A few weeks ago I called out music industry bigwigs at Warner Bros. who were pushing the record company to charge Activision and Harmonix more money to feature songs by bands on their rosters. I argued that this is stupid, and these execs should view music featured in Guitar Hero and Rock Band as free advertising.
Welp, the Economist agrees.
According to Activision Blizzard, the video-game giant behind “Guitar Hero III”, bands whose songs are included in the game can expect online sales of their music to increase by an average of 300% as a result.
Of course, the regressive old school record industry players can't seem to recognize this...yet. The article goes on drop an amazing claim:
Bobby Kotick, Activision’s boss, says Aerosmith have made more money from “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” (pictured above), a version of the video-game that features the band, than from any of their albums.
This is incredible to me. Aerosmith is one of the biggest rock bands of all time. They have huge hits that have garnered them millions across the last thirty years. And now they are making royalties in excess of all that. What is Warner Bros. thinking?
It won't be long before venues like Guitar Hero will be able to bypass record labels entirely, going straight to the artist.
Related Links:
Everyone Should Be Able to Rock
Warner Music Wants More Royalties
A++ Parents Let Their Teen Quit School To Become a Guitar Hero