The Grand Theft Auto franchise’s latest entry hits shelves Tuesday, but it’s not just the videogame industry that will be raking in the earnings.
The music industry may have also found a shiny new source of revenue: the violent videogame’s soundtrack, partially playable on the GTA widget at right.
From Reuters/Billboard:
That’s good news for the big record labels, which are currently livingin a P2P world intent on devaluing their overpriced commodities. And that’s just for songs from artists you may not have heard of. Once demand kicks in for more recognizable tunes in games, expect that number torise. Labels are already mining their back catalogs to cash in on the popularity of music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. They’re also capitalizing on the promotional opportunitiesfranchises like Grand Theft Auto offer their lesser-known artists, and once they figure out a feestructure they can live with, the big shots won’t be far behind.
However the numbers shake out, the music industry is making senseand getting dollars in return for it. CDs are dead, and a waste ofresources on top of everything else. From iTunes to BitTorrent to the gamerverse, options abound for the music biz’s uncertain future.
But that’s only if the label honchos are ready to take an uncomfortable leap out ofa comfortable, and exceedingly lucrative, past. Time, and complicatedfee structures, will tell.
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