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For Riot Games’ goal to elevate women and marginalized genders in esports with its Game Changers initiative, few music-gaming collaborations would make a more natural fit than KATSEYE and Valorant.
The newly Grammy-nominated act’s song “M.I.A,” off their Billboard 200 top 10 EP Beautiful Chaos, is reimagined in a new “Valorant Game Changers Version,” out Tuesday (Nov. 11) ahead of the 2025 Valorant Game Changers Championship finals, taking place this month in Seoul. However, this collaboration carries extra resonance because one of KATSEYE’s six members is an avid gamer who appears to have manifested the team-up.
“I used to just say it on livestream before I even knew anything was gonna happen with KATSEYE and Valorant,” Megan shares, speaking to Billboard exclusively about the new partnership. “So when they presented this collaboration, I was literally so stoked. I’ve been playing this game since I was like 14 years old on my brother’s computer in COVID times; this is so nostalgic to me, honestly.”
Now 19, Megan’s enthusiasm — as well as KATSEYE’s larger message of inclusivity and empowerment — is threaded throughout the reworked anthem, with new lyrics drawing on themes of perseverance and community that stem from the connections in gaming when uplifting one another.
“We all stand behind that anyone can play any game and there shouldn’t be any weirdness,” the Honolulu native adds. “We really, really do think this aligns so much with KATSEYE and our brand. We’re so, so excited to do this collab.”
With several No. 1 Billboard chart hits to its name, Riot Games has leaned into music as a storytelling mechanism for gaming before. However, Valorant Game Changers shines the spotlight on new players in its first-person shooter game, with its global championship in Asia for the first time. The event will run Nov. 20-30 in Seoul, with finals scheduled from Nov. 28-30 at Riot’s LoL Park esports stadium in Seoul. Bringing in Korea-based HYBE and its global girl group KATSEYE positions the collaboration as a cultural handshake between two rapidly growing cultural communities.
“KATSEYE already had a ton of fans across Riot [Games] and in the Valorant community,” Jonny Altepeter, Riot Games’ senior manager of music supervision and A&R, tells Billboard. “When we found out Megan was a VAL player and they were excited to collab, it just made sense.”
For Altepeter, the appeal of reworking “M.I.A” resonated both musically and to the culture within the gaming community: “Sonically, it has that high-energy, bold confidence that works so well in our world. And thematically, it lined up perfectly with the moment we were trying to capture…our artist collaborations are everything. We’re always looking for voices that feel exactly right for a specific moment in our universe. We’re really intentional — and honestly, pretty precious — about VAL music, because we know how much it means to our community. Every artist we bring in is chosen for a reason. They bring something unique that helps elevate the story we’re telling, both in-game and beyond. That level of care and specificity is what sets us apart. We’re not just trying to find good songs… we’re building meaningful creative partnerships that help shape the emotional core of our world. And we’re so grateful to the artists who trust us and bring their full selves to that process.”
Anna Donlon, head of Valorant Studios and the architect behind Game Changers, frames the partnership as precisely the kind of crossover Riot Games built the program to foster.
“When we started Game Changers, the goal was always bigger than just competition,” Donlon shares. “It was about creating a space for players who hadn’t always seen themselves represented in esports. This year’s anthem and music video captures that same spirit, bringing people together, no matter where they come from. Across all our global events, music has been a powerful way to connect players, celebrate them and deepen their bond with Valorant. At the Game Changers Championship finals, you’ll see all of that come to life: the energy, the pride, the love for the game. And having South Korea’s own Ninetails, the first all-Korean team to qualify for the championship, take the stage on home turf? That’s going to make it even more special.”
Altepeter calls collaborations with actual players “hands down our favorite types of collaborations” because players-turned-artists speed up creative chemistry. “When someone already understands our world, everything just flows better…you can always feel that real connection in the final result.”
Check out the results for yourself with KATSEYE’s new video for “M.I.A. (Game Changers Version)” here and read on for more with Megan below.
KATSEYE X VALORANT Game Changers – “M.I.A. (Game Changers Version)”
Riot Games Music
How does it feel remixing “M.I.A” for the Valorant Game Changers initiative?
Megan: “M.I.A” is such a hard-hitting, strong, confident song. Especially with Valorant, since it’s such a cool, fun, very fierce game, I feel like going with “M.I.A” was just the perfect song. Especially [how] it tells a story with determination and perseverance, so I think going with this new reimagined version of “M.I.A” for Valorant was just like a no-brainer decision for all of us.
How did KATSEYE get involved in the program and what did it mean to you also to be here as a player?
Megan: Especially with me being a player myself, I used to just say on livestream before I even knew anything was gonna happen with KATSEYE and Valorant. I was like, “Oh yeah, I play Valorant.” It was just something that I said because it’s something I used to do in my free time. When they presented this collaboration, I was literally so stoked. I’ve been playing this game since I was, like, 14 years old on my brother’s computer in COVID times; this is so nostalgic to me, honestly. So, when we were presented this, I was literally jumping for joy. This is literally my game; I love this game. So it really does mean a lot to me and especially with the Game Changers, with what it represents — it’s just so cool. We’re just all so excited for this collaboration and we’re just so grateful that we’re able to do it.”
What’s your history with gaming and Valorant?
Megan: I grew up with a brother, so a lot of the games that I would play, my brother would introduce them to me. When I was little, I would always want to play dolls with him, but obviously he wasn’t going to play with dolls. So then he would introduce me to computer games like Valorant, Minecraft and those kind of games. And then he was really into Valorant and I was like, “OK, like let me get into this.” And I did. It was just so addictive. Especially during COVID and everything, like that was my sh–. That’s all, really, I could do because no one was going outside and it was a fun way to play with your friends. I feel like it was just a cool thing to do on my free time and it felt so much fun. There’s nothing really more to it than just saying that it was really, really fun and I really am such a competitive person that loves games like these — I thrive in it. [Laughs]
Do you have a go-to agent you play with in Valorant?
Megan: I usually play as Sage, the healer. There’s like this little term for Valorant players that you say they’re the “pocket Sage,” so I would usually be a pocket Sage when I would play with my friends. I would be their support to heal them when they’re dying.
Do you ever play Valorant with any of your KATSEYE members?
Megan: No, I actually haven’t got the chance to yet. I feel like right now we’re like so busy with our schedule, but I really specifically want to see how Yoonchae will play with me. [Laughs] I have to teach her how to be a pocket Sage — I feel like she’d be a really good pocket Sage. Yeah, we really do need one sit-down gaming session, all six of us, to play Valorant and see who’s naturally gifted. I think that Lara would be Jett. I feel like Sophia could maybe be Neon since Neon is Filipino…
This Game Changers program is meant to empower people from different backgrounds and marginalized genders. Have you ever experienced pushback as a girl gamer? Are things changing?
Megan: Honestly, I think it’s better now, but there were times in games where you would turn your microphone on and play with random people who were online, trying to find a group member. It was such a big thing for a second where if a girl turned their mic on, they would start bullying the girl — it happened to me a few times. It was pretty crazy, but then the funniest thing is when you’re really good, as a girl, and they get so mad. [Laughs] But I just don’t understand that, it was a big thing but I don’t think it’s as big of a thing now. It’s just them thinking that I was going to drag them behind and I ended up being the last one standing, pulling through and carrying the team. It’s the funniest thing ever, honestly, I just laugh.
Do you notice any direct link between music and gaming? Does music enhance the experience?
Megan: Music and games are such a big thing and I feel like people don’t really realize how much music is incorporated and how much it like really affects the gameplay. I mean, when you’re in combat mode, you want some good hype-up music and when you’re in more of a chill vibe, you would want like some [chill music], you know what I mean? It really does affect the whole overall vibe. I think Fortnite would play concerts in their games, which was so insane and so, so cool. I love how like they incorporated that in such a fun way. I would honestly love to do a virtual concert one day. I’d love to see how that works — it’s so intriguing.
President Donald Trump on Thursday (June 19) signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 90 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.
Trump disclosed the executive order on the Truth Social platform Thursday morning.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday.
It is the third time Trump has extended the deadline. The first one was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — took effect. The second was in April when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trump’s tariff announcement.
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It is not clear how many times Trump can — or will — keep extending the ban as the government continues to try to negotiate a deal for TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance. While there is no clear legal basis for the extensions, so far there have been no legal challenges to fight them. Trump has amassed more than 15 million followers on TikTok since he joined last year, and he has credited the trendsetting platform with helping him gain traction among young voters. He said in January that he has a “warm spot for TikTok.”
“We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office,” the company said in a statement.
As the extensions continue, it appears less and less likely that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. any time soon. The decision to keep TikTok alive through an executive order has received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court — unlike many of Trump’s other executive orders.
Jeremy Goldman, analyst at Emarketer, called TikTok’s U.S situation a “deadline purgatory.”
The whole thing “is starting to feel less like a ticking clock and more like a looped ringtone. This political Groundhog Day is starting to resemble the debt ceiling drama: a recurring threat with no real resolution.”
That’s not stopping TikTok from pushing forward with its platform, Forrester analyst Kelsey Chickering says.
“TikTok’s behavior also indicates they’re confident in their future, as they rolled out new AI video tools at Cannes this week,” Chickering notes. “Smaller players, like Snap, will try to steal share during this ‘uncertain time,’ but they will not succeed because this next round for TikTok isn’t uncertain at all.”
For now, TikTok continues to function for its 170 million users in the U.S., and tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle were persuaded to continue to offer and support the app, on the promise that Trump’s Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.
Americans are even more closely divided on what to do about TikTok than they were two years ago.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that about one-third of Americans said they supported a TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023. Roughly one-third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage said they weren’t sure.
Among those who said they supported banning the social media platform, about 8 in 10 cited concerns over users’ data security being at risk as a major factor in their decision, according to the report.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Trump administration is once again “flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks” posed by a China-controlled TikTok.
“An executive order can’t sidestep the law, but that’s exactly what the president is trying to do,” Warner added.
A trailblazer in fan communication, Dear U has officially begun the expansion of its messaging platform, Bubble, into the Western market with J Balvin and Peso Pluma.
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Billboard can exclusively share that starting Sept. 30, the Latin music powerhouses will be the “first of many artists outside of Asia” to engage with fans through Dear U’s newly launched U.S. version of the platform. The duo joins a large number of K-pop artists using the Bubble platform (also known as “the bubble”) to share private messages, voice notes, video content, and behind-the-scenes moments with subscribers including chart-toppin acts like Stray Kids, (G)I-DLE, BLACKPINK‘s Jisoo and Lisa, as well as a handful of Korean actors, athletes and content creators.
Since launching its artist-to-fan messaging service in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic era of social distancing, Dear U’s various Bubble apps have become a top marketing and social tool in the K-pop and Asian entertainment industries, currently connecting more than 600 artists to communicate directly with some of their most dedicated fans. With the company reporting over 73 percent of its two million paid subscribers living outside of Korea, introducing these two chart-toppers mark a significant shift to expand its offerings to the Western landscape successfully.
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“While the entertainment market continues growing, the service industry leveraging fandoms has not received as much attention,” Chong-oh An, the CEO of Dear U, tells Billboard. “In Korea, where fandom culture is fully established, Dear U has built a business model to harness this culture. Our aim is to introduce a fresh perspective to the global entertainment landscape and bring new excitement to fans around the world.”
While platforms like HYBE’s Weverse launched services like Weverse DM as a paid messaging service in 2023, Bubble was first to market in 2020 in launching the service for a slate of artists under the SM Entertainment roster. Dear U’s major shareholders are SM Entertainment (home to groups and Bubble users like NCT, aespa and Lucas) and JYP Entertainment (J.Y. Park, TWICE and ITZY), with the companies also featuring some of their international acts like SM’s China-focused boy band WayV and JYP’s Japan-based girl group NiziU partaking in the platform.
With a combined 13 No. 1s on the Hot Latin Songs chart, 50 Billboard Hot 100 entries between them, as well as highly dedicated fan engagement across their social media accounts, J Balvin and Peso Pluma are seen as ideal partners for Dear U’s next phase with Bubble.
“For me, it has always been important to be connected to my fans, La Familia,” says current Billboard cover star, J Balvin, in a statement. “I love reading comments and conversations so it’s exciting to communicate with fans no matter what their first language might be. This is why the Bubble is the perfect platform to keep in touch.”
“Peso Pluma wouldn’t exist without our dedicated fans who have supported us since the very beginning,” the 25-year-old Mexican rapper-singer adds. “Even though we don’t speak the same language, our music is crossing borders and I’m always excited to find new ways, such as through this partnership with Bubble, to connect with them.”
Teasing that Bubble’s services will “continue expanding into different genres across Western markets with major superstars,” the international, U.S. app can be downloaded here or for Android here. Fans can subscribe to an artist’s Bubble platform, which costs $4.99 per month per artist. Read on for more insight into Bubble’s big moment from Dear U’s CEO Chong-oh An.
Billboard: Congratulations on the latest news about the expansion and new offerings with Dear U. What does this moment signify for the company?
Chong-oh An: This moment signifies Dear U’s global expansion to the Western market. While the entertainment market continues growing, the service industry leveraging fandoms has not received as much attention. In Korea, where fandom culture is fully established, Dear U has built a business model to harness this culture. Our aim is to introduce a fresh perspective to the global entertainment landscape and bring new excitement to fans around the world.
Why were J Balvin and Peso Pluma the right partners to kick off the expansion?
Both of these artists are extremely popular, beloved, and influential. But they also bring unique cultural significance and strong fan engagement to the table. J Balvin and Peso Pluma frequently interact with their followers on social media, creating a sense of community and loyalty that aligns perfectly with Dear U’s mission to enhance artist-fan communication.
J Balvin and Peso Pluma are huge names in the Latin market and community. Was there a specific reason you wanted to team with Latin artists after primarily focusing on Asian and K-pop talent?
Our goal is to help connect artists with their loyal fans around the world, regardless of genre or market. Latin music has truly gone global over the past few years, and we are providing a platform to connect these passionate fanbases. J Balvin’s contributions to the global reggaeton movement and Peso Pluma’s fresh influence in regional Mexican music will help the platform cater to not only a large number of fans, but also a wide array of music tastes, languages, and cultural backgrounds. They will help us break barriers with fan connection.
Dear U’s story is interesting because it launched Bubble in 2020 when the digital conversation was so prevalent, yet the company continues to expand today. What did the pandemic teach you?
The pandemic required us to create innovative ways to connect artists and fans that we’ve continued to use today. Because artists have fans across the world and can’t always be physically present to engage with them, we’re proud to help bridge that gap and create connection.
In your opinion, what’s a very special or highly engaging moment an artist can have on their Bubble compared to traditional social media platforms?
Artists see their bubble subscribers as true superfans. With bubble, they can share intimate moments – from behind-the-scenes photos, selfies, and audio messages to polls about dinner or outfit choices. Even during [professional] breaks, artists can maintain this closeness by sharing personal snapshots, like photos from family trips. More than public social media, this exclusive content fosters a more personal and intimate connection, allowing fans to feel included in their favorite artist’s life.
The music streaming service Spotify was down temporarily on Sunday (Sept. 29), leaving thousands of listeners without access to tunes and podcasts earlier in the day. More than 40,000 people reported outages with the music platform on downdetector.com, a website that allows users to report problems with popular apps and services. The highest amount of […]
With more than 24 million users globally, the digital note-taking app Goodnotes is expanding into an even wider reach with a new collection themed around BTS. Billboard can exclusively reveal the news and give a first look at the collection.
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In collaboration with BTS’ management company HYBE and Goodnotes’ digital-stationery partner Webudding, the line will debut four digital planners, three notebooks and one sticker pack boasting BTS’ signature logo and fonts, and heavily incorporating their beloved animated TINYTan characters wearing looks inspired by the K-pop group’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “Dynamite” to mark the first-ever global branded collection for Goodnotes. A press release notes that additional collections are expected to be released throughout the year, giving fans time to predict what other iconic BTS singles or looks might be featured next.
This new collab developed through Goodnotes’ strategic partnership with Webudding that took hold in February 2023, included a $1.9 million investment last September, and has since integrated more than 18,000 different digital stationery items into the Goodnotes Marketplace in the companies’ ongoing effort to develop a global digital-paper ecosystem. Since launching in 2011, the AI-powered Goodnotes has been a technology trailblazer, becoming South Korea’s largest digital stationery platform offering journaling, planning and scheduling in its app as well as different calendar templates, digital planners, stickers and notebook covers to blend the worlds of traditional and digital paper.
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“We’re beyond thrilled to bring BTS-themed stationery to the millions of BTS fans among our Goodnotes community,” says Steven Chan, founder and CEO of Goodnotes, in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to HYBE and Webudding for their partnership in creating this extraordinary and exclusive line of BTS digital stationery for the Goodnotes Marketplace. We can’t wait to bring even more beloved cultural icons to the Goodnotes Marketplace, further empowering our users to express their passion and creativity.”
Donghwan Shin, the CEO and founder of Webudding, hints that more artist collaborations could soon follow this initial partnership with BTS and HYBE, who also house popular artists like SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans and ZICO in its multi-label system.
“We’re excited to collaborate with HYBE, especially given their artists’ enormous cultural impact, both in Korea and internationally,” Shin adds. “Celebrating their universal appeal and ability to unite people across the globe, we’re grateful to be able to create this content for Goodnotes’ more than 24 million users worldwide, bringing so many people the ability to customize their notebooks with their favorite artists. Users can expect many more collaborations like this in the future.”
The BTS-themed digital stationery collection will be available in the Goodnotes Marketplace by the end of May 2024. Goodnotes’ Chan adds that the company “can’t wait to bring even more beloved cultural icons to the Goodnotes Marketplace, further empowering our users to express their passion and creativity.”
Peep some of our favorite items below and find more here.
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Cher‘s chart-topping Christmas album marked her first-ever holiday record — and now, the legendary singer will embark on another first: a trip to the metaverse.
Billboard can share exclusive first details about Cher’s four-week event on Roblox that launches today (Dec. 8) in the latest collaboration between Warner Music Group and leading metaverse game developer Gamefam. Cher will head to WMG’s music-themed Roblox world Harmony Hills, which will have its halls decked in festive decor, add new holiday-themed locations, and launch limited-time virtual merchandise inspired by some of the superstar’s most iconic looks with tinsel hair, winter fairy wings, diamond antlers and a winter crown. The activation will spotlight three of Cher’s new Christmas tracks: “Drop Top Sleigh Ride” with Tyga, “Angels in the Snow,” and her historic new No. 1 single, “DJ Play a Christmas Song.”
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Alongside a virtual Cher NPC (non-playable character) designed to match her new album cover, players can earn the wearable avatar merch by successfully completing tasks like delivering presents, climbing up Christmas trees and participating in snowball fights.
The Cher space in Harmony Hills is the latest launch in WMG and Gamefam’s partnership that kicked off in February 2023 ahead of a Super Bowl concert with Warner Records rapper Saweetie. Gamefam reports the concert holds the highest rating among any concert on Roblox with a 96 percent player rating, with the Super Bowl campaign earning over 7.5 million visits in one week. A Bebe Rexha concert in July in support of her Bebe album averaged 8,300 concurrent users amid its 4.3 million unique visits.
Leaning into the 70 million daily active users on Roblox marks a unique opportunity for a legend like Cher to reach across generations, including an entirely new audience and demographic, via festive and familiar holiday music.
“Christmas songs have this magic that always brings families together and we feel Cher’s Christmas album really captures that spirit,” explains Jacqui Bransky, vp of Web3 and Innovation at Warner Records. “We thought taking her music to Roblox would help expose her to a new generation of fans while simultaneously spreading joy. We wanted to make the whole experience feel like a story, something that really draws the audience in while still feeling authentic to who Cher is as an artist.”
Adds Alli Guglielmino, svp of Growth at Gamefam, “Cher is an everlasting, multi-generational superstar and, after seven decades, Cher continues to find innovative ways to connect with a new wave of fans…as Gen Z and Alpha turn away from traditional music consumption methods, there’s no better place to reach them than the metaverse gaming platform where they’re actively playing for 2.5 hours every day.”
Cher’s Christmas event on Roblox (launching at 7 p.m. ET on Dec. 8) joins her heavy promo run for the holiday LP that’s included performances at the iHeartRadio Z100 Jingle Ball, the Rockefeller Center Tree-Lighting Special and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Gamefam & Warner Records
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Ugg and Palace Skateboards teamed up to release a new, limited-edition collaboration for the holidays. The latest Ugg x Palace collection […]
While TWICE is gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated new EP Ready to Be this week, the K-pop girl group will first open their own dedicated world in Roblox.
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Billboard can exclusively share that on Tuesday (March 8), TWICE is introducing an immersive virtual world, TWICE Square, on Roblox as the first-ever persistent fan hub on the global gaming platform with millions of users worldwide. Built by metaverse-focused brand agency Karta, the initiative marks the first-of-its-kind for TWICE’s different label partners of JYP Entertainment, Imperial, Republic Records, and Universal Music Group.
Decorated in TWICE’s signature colors through the years, TWICE Square allows the group’s dedicated fanbase — known affectionately as ONCE — to connect with other fans virtually and even the group itself. Visitors to the space can leave notes on display for the TWICE members, take selfies to share on social media, and age-verified users can utilize a voice chat function.
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TWICE Square also launches with two mini-games: “SET ME FREE” is an escape room (named after the forthcoming lead single from Ready to Be), as well as a trivia challenge (where ONCEs will test their knowledge in a race against the clock with a twist).
Fans can also buy, collect and trade items, including plushies and 20 avatar clothing items based around the real-life looks and styles of members Nayeon, Jihyo, Momo, Jeongyeon, Sana, Dahyun, Mina, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. Emotes inspired by TWICE’s most popular dance moves are also available.
While music activations are familiar to Roblox, an ever-evolving and constantly updating fan community world like TWICE Square is a changeup from what typically has been one-time events or concerts that create new metaverse worlds that are rarely returned to again.
“We’re already seeing that many Roblox users are creating experiences dedicated to their favorite musicians,” says Karibi Dagogo-Jack, Head of Music Partnerships at Roblox. “TWICE is a natural fit given the group’s passionate fan base and their commitment to innovation…Roblox is excited to empower this behavior in our community and enable full expression, fan connections, and immersion in TWICE Square. I’m particularly keen to see how TWICE Square unveils new ways for fans to experience the group’s creativity, communicate with the group, and build friendships with other ONCE.”
Roblox
For Glenn Mendlinger, president of Imperial, building with Roblox was a straightforward way to connect to the fandom he’s seen support TWICE to three top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and on the gaming platform itself.
“When it comes to community, Roblox has tremendous levels of fan engagement, and we knew that TWICE fans were already very active on Roblox — including a fan-made TWICE group with tens of thousands of members,” Mendlinger says. “The logical next step was to build out a first-of-its-kind experience connecting them and TWICE in an official custom-built world and environment. Leaning into the core tenant of connection and creativity on Roblox, it was all about meeting fans where they already are, then crafting the optimal experience.”
With the launch this week, Mendlinger says he and his teams will monitor fans’ reactions as Imperial hopes to create more “persistent spaces” in Roblox for their artists roster, which includes TWICE’s label mates like Stray Kids and ITZY.
“What marks a successful partnership here with TWICE and Roblox really comes down to fan reception and building a deeper community,” says Mendlinger. “At its core, we want to provide fans with a meaningful experience; a place where they can bond with other fans over their shared love for TWICE. Success is when the fans are happy, friendships are made, and we see fans continuously spending time and coming back to the experience.”
TWICE Square is said to be rolling out new features all year, along with visits from the girls themselves.
“TWICE plans to keep the experience updated with new content,” Roblox’s Dagogo-Jack adds. “The group will also be dropping into the experience. They’re hoping that their fans treat the space as a hangout and an information source for all things TWICE…we’re so enthusiastic about what TWICE has built — and plans to build — on Roblox.”
TWICE’s Ready to Be drops Friday, featuring the English single “Moonlight Sunrise,” which the group performed atBillboard’s 2023 Women in Music, and and the new single “Set Me Free” coming out in both English and Korean versions. Watch the latest music video teaser of “Set Me Free” below:
David Crosby was working on new music until the end. In an interview with Variety, guitarist Steve Postell said that the 81 year-old two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame veteran who died last week at 81 was talking about his new album on the day he died.
“David didn’t think he was gonna last for years, which he joked about all the time. But there was no sense that we weren’t gonna be able to do this show and these tours,” Postell told Variety. “We were talking tour buses, and what kind of venues, and the whole team was all back together again — the road manager and tour manager and sound guys — on top of this band we’d put together. There was not even a remote sense that we weren’t about ready to hit the world. And it’s a shame people didn’t get to hear it. This was something else. This was as close to the original thing” — specifically, the original sound of Crosby, Stills and Nash — “as we were gonna get. It was very powerful.”
Postell had been speaking on the phone with Crosby near the end after taking part in an “intimate” rehearsal in Santa Barbara the week before Crosby died; that was the follow to a full-band rehearsal in mid-December at which Postell said Crosby seemed “practically giddy with all of it.” During the latter, Crosby reportedly showed his band some new songs, asking them what they thought of the lyrics and proving that he “hadn’t lost the fire. I’d like people to know that he was on it. He was writing, playing, singing his ass off and preparing a fantastic show. That’s what he was doing. He was not lying in a bed for two years, out of it. That’s not what happened at all.”
In a testament to Crosby’s enduring love of playing and writing, Postell said he was talking to the singer on the phone on Wednesday morning discussing plans for a two-night run in Santa Barbara at the Lobero Theatre in late February that they were considering recording for a live album; Crosby’s death was announced on Thursday (Jan. 19).
The shows would have been Crosby’s first live gigs since 2019 and after spending Wednesday afternoon rehearsing the full set list they’d worked out, Postell said he texted the singer with some ideas that night and got a return text from Crosby son and bandmate, James Raymond, that his dad had died.
Though Crosby was eager to get back on the road after announcing in 2022 that he was done performing live, Postell said the CSN star was having difficulty with arthritis in his hands and could still play, but it had “gotten harder and harder for him.”
Another musician who had been working with Crosby on new material, Texas singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz, told Variety that she’d recorded some vocals remotely and sent them to James Raymond and that Raymond told her after his father’s death that Crosby had listened to the tapes and appreciated her work.
“I never got to actually be in the studio with him when I was recording those vocals,” Jarosz said. “But he and James had reached out to me about a month ago saying they were working on this new album, and he really wanted me to sing on a new song, ‘Talk Till Dawn.’ It had just been a few days since I sent the vocal off [before Crosby died], but the way James made it seem to me is that he did get to hear it before he passed, which is obviously extremely emotional for me. I guess the way that I would describe the song is quintessential David Crosby —interesting chord movement and just a beautiful, stunning vocal performance.”
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