Warner Music Group to create ‘musical theme park’ in The Sandbox metaverse

Popular metaverse platform The Sandbox has today unveiled a partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG) to create the first music-themed experience within the virtual metaverse.

The Warner Music Group LAND in The Sandbox – described as a “combination of musical theme park and concert venue” – will feature concerts and musical experiences from the array of artists represented by the label.

Through the partnership, The Sandbox will work with WMG to develop innovative music experiences hosted on its plot, opening the doors for WMG talent to appear in The Sandbox and host their own concerts.

The collaboration – which is The Sandbox’s first deal with a major music company – also marks Warner Music Group’s landmark venture into the NFT and metaverse spaces.

To host the array of concerts and virtual experiences, WMG acquired an ‘ESTATE’ within The Sandbox that it aims to use as a ‘portal’ for fans to access a “new arena for musical entertainment in the metaverse”.

WMG also hopes that the virtual experiences can create a new medium of engagement for artists with their global fan communities and generate new revenue streams through virtual concerts.

Digital land remains one of the most sought after ‘properties‘ in the NFT and cryptocurrency space, with massive volume and high price tags attached to plots of land in both The Sandbox and Decentraland.

To give collectors and fans a chance to own some virtual real state next to WMG’s plot, The Sandbox will hold a LAND sale in March 2022 to allow music fans to buy desirable LAND adjacent to the WMG property.

Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox, commented on how the partnership could drive fan and community engagement within the metaverse.

“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,” he 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.”

 Warner Music Group, which comprises record labels such as Atlantic and Warner Records, now joins the long list of landowners within the Sandbox including Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Steve Aoki and Atari.