With many rappers and musicians signing to esports organizations and making exclusive appearances on gaming streams, the entertainment and esports industries are slowly becoming more and more intertwined. Drake appeared on popular Twitch streamer Ninja’s stream, setting the record for most concurrent viewers for any live event, and a slew of rappers, including Offset and Logic, have signed exclusive streaming deals with streaming platforms. Snoop Dogg even started his own esports league.
While we were unable to contact Snoop Dogg or Lil Yachty (due to scheduling conflicts), we were able to speak with Stephen Emrich. We inquired about his thoughts on the growing bond between gamers and musicians. Large organizations like FaZe and Azuric signing Lil Yachty and, on a smaller scale, Azuric signing me, make sense because musicians typically have large followings.”
Gaming has progressed significantly over the last decade, with both equipment and public perception of games rapidly improving. In the 2010s, as mobile devices became more capable, mobile gaming became increasingly popular. In 2015, an estimated 1.9 billion people played video games on a regular basis. In just 5 years, in the year 2020, there were an estimated 3 billion gamers worldwide. The audiences of entertainment and esports are increasingly overlapping as a result of the general trend of increasing numbers of video gamers.
Gaming has progressed significantly over the last decade, with both equipment and public perception of games rapidly improving. In the 2010s, as mobile devices became more capable, mobile gaming became increasingly popular. In 2015, an estimated 1.9 billion people played video games on a regular basis. In just 5 years, in the year 2020, there were an estimated 3 billion gamers worldwide. The audiences of entertainment and esports are increasingly overlapping as a result of the general trend of increasing numbers of video gamers.
The story of how Insyde got into the esports community is fascinating. While playing the popular online game Among Us, he met Serpent (@ItsSerpent on Twitter), the owner of Azuric, on a Discord server. “I first met Serpent in November 2020, and we became fast friends. After about a month of correspondence, he invited me to join Azuric, his esports organization. I had never considered esports as a viable option before, and even then, I expected to be there for a month or so to help kickstart the organization before moving on, but I ended up having a lot of fun doing it, so here I am, 8 months later, still in Azuric.”
While Insyde began his career as a musician, going viral on social media as a “meme” and gaining a global audience, he has been working to translate his music marketing experience to the gaming industry. “Marketing fundamentals can be applied to almost any niche, including music, gaming, and even running a business.” “If you understand the fundamentals of how people’s brains work, you can succeed anywhere,” he told us.
Esports and music are likely to have more and more major crossovers as time goes on, affecting both their audiences and marketing. Insyde, for example, is at the forefront of this major shift.
