Guitar Hero III is a music label’s best friend, according to an inside music industry source who claims songs included on the popular game boost real-life sales. Slipknot, The Strokes…send your thank-you cards to game publisher Activison.
Digital Journal — If a rock band wants to increase album and song sales, they should turn their attention to the gaming market. Specifically, the Guitar Hero III title, which allows amateur rockers to play real songs by well-known bands.
An ArsTechnica investigation found that music included on Guitar Hero III (distributed by Activision) saw a sales spike immediately after the game’s release in late October.
The article cites an anonymous music industry source who claims GHIII fans are buying the tracks used in the game. For example, The Strokes’ “Reptilia” is one of the 70 tracks on GHIII, and it sold 127 per cent more digital copies the week the game was released than it did the week earlier.
Same goes for Slipknot’s “Before I Forget,” whose sales jumped 75 per cent during the week of the game’s release. It jumped an impressive 140 per cent the week later, too.
The source explained: “It doesn’t appear to matter if you’re in the main game or are a bonus song; huge gains are seen everywhere. As long as your song ships with the game and you offer the track to be downloaded digitally, you see an increase.”
Now that GHIII has spawned a cult following and eye-popping sales figures (1.4 million units sold in its first week), it makes sense for labels and music publishers to look at the gaming market with renewed interest. Musicians have the opportunity to reach a market they usually don’t court, and it’s only in their best interest to spread their music to different niches.
A kid might get turned on to Weezer’s 1994 album simply by riffing on “My Name is Jonas” in GHIII. And that’s always a positive for bands struggling to remain relevant in today’s increasingly digital world.
