THE SOUND OF MUSIC IN SYNC WITH ESPORTS - AN EXCLUSIVE WHITEPAPER, BROUGHT TO YOU BY MIDEM & ESPORTS BAR IN ASSOCIATION WITH MIDIA RESEARCH ...
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The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports An exclusive whitepaper, brought to you by Midem & Esports BAR in association with MIDiA Research
CONTENT
1 • Introduction The White Papers’ Author:
2 • The Music Industry Will Love Esports’s JayKay Media Inc is the publisher of
Highly Engaged Fans MediaTainment Finance and TechMutiny,
3 • Music and Esports: A Marriage Made in two international news-resources
Spectators’ Heaven respectively focusing on investment in the
4 • Music Investors in Esports creative industries and the technologies
disrupting them.
5 • New Business Opportunities: What Can
Music and Esports Learn from Each
Other
• Esports’s strengths
• Music’s strengths
6 • Music and Esports: Interesting
Milestones
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports
1 • INTRODUCTION
The entertainment sector is alive with music online without legal permission. This exclusive white paper brought
the sound of the music increasingly Thanks to a more robust version of the to you by Esports BAR and Midem is
becoming part of esports, as the same tech in the form of streaming, called The Sound of Music in Sync
fast-growing industry of organised the global recorded-music sector with Esports.
competitive gaming is called. has grown during the past five It will explore what the music
Esports is forecast to generate consecutive years. International and esports businesses have to
US$1.1bn globally in 2020, a healthy trade organisation IFPI reports that offer today’s digitally-centric
15.7% jump from the previous year, recorded-music revenues rose 8.2% entertainment consumers.
says Newzoo, the gaming-sector to US$20.2bn in 2019 from 2018. Additionally, the report examines why
research specialist. PwC, another Streaming music’s dominant share of esports fans, teams and organisations
international insights organisation, that total shot up at a rate of 22.9% in are among popular music’s most
predicts esports revenue will have the same year. avid consumers. It looks at how the
vaulted at an 18.3% annual rate to The music industry would love to music industry is home to significant
US$1.8bn a year by 2023. cement its current growth rate by financial investors in esports.
But while professional esports is a appealing to esports young fans, a It analyses the new business
very young commercial digital-first demographic that is known to avoid opportunities and income each can
industry, the music industry, on the traditional forms of entertainment. expect from their collaboration.
other hand, is as old as the hills. The Meanwhile, the esports business Furthermore, it breaks down what
very digital technology that has made hankers after music’s deep-rooted the two sectors can learn from each
esports a hit among young Millennial cultural heritage and credibility that other to grow, including what the
and Gen Z consumers today almost makes it irresistible and essential to live-music industry, struggling in the
decimated the recorded-music other types of entertainment sectors, current Covid-19 pandemic, can
business in the late 1990s as pirates brands, the general public and even learn from esports’ ability to retain its
stole and fans shared copyrighted politicians. momentum during the crisis.
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 3
2 • THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WILL LOVE ESPORTS’ HIGHLY ENGAGED FANS
In the exclusive study below, MIDiA from that creative connection. overlap is even more pronounced.
Research evaluates the intersection Esports & Music: Leverage current Esports is still niche in terms of au-
between enthusiasts of esports (plus dynamics to ‘bounce forward’, not dience size, but nonetheless a crucial
other gaming activities) and music back. asset for cross-entertainment strate-
consumers, especially in the strea- The behavioural overlap between gies, because esports is the only en-
ming-media space. It demonstrates gamers and music has been unde- tertainment field where an event rou-
the benefits music companies, artists niable for some time now. With es- tinely involves gaming, video, music
and esports organisations can gain ports audiences specifically, the and sports - all in one session.
Music Subscribers Are More Likely To Engage With Esports Than Gamers
Esports Penetration by Consumer Segment, Q1 2020
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 4
Zooming in on particular segments rage mobile gamers (9%) and PC ga- The overlap carries through on the
of the world’s population, the music mers (13%) while on par with console live music side as well. Data from the
overlap with esports is clear. For exa- gamers (15%). Digital music services Q1 2019 MIDiA Research survey across
mple, in Q1 2020 across the US, UK, are attractive platforms for esports to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ger-
Canada and Australia, 15% of music promote the discipline on and build many, Sweden, France, the Nether-
subscribers watched esports eve- further fandom and loyalty with wider lands, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and In-
ry month. This means they are more audiences. Furthermore, 51% of esports dia states that 5% of gamers attend
than twice as likely to watch esports viewers pay for a music subscription. esports events, compared to a 3%
than the consumer average (7%). Music services should thus consider all-consumer average. However, this
What’s more, music subscribers are esports audiences an important seg- jumps to 7% among music subscri-
more likely to watch esports than ave- ment in their strategic deliberations. bers, and to a 10% of live-music goers.
Esports Viewers Align More With Music Subscribers By Age Than Gender
Age and Gender Distribution of Esports Viewers, Q1 2020
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 5
In short, an average live-music goer music and esports doesn’t simply end chandise sales. Some 13% of music
is twice as likely to have attended an at attendance numbers or affinity to merchandise buyers attend esports
esports event than an average gamer. music, it further extends to tangible events (2.5 times more likely to attend
Furthermore, this natural fit between commercial benefits via music mer- than gamers).
Artist Fanbases and Games Titles are an Under-Tapped Opportunity for Partnerships
Gamer Penetration of Music Artists for Top Five Console Games, Q4 2019 – US, UK, Australia and Canada
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 6Though behavioural overlaps bet- tion when it comes to which fans play What’s next
ween music and esports are signifi- which games. Strive to ‘bounce forward’, not back!
cant, the demographic distribution For example, while US rapper/pro-
varies both in terms of age, but parti- ducer Travis Scott fans are 2.3 times • Unique experiences: MIDiA has long
cularly gender. more likely to play the battle-royale argued that monetising fandom will
While music subscribers resemble a game Fortnite than overall consu- be the next growth driver for mu-
more mainstream demographics, the mers, there are 80 other artist fan sic-industry revenue. Chinese Inter-
demographic make-up of esports bases that are more likely to play net conglomerate Tencent’s strea-
is characteristic of an early-stage Fornite than Scott’s fans. ming services, Japanese Idol artists
niche. This gap illustrates the cru- Similarly, for Travis Scott, there may and Korean K-Pop artists have de-
cial need to understand audiences be other games to look at going monstrated a clear case for moneti-
across their entertainment lives, in forward. While his fans are approxi- sing fandom, delivering scarce pro-
order to draw synergies from those mately twice as likely to play Fortnite ducts and experiences to fans for a
overlaps effectively. (30%) than average consumers (14%), premium. Even Western artists have
It is not enough to simply ‘slap a big they are nearly three times as likely to caught on with meet-and-greets.
music artist on to an esports event play the sandbox video game Mine- Live streaming can pick up the baton
line-up’ for it to work. The top-level craft (28%) than average consumers by building scarce experiences for
overlaps (mobile, PC and console ga- (11%). fans into the product set. Just as live
mers vs. music subscribers, live-music Looking across the 10 artist fan bases concerts have different ticket prices,
goers and other music fans) are use- most likely to play three of the top so should live streamed events. But
ful for strategic deliberations. To turn games reveals a huge amount of un- rather than better seats, fans will pay
these into actionable tactics, howe- tapped opportunity. The old model for features such as virtual backstage
ver, the analysis needs to be carried for games and music was sync. That passes, pre-gig group chats with ar-
out on a title and genre levels. is still a major opportunity but in the tists, on-stage camera angles. Even
Every music fan has other interests and current pandemic lockdown era the YouTube’s model of paid-for com-
passions. Music fans overlap strongly potential scope is so much wider (see ment streams could fit for some – but
with gaming but there is strong varia- Chapter 5). not all – artists. Live streaming needs
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 7a product refit that delivers a genuine than that though, the virtual items – but that Western streaming services
value exchange for fans if it is to ever like skins and emotes – are integral to do not harness.
get out of its free / charity / tip cul- how gamers express themselves and The groundbreaking performances
de-sac and become a genuine inco- define their identities within the ga- of DJ Marshmello and Travis Scott
me stream of scale. mes. This digital ‘peakcocking’ taps in Fortnite were just the start. As the
into the higher human needs of be- space heats up, bold thinking and in-
• Virtual merch: Digital merchandise longing, esteem and even self-actua- novation in terms of partnerships will
is another unique appeal of games. lisation due to them often being linked be crucial to continue delivering me-
When inside a game, there is a poten- to achievement. These are needs that morable entertainment experiences
tial reason to buy digital merchandise music as a cultural asset can tap into to consumers. Game on.
for avatars and characters which fans
are developing. In China, Tencent has
built a portfolio of music services that
monetise fandom first and consump-
tion second – music rights-related re-
venue was just 29% of Tencent Music
Entertainment’s 2019 revenues. With
the exception of some YouTube live
streaming features, such as paying
to access comment streams, Western
streaming services do not have such
virtual fandom capabilities – yet. Many
games, however, Fortnite especially,
have them baked into their core ga-
ming experience. These virtual merch
stores are a ready-built opportunity
for music artists to tap into with es-
tablished remuneration models. More
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 83 • MUSIC AND ESPORTS: A MARRIAGE MADE IN SPECTATORS’ HEAVEN
Music and esports audiences have constantly interact with content, their amending its inheritance civil code
much in common, especially as their opinion matters to esports players, to allow virtual gaming items to be
passion them is also organically inte- teams, leagues as well as the brands passed on to heirs.
grated into their respective lifestyles. sponsoring them. As British professional gamer Knighte-
Moreover, they treat their gaming nator said during a media event last
Profile of the esports fan idols, including such streamers as year: “Ten years ago, people wanted
Newzoo predicts that the size of the Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevin, Ali ‘Myth’ Kabba- to be pop stars; now they want to be
global esports audience will reach ni and Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney, like rock gamers.”
495 million by the end of 2020, with stars. They are prepared to support Gamers are also music fans and, in-
devoted enthusiasts accounting for them directly by making moneta- creasingly, esports-event organisers
223 million. ry donations (tipping) online towar- have realised the importance of in-
Most of them attended the 885 major ds their income, and will pay decent corporating relevant soundtracks,
esports events hosted in 2019. ticket prices to go watch them com- other related sounds and live perfor-
Most esports fans belong to the pete live in venues. mances during venue-based tourna-
Millennial and Gen Z age group, di- Among esports followers are those ments or online entertainment.
gital natives who instinctively interact who belong to the superfan catego- And just as esports fans, protective of
with media, share content and com- ry, the devotee prepared to pay large their culture, are selective about the
municate via social media. They are amounts to own related virtual items. brands promoted by teams and players,
known to access music on YouTube According to media reports, the po- they are equally particular about the
as soundtracks when playing games pular StatTrak M4A4 / Howl virtual quality of the music they listen to.
with each other online. gun in the CS:GO game has been re- Carsten Olesen, who is president,
They are young, have disposable in- sold for a reported US$26,000. consumer division at Harman (a Sam-
come, and are highly engaged in their This trend is even prompting the sung subsidiary specialising in lifestyle
leisure activities. And because they Chinese government to consider audio innovation), has said that the
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 9quality of some video games’ soun- album in was known as an investor, rap-
dtracks are those of symphony or- a virtual tour per Drake was famous for being
chestras. He also added that half the called Astro- a devoted fan of esports star
respondents of a recent survey who nomical within Ninja. Another gaming-fa-
were gamers said they discovered the Fortnite game. natic rapper, Snoop Dogg,
new music that way. And in May 2020, the wor- has gone as far as launching
ld’s best-selling game ever, his own esports league Gangsta Ga-
Music artists adopting esports Minecraft, was selected as ming League.
Some of the world’s greatest rock and the setting of a virtual elec- Other artists linked to esports range
pop acts have benefited from being tronic dance music (EDM) fes- from heavy-metal legends Metal-
associated to gaming. Reports have tival Electric Blockaloo, a 60- lica, DJ /producer Steve Aoki, DJ
quoted executives as saying mul- hour digital event by promoter deadmau5 to Finnish band The
ti-millionaire US rock legends Aeros- Rave Family. More than 300-plus Verkkars, the classical-music
mith made more money from licen- acts, including EMD stars Maceo trained Erangel Orchestra
sing their music to Activision’s Guitar Plex, Tokimonsta and Diplo, will en- and rock band Against
Hero game franchise in 2007 than tertain gamers. the Current.
from any one of their albums. Although Minecraft, which has a hef- Meanwhile, es-
Fast-forward to 2019 and electro- ty 126 million monthly active players, ports-tournament
nic-dance DJ Marshmello pulled in is not an esports staple, its popula- organisers like Riot Games have
a record-breaking 10 million viewers rity among gamers has made it at- adopted the practice of commissio-
when he performed a virtual concert tractive for music-event promoters ning original anthems to play at their
in Epic Games’ Fortnite Battle Royale seeking the gaming association. events. Among the artists to work
title, a favourite among esports fans. In addition to these virtual concerts, with Riot Games are Russian-Ger-
More recently, he was followed by a there are several big-name artists man songwriter/producer, Mako, US
virtual version of US rapper Travis Scott who have participated in or contri- EDM band The Glitch Mob, Imagine
performing tracks from his Astroworld buted to esports events. Before he Dragons and Against the Current.
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 104 • MUSIC INVESTORS IN ESPORTS
Artists steadfast commitment to gaming for venture Rogue and its parent com-
Several music superstars, including monetary gains. pany ReKTGlobal are American DJ
Canadian rapper Drake, chart topper He sealed that respect after playing Steve Aoki, rock band Imagine Dra-
Ariana Grande, multi-million best-sel- against US professional gamer gons, US musician Nick Gross and
ler Justin Bieber, and Brendon Urie, Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevin (one of esports’s Dutch DJ Nicky Romero.
lead of rock-pop band Panic! At the wealthiest celebrities and influen- In 2019 alone, among the music acts
Disco, are committed gamers. cers) on live-streaming platform Twit- who became involved in the profes-
But some like Drake, who has nabbed ch in 2018. A record-breaking 635,000 sional-esports business were rapper/
numerous Grammy Awards and sold concurrent viewers watched an event Hollywood star Will Smith (Gen.G),
more than 170 million units of recor- that is now part of esports lore. Canadian singer-songwriter The
dings worldwide, are also financial in- But while experts note that today’s Weeknd (OverActive Media), cele-
vestors in esports. music performers can win new fans by brity rapper/producer Snoop Dogg
He joined Scooter Braun, the music engaging with the esports world, se- (Gangsta Gaming League) and Off-
entrepreneur and celebrity artist ma- veral artists are also savvy entrepre- set, a member of the hip-hop trio Mi-
nager, to inject cash in 100 Thieves, neurs who see growth opportunities. gos (FaZe Clan).
one of the top-level professional-es- In addition to Drake, other music ce-
ports organisations. He followed this lebrities financially involved in es- Music companies
by joining forces with Silicon Valley ports include US singer/Hollywood Record labels have entered the es-
funders to invest in Players’ Lounge, a actress Jennifer Lopez. In 2016, she ports realm because they see the
US-based social-gaming start-up. contributed to the US$15m invested competitive-gaming and its appeal
He has won the affection of the glo- in gaming organisation NRG Esports, to young consumers as another po-
bal gaming and esports communities, which also gained Dutch DJ Tiesto as tential revenue-stream avenue and
which are notoriously wary of outsi- an investor a year later. marketing platform for their artists.
ders who might want to exploit their Among the co-owners of US esports Universal Music Group (UMG), the
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 11world’s biggest recorded-music League, Fortnite’s developer Epic Its artist roster includes K/DA, a virtual
company, has joined the esports-in- Games, League of Legends’ crea- K-pop band that performed live for
vestors brigade. tor Riot Games, Scandinavia’s big- nearly 100 million viewers at the 2018
It co-founded ENTER Records, a la- gest games maker Supercell, and League of Legends World Cham-
bel dedicated to creating music to South Korea-based Bluehole (owner pionship in South Korean capital
accompany the esports experience, of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Seoul. K/DA’s repertoire includes the
with Germany-based ESL, arguably another esports favourite.) tracks POP/STARS. As of May 2020,
the most influential international es- Other esports-focused music labels it had more than 336 million YouTube
ports organisation and a subsidiary include independent dance-music views and 134.7 million-plus Spotify
of Scandinavian media conglome- venture Vancouver-based Monster- streams.
rate MTG. cat, which includes popular elec- Riot Games, which has also worked
ENTER Records, whose first signing tronic-dance music DJ Marshmello, with high-profile acts like Zedd and
was German electronic-dance DJ among its roster of artists. Against the Current, has formed a
TheFatRat, is also an open-submis- As the music and esports worlds partnership with digital-distribution
sion platform, where aspiring es- grapple to understand their respec- specialist FUGA to gain more fans for
ports-music makers are invited to tive business cultures, we are seeing its tracks by licensing them to third
submit ideas directly via the website. gaming/esports operations setting parties.
It is interesting to note that Tencent up their own in-house record labels
Holdings, the Chinese Inter- and publishing business.
net-and-entertainment behemoth, is Rather than have to worry about
not only a significant UMG sharehol- negotiating for licensed music from
der, it is one of the biggest investors other rights holders, Riot Games, the
in esports. video-games developer/publisher
It owns or has stakes in DouYu, the famous for the legendary League of
Chinese esports-streaming platform, Legends game and esports tourna-
DouYu’s rival Huya, China’s King Pro ment, is making its own music.
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 125 • NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES: WHAT CAN MUSIC AND ESPORTS
LEARN FROM EACH OTHER
Esports’s strengths nuscule compared to the US$20bn ported by the global video-gaming
Revenue size: The estimated US$1bn international recorded-music indus- sector, which earned an estimated
global esports sector might be mi- try. But the esports business is sup- colossal US$150bn in 2019, according
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 13to Newzoo, thanks to the loyalty of The sharing community: Esports sup- The role of analytics: In esports, the
engaged gamers. porters have traditionally formed community is king. And when you
communities that organically ensure need to understand what a potential
Format: As a leisure activity, esports relevant gaming and viewing eti- 173,000 spectators and 50 million on-
organically grew from digital origins quettes are maintained. This is pos- line viewers for one major tournament
and, in its current streaming-tech sible thanks to the natural tenden- alone wants, you need Big Data tech
professional format, melds four key cy to share experiences, including to analyse it. This has made analy-
components: gaming; video me- gaming skills and user-generated tics platforms an essential tool for
dia and entertainment; spectator content (UGC), digitally. Tight copy- any decent esports organisation. The
sports; and venue-based live en- right laws and old habits have restric- data amassed aims to enhance fans’
tertainment. Now quality recorded ted the digital-sharing culture within viewing experience, the teams’ com-
music and live concerts are being the music business. petitive edge over rivals, real-time
added to mix. information gathering and distribu-
Fandom monetisation: Until the past tion, insight for competition casters
Fan engagement: The legacy cele- decade, the music industry has re- (as events commentators are called),
brity culture always created a dis- lied on reaching fans via paid-for and research material for improving
tance between the fan and the rock physical recordings and tickets for the industry as a whole.
or pop idol, for whom protected pri- concerts. The free-to-play games
vacy is paramount. No such barriers accessible online have encouraged Music’s strengths
in esports’s direct-to-fans culture. hundreds of millions of young ga- Multi-functional and ubiquitous: Li-
Popular streamers (as professional ming devotees to spend on acces- censed recorded music is everywhere
esports players are called) are ac- sories. That large number of en- in the other creative sectors: it is used
cessible to followers, who frequently gaged consumers offers the esports as soundtracks and by artists perfor-
play games against their idols. And business a vast array of options in ming in movies and on TV; at live and
the immersive interactive chat sec- terms of revenue streams – from ad- broadcast sports events; within tra-
tion on streaming platforms enable vertising, sponsorship to the sales ditional console video-games and
fans to also communicate directly of physical and virtual merchandise broadcast advertising; during fashion
with each other. and live ticketing events. catwalks, and for numerous digital
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 14content and physical public activities. in 2018, a 1.8% increase from the If the new generation of esports cele-
previous year. brities want to learn how to navigate
Inclusivity: Music’s ability to connect a life of relentless popularity and the
emotionally with people has made the Health and safety: As esports expands accompanying wealth it generates
industry more inclusive than several from streamers’ homes into large ve- from online subscribers, sponsors, tro-
other creative sectors in terms of the nues like arenas and stadiums, the phies and cash prizes, they could do
gender, background and the different industry’s organisations could learn worse than talk to music’s rock, pop
generations of fans. Brand owners much from concert promoters when and rap multi-million megastars.
are attracted to its more structured it comes to the safety and welfare
and unified commercial framework, of tens of thousands of passionate The Covid-19 conundrum
compared to the still fragmented, and over-eager fans gathered in one With the enforced lockdown, quaran-
constantly evolving and still young place to experience the spectacular. tines, social-distancing and self-isola-
male-dominated esports world. tion triggered by the pandemic, the live
Broadcast TV: In addition to licensing concerts business has been forced to
Neighbouring rights: Music’s lon- music for broadcast-TV use, music scramble around for survival solutions.
ger history has seen songwriters, rights owners have learned to market
composers and other music rights artists and their works on television, still Yet, for online esports events, it is bu-
owners learn to professionalise and the largest and most widespread indi- siness as usual. Fans stuck indoors
exploit their intellectual properties vidual mass-media platform. There are are resorting to what they normal-
when their creations are used in nearly 1.7 billion pay-TV homes wor- ly do anyway. They have always re-
other sectors outside of recorded ldwide (Statista), and that excludes gularly gone online to check out the
music. These uses range from TV, ra- homes with only free public-service TV latest competitions (gamers can play
dio, streaming platforms to concerts and those with only streamed TV apps each other from the safety of their
and background music at public like Netflix. To become truly mains- homes while being watched by mil-
events or establishments. Music-re- tream, esports will need to establish a lions of other gamers). That has made
lated royalties collected by the 239 home on the TV platform. esports swifter and nimbler to adjust
organisations in 122 countries that during the crisis.
belong to CISAC reached €8.49bn More experienced celebrity culture:
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 15It is the traditional-sports events, MIDiA has long argued that moneti- On the other side, esports could use
also losing billions in revenues after sing fandom will be the next growth the help of music’s cultural power to
being shut down by the pandemic, driver for music industry revenue. attract increasing brand budgets,
that immediately noticed esports’s Covid-19 could be the innovation as well as to help ramp up the value
resilience. catalyst that brings the timeline of its growing media rights oppor-
forward. tunity.
But all is not lost for concert promo-
ters. The major Asian economies, like The Covid-19 outbreak will act as a While the physical event side of es-
China, Japan and South Korea, have further catalyst for entertainment ports (attended by 2% of consumers)
always made digital an essential part formats to cross-over more frequent- will be heavily impacted during the
of their music-entertainment bu- ly, to generate incremental value for crisis, the silver lining is that, at 7%,
siness. consumers and partners alike. the audience is significantly larger in
the digital/viewing realm.
And several cancelled tours by K-pop In times where live music is signifi-
and J-pop bands speedily transfer- cantly disrupted, stream rates alone Esports is well-positioned to thrive
red to live streaming platforms, al- are often not enough to avoid finan- in this environment, as the actual
lowing fans to be safe at home while cial hardship for artists. The music in- matches can be done remotely or
still able to interact with their idols via dustry (the live side, in particular) will with players present within safe
paid-for or free ticketing. have to seek innovative ways of mo- distance.
ving forward.
MIDiA Research has looked into how
the Covid-19 dilemma will force the E-sports and gaming more broadly
total music industry to pivot towards provide a handy lifeline - be it in the
innovative solutions. Here is the com- form of digital performances, cele-
pany’s take on the situation and what brity appearances, digital festivals or
the music business can learn from es- direct interaction with audiences.
ports’s response to the crisis.
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 166 • MUSIC AND ESPORTS: INTERESTING MILESTONES
American DJ ZHU, who is also a staunch gamer, sealed a contract with Canadian esports
May 2020
organisation Luminosity Gaming, to join its roster of official content creators
Diplo/Major Lazer, Steve Aoki, Dillon Francis, and deadmau5 have performed virtual concerts
May 2020
within the Party Royale edition of the Fortnite game
Marshmello made history after nearly 11 million gamers watch his virtual gig in the Fornite Battle
February 2019
Royale game; it became the biggest in-game event ever
Travis Scott presented tracks, including debuts, from his Astroworld album within the Fortnite
April 2020
game for his virtual Astronomical tour
True Damage, a fictional hip-hop band created by Riot Games, dropped their first single Giants
November 2019 and its music video during a performance at the opening ceremony for the 2019 League of
Legends (LoL) World Championship Finals in Paris
A freestyle rap battle among up-and-coming hip-hop acts was staged during the final day of
August 2019
the FIFA eWorld Cup at the O2 in London, one of the world’s biggest music venues
Offset, a member of the hip-hop band Migos, snapped up a stake in hugely successful US
August 2019
esports organisation FaZe Clan
Will Smith, Hollywood actor/rapper, became a lead investor among the consortium pouring
April 2019
about US$46m in US and Asian esports venture Gen.G via his Dreamers Fund
Canada-based OverActive Media, which owns the Splyce esports venture, counted The
April 2019
Weeknd among its owners
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 17EZ4ENCE, a track dedicated to CS:GO team ENCE and released by Finnish band The Verkkars in
February 2019, became the band’s theme music during ESL’s IEM Katowice Major esports tourna-
February 2019
ment; it entered the official national Finnish music charts and Spotify’s Top 5 shortly after. Its video
recorded 200,000 YouTube views in two days
Drake became a shareholder in Players’ Lounge, the start-up social-esports platform for amateur
March 2019
players
March 2019 Snoop Dogg launched his own esports league Gangsta Gaming League
FUGA, digital-music licensing company, agreed to find international users for original music
November 2018 created in-house at esports and games-publishing company Riot Games, including tracks by its
fictional K-pop band K/DA
Sean Combs, the entrepreneur/artist formerly known as Puff Daddy or P. Diddy, joined a group
November 2018 of investors to invest US$30.5m in PlayVS, the Los Angeles-based esports league that organises
college-based events
German EDM DJ TheFatRat became the first artist to be signed to ENTER Records, which was
November 2018
co-founded by Universal Music Group and esports conglomerate ESL
Canadian rap superstar Drake and music mogul Scooter Braun invest in award-winning esports
October 2018
organisation 100 Thieves
Universal Music Group, the world’s large recorded-music company, and leading esports organisa-
August 2018
tion ESL launched esports-focused music label ENTER Records
Universal Music Group Canada formed artist-marketing joint venture with Canada-based Lumi-
July 2018
nosity Gaming
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 18EDM DJ Marshmello and esports superstar Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins won the Epic Games’ E3 Celebrity
June 2018
Fornite Pro-Am esports charity tournament
Imagine Dragons, the rock band, agreed to become ReKTGlobal and Rogue Gaming
May 2018
shareholders
April 2018 Dutch DJ megastar Tiesto invested in NRG Esports organisation
April 2018 Riot Games joined forces with MTV Asia to launch esports-and-music festival Hyperplay
Drake played against Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins in a live-streamed competition concurrently watched
March 2018
by a record-breaking 653,000-plus viewers on streaming platform Twitch
US singer/Hollywood actress Jennifer Lopez co-invested in a US$15m fund for NRG Esports
September 2017
organisation
Heavy metal gods Metallica created an exclusive music video of them performing Moth Into
January 2017
Flame for Eleague CS:GO Major in the US city of Atlanta
October 2016 EDM DJ Steve Aoki nabbed a controlling stake in Rogue Gaming esports team
The Sound of Music in Sync with Esports 19This report is brought to you by Midem About Esports BAR
Midem is the leading international creativity by bringing together, du- At Esports BAR, we are committed
marketplace for the global music ring 4 days, the key players of the to transforming the sport of the di-
community, bringing together more music ecosystem. gital generation into the future of
than 5,000 upper-level music pro- The event offers the opportunity to entertainment by providing indus-
fessionals, from indie & major la- expand your reputation and bu- try leaders with the most productive
bels, publishers to tech pros, brands siness globally, discover artists and meaningful events where es-
and artists. Midem is dedicated and music catalog, get inspired by ports tastemakers and non-endemic
to helping the music industry and conferences and source new bu- top-management executives meet
its partners develop business and siness models and services. to shape esports’ future.
Contributors
Karol Severin is the lead games ana- Prior to joining MIDiA Karol gained ex- Juliana Koranteng is the founder/
lyst and co-founder of MIDiA Research. perience in a number of marketing, editor-in-chief of MediaTainment Fi-
His research and analysis cover all research and consulting roles and as nance (MTF) and TechMutiny, the bu-
aspects of the gaming economy in- a technology start up founder. siness journals that cover investments
cluding mobile, PC and console ga- MIDiA Research is a leading analysis, in international media, entertainment
ming as well as freemium/premium data and consulting firm with longs- and creative sectors, and the impact
strategies, and consumer segmenta- tanding expertise in the business of of related digital technologies.
tion. Karol’s main focus is currently on: entertainment, digital media and tech, Follow @MediatainmentMT
cross-entertainment consumer be- helping companies develop commer-
haviour; the coming games streaming Follow @TechMutiny
cially actionable strategy to navigate
revolution; and the rise of e-sports. the evolving media landscape.You can also read
