K/DA virtual band. A case study on the contribution of video games to the future of the music industry

Sonia Elena Ioan

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2022
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9783346636331
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

Case Study from the year 2021 in the subject Musicology - Contemporary music, grade: 5/5, Bocconi University, language: English, abstract: This paper focuses on a particular phenomenon called K/DA, a virtual group created by Riot Games in collaboration with Riot Music, by grouping Champions from their video game League of Legends. Throughout the case study, the author analyzed the structure and history of the group, thanks to media specific websites and online magazines. After a presentation of the virtual beings context, she studied the key elements that allowed the success of such a musical experiment, from the creation of the product itself to the marketing campaign that Riot Games implemented to promote the release of both the single and the album of the group. Ultimately, she wrote about the synergies with the promotion of the League of Legends video game itself. The video game industry had a fundamental role in creating such a unique phenomenon and, vice versa, Riot Games' entrance in the music industry helped them successfully market one of their core products. The author therefore decided to analyze the existing literature on how learning from the video games industry would help the music industry in a more and more competitive media landscape. Throughout the use of specialized articles and books she summarized the theories about a hybrid music / gaming model and discussed its implications in times, where the attention of digital consumers is considered the main currency in the media sectors. A new business model could implement the expertise of video game companies to leverage on two fundamental key elements emerged in this paper: storytelling and fandom.