‘Roblox’ hires former Spotify and Meta staff to “push the boundaries of creativity”

Roblox has announced a wave of new hires, including Spotify’s former head of music development and Meta’s head of emerging content in an attempt to “push the boundaries of creativity.”

According to the Roblox Corporation, Karibi Dagogo-Jack is now Roblox’s head of music partnerships after 29 months at Spotify as their head of music development. Before that, Dagago-Jack worked at Interscope Records. According to his LinkedIn profile, he’s been at Roblox since the end of last year.

Joining the team more recently is Todd Lichten in the new role of head of entertainment partnerships. According to his LinkedIn, he joined last month after being Meta’s head of emerging content. Prior to that, he spent over three years at Facebook. He also helped develop the Red Table Talk podcast.

These new hires come as Roblox continues to expand its ambitions, with collaborations with artists, brands and platforms like Spotify.

“We’ve seen a lot of success with top brands coming onto the Roblox platform, and our partnership work continues to accelerate as they experiment with new formats, launch persistent social spaces, discover new revenue streams, and push the boundaries of creativity,” said Roblox’s VP of global partnerships, Christina Wootton.

“The growth in the number of persistent experiences especially signifies long-term commitment and showcases that brands view our platform as the next-generation immersive social place for ongoing community engagement vs. a place for one-time activations.”

In recent months, Roblox has launched a Spotify Island featuring virtual meets and the ability for players to make their own music, and hosted virtual performances from the likes of Charli XCX, Lizzo and Gayle.

Live out your tapioca fantasy sliding through the Rainbow Boba Straw ???? #SpotifyIsland pic.twitter.com/GkowM70Z0P

— Spotify (@Spotify) May 24, 2022

“The past few years have had a major impact on artist-fan interactions and the way that fans experience music altogether. Platforms like Roblox offer a look into the future of musical experiences for fans and artists alike,” a spokesperson from Spotify told NME about their partnership with Roblox. 

“As fans dive deeper into the metaverse, they’re looking for immersive, multi-dimensional experiences that rival – or even surpass – real world experiences. That means bringing together every form of digital content, and we know that music and audio will play a large role in that,” they added.