Rich Fiscus
5 May 2008 1:56
It's no great surprise that video game retailers are very happy with the release of GTA IV, the latest installment of Rockstar Games' wildly successful Grand Theft Auto series. What is a little surprising is the buzz being created in the music industry by the addition of a new feature that connects players to Amazon.com's online music store, where songs featured in the game can be purchased.
"It's a very big deal for us," says Cynthia Sexton, senior vice president of marketing and licensing for EMI Music North America. "We're continually looking for new ways to sell our music. There are millions of people buying 'Grand Theft Auto,' and we hope they will enjoy the music and in turn buy those tracks."
Unlike most game developers, who typically leave the selection and licensing of tracks for inclusion in games to the publisher, Rockstar makes a point of developing and licensing game soundtracks themselves. This can result in high visibility for songs that might not receive any attention from the mainstream market otherwise. In fact, according to Rockstar music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich Amazon had less than 40% of the songs from GTA IV available for sale before when they originally inked the deal to sell it.
While video game related promotions could certainly prove to be a useful marketing tool for both labels and artists, most game developers and publishers don't have the focus on music that Rockstar does, and certainly labels haven't shown any sign they've mastered the art of establishing new markets themselves. So the real question seems to be whether this is the beginning of a new trend, or just one more thing that sets Rockstar Games apart from their competition.