Taking EDC to Japan has been a goal that’s years in the making, and I can’t wait to deliver something really special in 2017.”
The festival will take place at Tokyo’s Zozo Marine Stadium (30,000-cap.) and Makuhari Beachon 28 and 29 April, co-promoted by Insomniac, Creativeman, Live Nation Japan and GMO Internet Group.
The confirmation of EDC Japan comes alongside news that EDC New York will not go ahead next year.
“Although EDC New York 2016 was one of my favourites hosted in the Big Apple, we’ve decided to take a break in 2017,” writes Rotella in a Facebook post outlining Insomniac’s plans for 2017. “We hope many of you east-coast headliners will join us in Vegas.”
Insomniac this year held its first event in India, at Delhi’s Buddh International Circuit. Ajay Nair, of local promoter OML, told IQ earlier this month the event was affected by India’s demonetisation crisis, with ticket sales down an estimated 1,000–1,500 per day as a result of the shortage in cash.
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EDC continues global expansion with Indian event
Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), one of the world’s largest dance music festivals, will this year expand to a fifth country with the launch of EDC India.
The festival, a joint venture between Live Nation’s Insomniac Events and local promoter Only Much Louder (OML) and sponsored by Budweiser India, will take place in an as-yet-unannounced venue in New Delhi on 12 and 13 November.
Since its inception as a one-day festival in Los Angeles in 1996, EDC events have been held in cities across the US, as well as internationally, in the UK, Mexico and Brazil. (A spin-off festival was also announced for Tokyo but has since been called off.)
“I know India is a place where the magic of EDC can come alive in a truly unique way”
Vijay Nair, CEO of OML, says attendees can expect “one of the largest line-ups of international and Indian artists” at the “Vegas-style festival”, in reference to EDC’s flagship event in Las Vegas, Nevada. “We can’t wait to bring that experience to Indian fans and blow their minds,” he adds.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by [India’s] colourful and exotic culture,” comments Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella. “I know it’s a place where the magic of EDC can come alive in a truly unique way, and we’ve got amazing partners in OML and Budweiser who can help make that happen.”
The location and timing for EDC India are key, as two of India’s biggest existing dance music events, Sunburn and Supersonic, are at loggerheads with the government of Goa after the state announced that their traditional Christmas/New Year slots are off limits in 2016. The Delhi event is, however, still comfortably within northern India’s cool season, meaning a repeat of the sweltering 109°F heat seen at this year’s EDC Las Vegas is unlikely.
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Woman dies at sun-baked EDC Las Vegas
A 20-year-old woman has died after attending Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas.
Kenani Kaimulua collapsed in a car park after suffering a seizure on the Monday following the Insomniac Events electronic dance music (EDM) festival, just days after a panel at the Insomniac-hosted EDMbiz event called for festivalgoers to “come together and look out for each other” to prevent drug-related deaths at EDM concerts.
In an email to the Associated Press, Kaimulua’s father, Dane, acknowledged “there were drugs in her system and they also contributed to her death”, but said it “was not just the drugs that killed her. She was at the EDC Las Vegas for the whole three days in the record-breaking hot weather. That alone could kill anyone.”
Temperatures soared to a high of 43°C (109°F) on 19 June, the final day of EDC.
“It was not just the drugs that killed her. She was at the EDC Las Vegas for the whole three days in the record-breaking hot weather. That alone could kill anyone”
“We were shocked and saddened to learn that a young woman who had attended the festival passed away on 23 June 2016,” said a statement from Insomniac. “Our sincerest thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends of the woman. While the cause of this tragedy has not yet been determined, we ask everyone to keep her loved ones in their prayers during their time of grieving.”
Insomniac hands out free water at EDC, and has a dedicated ‘Ground Control’ team monitoring attendees (called ‘Headliners’ by the festival) and keeping them “healthy, happy and hydrated”.
Performers at EDC 2016 included Above & Beyond, Kaskade, Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Marshmello, Zedd, DJ Snake, The Chainsmokers and Afrojack.
Following the deaths of two people at Sunset Music Festival in Tampa in late May and five fatalities at Forever Summer in the Philippines the week before, the death toll for major EDM festivals now stands at 25 in the 13-month period since May 2015.
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