Generation Z, Pop music and the rise of Generation 9 Virtual Music Experiences inside Video Games.

6 min readMar 26, 2021

(WORK IN PROGRESS)

Abstract

Video games are engaging, interactive products with huge followings of video game players, a following which interacts daily with their video game brands, and in 2020 as we enter the 9th generation of video game consoles, interactive video game spaces are hosting music experiences to millions of Generation Z players.

Generation Z is defined as a Generation born after 1995, and are currently entering the workplace after graduating University, the oldest Generation Z is 25 years old in 2020.

Video Games use popular music, or pop music, which is a commercial term used for the creation of manufactured Intellectual property to generate musical artists or musical groups which can be marketed to the consumer as a brand.

Since the invention of the teenager in 1950’s and 60s, The music industry has used technology to sell pop music to this particular age range for profit, from 7 inch disks featuring Elvis Presley who in his entire career sold 1 billion records (Graceland ??) to Drake who in 2020 was the most streamed artist in the world, with over five billion streams (Revolt 2021).

In 2021 with the video game industry was worth more than the film industry and the music industry combined at £3.86 Billion — more than double its value in 2007 (BBC 2019)

Video gaming has in its 9th generation with the Playstation 5 and Xbox series X, and with computing power doubling with the next Generation of PC Graphics cards being released in October 2020 and advancements in 5G mobile connectivity. Video games as a space for live music has been part of a cultural change in the way that Generation Z experience this art form.

This study will focus on the relatively new phenomenon of virtual music gigs taking place within a video game environment, this literature review will focus on Generation 9 video game consoles alongside PC gaming and mobile, which have the following defining perimeters to qualify as being part of this new wave of video game pop music experiences.

The defining perimeters that set generation 9 music video game experiences from past in game music experiences, such as those found in second life are as follows.

Generation 9 Virtual music experiences are defined by –

The presence of virtual music which has the ability to be simulcast across a range of devices and social platforms as it streams.

Generation 9 allows the ability to socially interact with the audience in the virtual space.

Must be a live, or as live experience.

Paid admission or invited.

The ability to customize an avatar or profile.

Virtual or Augmented reality or a 3D real time world must be present.

The ability to share the experience with others via social media.

If all these factors are present, they will be classed as Generation 9 virtual music experiences and form part of the review.

Generation 9 video games enter our world from 2019 onwards, by compiling a literature review of key articles which indicate the growth of the phenomenon, this will help build an understanding of the creative and cultural forces at play here.

The academic record, currently holds no such review, and therefore this will be the first of its kind.

The researcher concludes through a literature review that the phenomenon of generation 9 virtual gigs taking place in video games such as Fortnite and Roblox, and virtual festivals, which supplemented the live festivals during the summer of 2020 due to Covid 19 restrictions, is a new area of business growth for the global music industry, with millions of pounds being spent on the development of engaging virtual spaces for music consumers to gather and interact in.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46746593 (BBC 2019)

https://www.graceland.com/achievements (Graceland)

https://www.revolt.tv/news/2021/1/3/22211646/drake-most-streamed-artists-2020 (Revolt 2021)

Introduction

In this chapter, the reader is introduced to the rise of the gaming industry, consumer empowerment, online gaming communities and more importantly to the phenomenon of value co-creation. Furthermore, aim and objective, the research questions and research contributions are presented.

Introduce the main characters, what we will explore and how

Fortnite

Gigs in fortnite

Social media, communities and fortnite

Why I need to use a Netnography approach

About the literature review — starting with a literature review which will cover Fortnite and Virtual gigs

Literature Review (5 pages, only key sources which influence you)

Netnography in online research examples

https://bibliotecadigital.fgv.br/dspace/bitstream/handle/10438/25851/ (accessed 8/1/21)

This academic direction is even more actual when talking about digital niches, due to the secretiveness, the peculiarities and the closeness of those community, as for the case of the context of this research, the online gaming communities (Hamari & Sjöblom, 2017; Kaytoue-Uberall, 2012; Sjöblom et al., 2017). On the other hand, when the researches used qualitative methods, those were not entographic or netnographic, laking the immersion in the community (Kozinets, 1999; Kietzmann et al., 2011; Uzunoğlu & Kip, 2014).

Therefore, the thesis aims to study the increasingly important but rarely explored online gaming communities’ influencers with a qualitative, netnographic, method, in order to have the most internal perspective possible, submerging into the communities as one of their members and researching influencers strategies by analyzing their personalities. Therefore, the research aims to understand the strategies used by new micro-celebrities (a term coined in research by T.M. Senft in 2001, later published in 2008) in creating public identities, feeding, maintain and expanding their aggregate fan base for sociologic and economic benefits.

Fortnite

https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news (Official website)

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-11199-1_6 ( 21 February 2019 ,The eSports industry is a highly complex environment that is continually evolving. Based on this innovativeness)

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21241414/fortnite-party-royale-ltm-mode

(April 2020 — Fortnite experimental mode is about partying, not fighting)

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022057419864531 ( July 17, 2019 examine how Fortnite players operate within their digital community )

https://online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article-abstract/31/4/3/109341 (Journal of Popular Music Studies (2019) 31 (4): 3–15. Popular music studies — social dance in the age of (anti) social media)

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=3314693 (Posted: 9 Feb 2020 The lawsuits against Epic Games alleging copyright infringement for use of the plaintiffs’ dance moves in “Fortnite” reveal the doctrine’s inadequacy to balance the interests between parties today. Exclusive rights in dance moves is flawed. )

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306460319301091 ( Volume 97, October 2019, Pages 27–34 — Almost half of the video game players purchased loot boxes over the past year.

Loot box purchasing is linked to problem video gaming. Loot box purchasing is linked to online gambling engagement and problem gambling. Loot box purchasing is indirectly related to mental distress.

Virtual Gigs

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/bjork-vulnicura-vr-album-quest

(Early work 2019)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-47116429

(Marshmello feb 2019)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52410647

(April 2020 — Travis Scott)

https://www.facebook.com/freepvrty/

(April — FreepartyVR indie crew doing raves from UK)

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/30/21242668/fortnite-party-royale-social-space-metaverse-travis-scott

(Party Royale mode in fortnite discussed April 2020)

https://blog.roblox.com/2020/04/one-world-together-home-virtual-concert/