According to a new article from Forbes, the one and only superstar Travis Scott earned one hell of a paycheck for his virtual concert in Fortnite. The event, which took place in April, reportedly drew in a record breaking number of concurrent Fortnite players. More than 12.3 million people were online at the same time experiencing the spectacle.
Forbes reports that the virtual concert earned the hip-hop star a cool $20 million (USD) for his performance. This figure includes merchandise sales that took place over the course of the three day long Astronomical event. That is a pre-tax figure, but it is still incredibly impressive and is reportedly more than he earns for a full concert.
To boil it down even further, Scott earned $20 million while performing for just about 10 minutes.
For Scott and, really, the entire music industry, it laid a path to a new revenue stream. Scott grossed roughly $20 million for it including merchandise sales, according to a source, much more than what his concerts typically gross. It showed that a virtual performance, once dismissed as a gimmick, could be as much an act of artistry as an old-fashioned live show. And it drove home the benefit of a closer relationship between brand and celebrity. “The landscape is changing,†says Epic’s Phil Rampulla, its head of brand. “You’ve got to bring something that’s awesome. Otherwise it’s ‘That’s just an ad.’ And those things are just getting glossed over.â€
