By Antony Bruno
Phase I has proved a phenomenal success, with "Rock Band"
and "Guitar Hero III" selling millions of songs through their
respective platforms. But it has been a limited victory.
Both are music-based rhythm games that use master
recordings and cover songs to let gamers "play" along to the
tunes using special controllers shaped like musical
instruments. Purchased songs can be used only as elements of
the game itself. They can't be transferred to an MP3 player or
stored in users' digital music libraries.
But "Grand Theft Auto IV" includes a feature that lets
players tag any song in the soundtrack in order to receive more
information about the title and artist, as well as store tagged
tracks in a custom playlist on the Amazon digital music store
for later purchase.
PRESS "BUY"
It's been well established how TV shows, ads and videogames
are growing areas of music discovery and promotion. But until
"GTA IV," there's been no construct that allows for the
immediate identification and purchase of those songs from
videogames. "GTA IV" has added that "buy" button, and record
labels welcome the innovation.
"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."
"It was just one of those songs we just couldn't let go
of," Rockstar music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich says. "It fit the
game perfectly, so we were obviously determined to track them
down."
INSPIRING LOYALTY
"The 'GTA' developers have gotten a really good reputation
for having really good taste because of the choices they've
made," GameSpot editor Ricardo Torres says. "They're really
focused on the quality of the experience for the player ...
(so) there's a lot of anticipation to see what they've deemed
as cool enough to include in the new 'GTA.' "
The soundtrack is dominated by the kind of obscure tracks
only the hippest DJs know to spin, many of which may find new
sales life as a result of Rockstar's partnership with Amazon.
According to Pavlovich, the Amazon music service didn't even
have 40 percent of the soundtrack in its inventory when the
deal was made. Rockstar gathered the product from its many
licensees so the store could be fully stocked by launch. This
separates "GTA IV" from other videogame franchises like the
"Madden" football series or "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band."
These are more casual games generally featuring mainstream hits
with the occasional emerging act thrown in.
"That's fine for the masses," Torres says. "But when you're
dealing with a finicky crowd like gamers, it has to be really
cool and really different."
Reuters/Billboard
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