Saweetie To Headline Virtual Super Bowl Concert in Roblox Metaverse

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Metaverse concerts are taking another step into the mainstream with the announcement on Thursday that rapper Saweetie will perform a virtual show Super Bowl Concert in the Roblox metaverse.

The show by the "Tap-In" star will be part of the NFL's build-up to Super Bowl LVII, bringing "a family-friendly, fully motion-captured performance… that will bring the excitement of an NFL Super Bowl musical performance to millions of fans in the metaverse," the league said in a statement.

The Friday, Feb. 10 concert will premiere at 7 p.m. ET, and re-air every hour until Sunday as part of the Super Bowl LVII weekend.

"I'm really excited to bring this iconic moment to the metaverse and share my music with a whole new audience in such a unique way," Saweetie said. She added:

"As an artist, innovator, and football fan, to be able to perform during Super Bowl LVII weekend in this new world — Rhythm City on Roblox — is something I never imagined that I would be involved in…I can't wait for fans to experience what we've created."

Music to Their Ears

There's a pretty strong case to be made that live-streamed virtual concerts fronted by recording artists' avatars are the single most successful use of the metaverse so far.

While it wasn't the first or the biggest, Travis Scott's April 2020 concert in the Fortnite MMO-cum-metaverse was where the idea went mainstream, when 12.3 million people showed up live. Three days later, the number of people who'd seen it was 27.7 million, and by June, ESPN said the concert had been attended by 45 million people.

Other big metaverse concerts have been held by the likes of Lil Nas X, Justin Beiber, Post Malone, Foo Fighters and Ariana Grande. Fortnite and Roblox were key destinations, as was Meta's Horizon Worlds.

Don't Forget the Logos

While Roblox is not a blockchain-based, Web3 metaverse, and does not use NFTs, a collection of digital items like Saweetie-themed clothing, accessories, and even hairstyles, will be available on the Roblox marketplace to attendees.

Fortune reported that Scott earned $20 million from merchandise sales at his virtual concert.

There will, of course, be sponsorship. Saweetie will perform in her label's brand new metaverse destination, Warner Music Group's Rhythm City, in the Intuit Stadium venue. Rhythm City launched on Saturday, and will include mini-games, private venues (players' houses) with social role-playing activities themed around being a musician.

And the NFL will be pushing its new Roblox experience, Super NFL Tycoon — which replicates the experience of being a team owner, from drafting a team to (seriously) "managing cashflow, payroll, taxes and customer acquisition with the help of Intuit's products."