Gaming giant Roblox’s revenue is soaring – expected to hit $3.5 billion this year.
But independent artists hoping to earn income by using their music on the platform may want to look away now.
Roblox has formed a new partnership with DistroKid, MBW has discovered. The agreement enables DK’s artists to make their music available to Roblox’s 80 million daily active users.
There’s just one problem. When these artists’ music is played on Roblox… they get ZERO compensation.
Roblox has partnered with Release boy Launching an invitation-only beta program to give independent artists the option to distribute their music to gaming platforms.
According to an opt-in form obtained by MBW, independent artists who sign up for the beta program “are being granted access to Roblox developers [their] Free music”.
Elsewhere on the opt-in form, artists are told that “opting into the beta does not guarantee that your music will be added to Roblox, which is at their sole discretion.”
Artists must also have 100% publishing rights and must not be registered with PRO, e.g. ASCAP or Body mass index.
“DistroKid is always looking for new ways to discover artists and make their music available.”
Amanda Ferry, DistroKid
MBW reached out to DistroKid for comment on its new partnership with Roblox.
“DistroKid is always looking for new ways to discover artists and make their music available,” DistroKid’s VP of Marketing Amanda Ferri told us in a statement.
Ferri added: “Partnering with Roblox fits perfectly with this mission. We are very excited about our partnership with Roblox and can’t wait to reveal more information soon.”
Roblox has become particularly close to the music industry in recent years as part of a broader convergence of the music and gaming worlds.
All three major music companies are tied to in-game events, promotions, and partnerships on the platform, such as Universal Music Group’s Beat Galaxy Music Center, Warner Music Group’s Rhythm City, and Sony Music’s 2021 partnership with Roblox to bring its Artist introduces virtual universe. Warner Music Group invested in Roblox in January 2021.
In March, Universal Music and Republic Records launched a new product in Roblox called “Roblox” Speakerdescribed as an “ad-supported portable music player” embedded within Roblox, allowing record labels to launch playlists and dynamically integrate them into the game space.
In June, gaming music platform STYNGR partnered with Warner Music Group to offer ad-free radio stations directly within Roblox.
Elsewhere, in June 2021, a group of independent and major music publishers sued Roblox in the United States via the NMPA for more than $200 million, accusing the company of widespread copyright infringement. The NMPA reached an agreement with Roblox in September of that year and resolved any previous claims against the platform.
DistroKid has previously claimed to be “the world’s largest independent music publisher” and estimates it distributes 30-40% of all new music worldwide.
The company says its platform is used by more than 2 million artists.
Three years ago in August 2021, DistroKid received an investment from Insight Partners, which valued the distribution platform at $1.3 billion.
Upon completion of the transaction, the Boston-based growth equity firm Silversmith Capital PartnersLed DistroKid’s first outside investment in 2018, retaining a “meaningful ownership position” and remaining on the DistroKid board of directors.
Spotify retains its minority stake in DistroKid following investment from Insight Partners; A few months later, SPOT sold two-thirds of the shares $167 million.global music business
