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The videogame industry isn't letting this little revenue stream get by it: the soundtrack album. RED Interactive, a Sony subsidiary, is a label focusing exclusively on game-related music. "We want people to associate us with game soundtracks in the same way that fans of new age music think of Windham Hill," says Mitchell Wolk, vice president and general manager for RED.
To hook a core market of game addicts the company is loading its US$16.98 audio CDs with extras. Its first effort, Duke Nukem: Music to Score By, which launches this month, features songs and videos from the rock band Stabbing Westward, as well as game add-ons and interactive strategy material. In effect, it's both an audio CD and companion CD-ROM for the game.
So will the Mozartian sweep of Super Mario 64 or the Glassian minimalism of Space Invaders ever make it to CD? RED's director of A&R and marketing Paul DeGooyer laughs. No looping two-bit tracks, he promises. "It's only recently we've had game music that stands on its own."
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