---
title: Are virtual concerts here to stay?
description: Metaverse concerts are outliving the pandemic.
---

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# [Are virtual concerts here to stay?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/08012022-vr-concerts)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Aug 1, 2022 6:15:17 AM

Last week, MTV announced a new category for this year’s Video Music Awards: [best metaverse performance](https://www.mtv.com/vma/vote/best-metaverse-performance).

If that doesn’t say mainstream, then consider the six nominees: superstars Ariana Grande, Blackpink, BTS, Charli XCX, Twenty One Pilots, and Justin Bieber.

#### **What are these concerts like?**

Whether they take place in VR worlds or on gaming platforms, they all involve digital musicians performing for a digital audience. But each one is unique:

- In Grande’s [The Rift](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYElBtjytU) [Tour](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYElBtjytU) in “Fortnite,” players surf on cotton candy-colored waves and fight a giant monster.
- Twenty One Pilots and Charli XCX recorded their “Roblox” sets in motion-capture suits. Here’s Twenty One Pilots [in the suits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOo2NbSRxjA); here’s the [end result](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAhhoXK12o).
- [Bieber](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxVRfnQ9URk), who partnered with concert platform Wave, performed live in a motion-capture suit and responded to fans’ real-time messages.

#### **There’s reason to believe the trend won’t slow down.**

For fans, it offers access from anywhere in the world. It’s cheaper than an IRL concert, strangers won’t slosh beer on them, and there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

For musicians, it can be especially lucrative.

- “Fortnite” held its first concert in 2019 with EDM musician Marshmello. It netted him 147k new Twitter followers, and grew his daily YouTube views by[ 500%](https://edm.com/news/marshmello-fortnite-social-media-numbers).
- In 2020, [12.3m+ people](https://www.thewrap.com/travis-scotts-fortnite-concert-attracts-record-12-million-viewers/#:~:text=Epic%20tweeted%20Thursday%2C%20%E2%80%9Cover%2012.3,%E2%80%9D%20for%20in%2Dgame%20events.) attended Travis Scott’s nine-minute “Fortnite” concert. It grossed ~$20m in merch, compared to $53.5m for his *entire* IRL Astroworld tour, [per](https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/08/02/ariana-grande-should-earn-a-fortune-from-her-fortnite-rift-tour-concert/?sh=579e98fc130b) *Forbes*.

**For platforms,** music’s biggest stars draw people who might otherwise never make an account.

**BTW:** Perhaps you’d like to enter Megan Thee Stallion’s “[Hottieverse](https://megantheestallion.com/pages/tour)”?

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/08012022-vr-concerts)

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