Despite Ariana Grande releasing no new music last year, it was still nominated for an MTV Video Music Award last month. His 2021 space-themed concert at Fortnite competed for the newly added “Best Metaverse Performance” category. He faced Blackpink’s performance in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds mobileBTS’ in Minecraftthe efforts of Charli XCX and Twenty One Pilots in Robloxand Justin Bieber’s virtual reality experience on Wave. Blackpink took home the MTV award for the category. Most of these partnerships are high-profile examples of how, by tapping into the gaming audience’s interest in consuming music on those platforms, these artists have made hugely lucrative transitions into the future of the music business.

But what could the metaverse hold for…