On December 6, 2023, Epic Games announced their gaming series Fortnite Festival would launch that month and allow gamers to join forces in a virtual band to perform some of music’s most popular songs. An initial collection of 30 songs as varied as The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears,” The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” was announced along with news that additional songs would be released for game-play in the coming months. The announcement drove immediate consumption for many of the songs on traditional streaming music platforms* outside of Fortnite Festival as tracks like Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and NF’s “The Search” each jumped 23% in U.S. On-Demand Audio streams the next week (week ending 12/14/23).
In the first few months of 2024, additional songs were announced weekly and interest often led to streaming impact both in the U.S. and Globally Ex-U.S. The Chainsmokers’ 2016 hit “Closer” (featuring Halsey) jumped 15.6% in the U.S. and 17.4% in Ex-U.S. territories (week ending 3/7/24 over week ending 2/22/24), while the sustained eight-week impact** was a lift of 20.8% and 24.9% in total audio streaming volume in the U.S. and Ex-U.S., respectively.
Like music genres, gaming genres are unique and attract a variety of audiences. Luminate Insights consumer research data shows that K-Pop fans, for instance, over-index for Role Playing Games (index 242) while Electronic/Dance music fans over-index for Rhythm games like Fortnite Festival (index 175). This helps to explain the strong uptick that “Closer” received after the track was announced for the game and also helps marketers understand how to match games with music to reach the right audience at the right time.
Source:
Luminate Music Consumption Data
Luminate Insights Entertainment 365 Consumer Research Data
*Traditional streaming music platforms include Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music and others. Consumption stats listed are not reflective of any Fortnite Festival in-game activity
** (On-Demand Audio Streams 3/1/24 – 4/25/24 vs 12/29/23 – 2/22/24)
