Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Protip: It's not a great idea to announce "X in virtual worlds is the future of Y" before checking to see if there are instances of Y successfully happening without X.

For instance: "Live performances in virtual worlds are the future of music concerts." It's part of that future, we can safely say, but as reader "Mint" reminds us,  it's definitely not the only one:

There have been a number of live online shows done in a more traditional streaming method. BTS, Dua Lipa, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and other Top 40 musicians have all done them. My guess for artists not doing Fortnite concerts would be because A) their core audiences aren't active there or an immersive experience in a virtual world wouldn't interest them and B) the costs of doing a traditional show are lower. Take BTS for example – they did a more traditional livestream concert and made approximately $19 million to $26 million in ticket sales alone. I wouldn't imagine that most of their fanbase is on Fortnite, and a more traditional format may enable the viewer to better see their dancing + choreography. I'm also not sure if fans are really looking for an immersive experience – at least from what I've seen amongst fanbases of artists that have offered virtual concerts, it's more about getting to see an artist perform songs live than to have any unique experience. 

Yes: Top bands are making quite a lot of money just from selling tickets to oldschool video streams of live shows, without the added addition (and time, and money) of creating a whole Travis Scott-in-Fortnite-type virtual world experience on top of that. As Minty notes, fans of artists like BTS will probably prefer watching the live real world stage act that's core to the BTS experience. Where virtual worlds will probably shine most is by elevating shows put on by performers who don't have a lot of dancing and other choreography in their stage acts. (Off the top of my head: my neighbor* Billie Eilish has a great stage presence, but a virtual world performance which turns her dark and moody songs into interactive 3D animation would be amazing.)

Which isn't to say there's no place for amazing stage acts like BTS in virtual worlds — as a matter of fact, they mocapped some of their dance moves for avatars to buy and use in Fortnite:

So maybe the more defensible thing to say is: Video streaming shows are the future of music concerts for artists with great stage acts, while virtual world performances are the future of music concerts for artists with minimal stage acts… while selling virtual world content is a big part in the future for both.

* She literally lives a mile or so from me in Los Angeles. Have your people call mine, Ms. Eilish!