Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd subsidiary The Sandbox has partnered with Warner Music Group (WMG) to create the first music-themed world in The Sandbox metaverse.
Envisioned as a combination of musical theme park and concert venue, the WMG’s LAND in The Sandbox will present concerts and musical experiences featuring WMG’s roster of artists.
“LANDs” are discrete sections of The Sandbox Metaverse that can be bought and owned as digital real-estate and monetised through in-game virtual events and experiences.
“First-of-a-kind immersive experiences”
“We’re shaping The Sandbox as a fun entertainment destination where creators, fans, and players can enjoy first-of-a-kind immersive experiences and be more closely connected to their favourite musical artists through NFTs,” The Sandbox chief operating officer and co-founder Sebastien Borget said.
“This strategic partnership with Warner Music Group brings the open metaverse one step forward in the direction of fan-owned and community-driven initiatives – the possibilities are very exciting.”
This is The Sandbox’s first deal with a major music company and WMG’s first foray into the non-fungible token (NFT) metaverse industry.
WMG is one of the world’s biggest music companies, supporting hundreds of top artists and labels including Atlantic, Warner Records, Elektra, and Parlophone.
“New layer of possibility”
"Our partnership with The Sandbox adds a new layer of possibility in the metaverse, with the ownership of virtual real estate,” WMG chief digital officer and executive vice president of business development Oana Ruxandra said.
“As a first-mover, Warner Music has secured the equivalent of beachfront property in the metaverse.
“On the LAND, we'll develop persistent, immersive social music experiences that defy real-world limitations and allow our artists and their fans to engage like never before."
Under the partnership, The Sandbox will work with WMG to develop music experiences on WMG’s purchased LAND asset.
These experiences are intended to empower Warner Music artists to engage with their fans, reach the global community of The Sandbox and generate new revenue streams and forms of virtual entertainment.
To mark the occasion, The Sandbox will hold a LAND sale in March 2022, which will allow music fans to buy coveted LANDS adjacent to the WMG property.
“Talent-oriented experiences”
“As a former entertainment executive, I'm very excited to have one of the biggest music companies in the world with some of the most talented artists joining The Sandbox to create talent-oriented experiences,” The Sandbox vice president of global partnerships Bertrand Levy said.
Part virtual real estate, part amusement park, The Sandbox says its concept fully embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space where “worlds and heroes collide to make magic”.
WMG will join over 200 existing partnerships including The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, ZEPETO, and CryptoKitties.
About the companies
With a legacy extending back over 200 years, WMG today brings together artists, songwriters, and entrepreneurs that are moving entertainment culture across the globe.
WMG’s music publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, has a catalogue of over one million copyrights spanning every musical genre, from the standards of the Great American Songbook to the biggest hits of the 21st century.
The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is one of the decentralized virtual worlds that has been fuelling the recent growth of virtual real-estate demand having partnered with major IPs and brands.
Building on existing The Sandbox IP that has more than 40 million global installs on mobile, The Sandbox metaverse claims to offer players and creators a decentralized and intuitive platform to create immersive 3D worlds and game experiences and to safely store, trade, and monetize their creations.
Animoca Brands describes itself as a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain and gamification that is driving digital property rights via NFTs and gaming to help build the open metaverse.
It develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games and products utilising hundreds of popular intellectual properties.
The company has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl and Lympo.