Twenty One Pilots are set to play an expansive concert inside the popular video game Roblox, the band and game announced on Wednesday. Twenty One Pilots join other marquee artists like Travis Scott, J Balvin and Lil Nas X in performing inside a game, with Lil Nas X also playing …
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I was being puckish when I first wrote that, thanks to Peloton, “fitness classes are the new music festivals” — but it seems the exercise company may have taken me seriously. On Tuesday morning (June 29th), the at-home fitness company announced All For One Music Festival, a three-day, virtual event …
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This story appears in Rolling Stone‘s 2021 Future of Music issue, a special project delving into the next era of the multibillion-dollar hitmaking business. Read the other stories here. Two decades after digital downloads replaced physical CDs, and 10 years into streaming’s dominance of music consumption, music’s tech boom still …
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As video game companies continue to court the music industry, presenting themselves as immersive marketing tools during a largely concertless 2020, Lil Nas X is the latest high-profile act to join the trend: The “Old Town Road” rapper has announced that he will perform a virtual concert on Roblox,one of …
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Jack Johnson can thank an anonymous shoplifter for a sudden boost in streams for his 2009 hit “Upside Down.” Two weeks ago, TikToker H1T1 bought a flat-screen television for a bargain on a secondhand marketplace, only to discover that it was seemingly stolen from an Arby’s and could only display …
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It’s taken a few years, but Adam Arrigo finally has his dream team. The co-founder and CEO of animated-concert company Wave is one of the forerunners of the livestreaming industry — which exploded in earnest after Covid-19 shut down in-person concerts. Arrigo, armed with a powerhouse roster of new investors …
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They don’t make ’em like Jac Holzman anymore. Maybe they never did. While music executives are keen to brand their firms “technology companies” these days, Holzman, 89, is already several laps ahead. After co-founding Elektra Records in his dorm room in 1950 then bringing the label into Kinney National (now …
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In Rolling Stone‘s series At Work, we go behind the curtain with decision-makers across the fast-changing music business — exploring a range of responsibilities, burgeoning ideas, advice for industry newcomers, and more. Read earlier interviews here. If it weren’t for the unusual events of 2020, Stephanie LaFera would be spending …
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Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story compared the first-day sales of 2020 Record Store Day, which has been divided into three days, to 2019’s Record Store Day, which took place on one day. This story has been updated to more accurately reflect the comparison. Rolling Stone regrets the …
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This is the third installment of Rolling Stone’s series At Work, in which we explore the fast-changing music business from the perspective of a different industry leader each week. Read the first here and the second here. Of Spotify’s thousands of employees, there are few more sought-after by the music …
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