YouTube sensation-turned-art pop powerhouse Poppy has built a career on being unpredictable. From her early viral video fame as an uncanny cultural critic through albums that demolish the lines between bubblegum and industrial metal, Poppy constantly makes colossal moves.
Now, Poppy is teaming up with HIFI Labs to craft her own 8-bit universe—with the help of fans.
Available for iOS and Android, new app PoppySphere gives fans a constantly changing world to explore, with dynamic rooms and secrets for them to find as they navigate a realm of Poppy’s own iconoclastic creation. Users can customize their own avatar and text chat as they plumb the depths of Poppy’s virtual space, playing games and making connections with fellow Poppy fans everywhere.
“I am over enjoyed to be launching my very own Metaverse!” says Poppy. “A fully customizable virtual space to hang out and talk with the poppysphere one on one. The possibilities are endless so, make yourself at home.”
Upon launch, fans will have a chance to actively shape the PoppySphere, working alongside Poppy to build and customize this new interactive world. Fans can submit music for different rooms, games for the arcade, featured wall art to provide decor, or even design whole rooms. Featured content might even earn creators exclusive gifts.
PoppySphere comes in the wake of new album Flux, the focus of the first-ever Listening Party held on Roblox. The GRAMMY nominee played and chatted alongside the platform’s millions of users as her music became part of the soundscape for a full weekend. Now, PoppySphere players can immerse themselves in Poppy’s one-of-a-kind aesthetic anytime they want.
For HIFI Labs, assembling radical new tools for artists and keeping them in the driver’s seat as they reach out to their audiences is a matter of principle. “We're really interested in the true direct-to-fan connection,” says CEO Joe Barham. “We love working with artists who view the cutting edge as an opportunity and our focus is on helping artists build their own platforms to create the best possible relationship with fans.”
By helping artists get the expertise they need, HIFI Labs helps them focus on using what makes them unique and how to parlay that into sustainable work. “We get to know them, we ask them how they’re doing, what their team looks like, and what their goals and plans are,” explains Head of Strategy Taryn Haight. “Then we can see what’s out there, what’s been done already, and take those findings, platforms, and tools to use them in a new way that works specifically for that particular artist.”
It’s that focus on customization and innovation that makes collaborations through HIFI Labs so exciting. Poised to become the world’s first video game-based fanclub, PoppySphere is a perfect example of HIFI’s outside-the-box thinking.
PoppySphere is available for download on iOS and Android devices starting November 18.