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The concept of downloadable songs always sounded like an enticing offer to gamers, enriching the experience of titles like Rock Band or Guitar Hero with fresh content for years to come. Now this distribution method seems to have become a viable competitor against other online retailers such as iTunes, with new singles finding far more success in the videogame market.
For instance, Motley Crue’s latest single, “Saints of Los Angeles,” was downloaded more than 47,000 times over Xbox Live, while other digital retailers such as iTunes and Amazon only received about 10,000 downloads. Black Tide’s single “Shockwave” also saw far greater sales with video games than online retailers as it managed to receive nearly ten thousand downloads more on Rock Band.
Despite Rock Band and Guitar Hero’s impressive results, music industry execs do not necessarily feel that future music experiences will only come with plastic instruments and that the two mediums may not even have to be necessarily defined as competitors. Tenth Street Entertainment, the managers of Motley Crue, explain that in an era of intense entertainment piracy, a sale is a sale, regardless of the platform. “As marketers, it’s our job to find the audience. If our audience tells us they’re sitting at Xbox and PlayStation, that’s our job to do that," said Tenth Street CEO Allen Kovac.
Kovac believes that the newfound popularity for this particular form of distribution comes with the recent discovery of enjoyment that results from interacting with the music, as Rock Band and Guitar Hero have so gallantly displayed. To him, the current generation of young music fans, whom also happen to be gamers, will prefer the interactive experience with today’s music found in videogames, making for a deeper and longer term investment.
Kovac’s point makes sense, as a fan of Motely Crue probably isn’t willing to buy the same single twice, first on iTunes and again on Rock Band. It’s also hard to blame someone for wanting a more interactive experience with their music and friends in the case of Rock Band. Regardless of who sells more, games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero could very well be the saviors of the music industry by motivating people to once again pay for their favorite artist’s work.
For instance, Motley Crue’s latest single, “Saints of Los Angeles,” was downloaded more than 47,000 times over Xbox Live, while other digital retailers such as iTunes and Amazon only received about 10,000 downloads. Black Tide’s single “Shockwave” also saw far greater sales with video games than online retailers as it managed to receive nearly ten thousand downloads more on Rock Band.
Despite Rock Band and Guitar Hero’s impressive results, music industry execs do not necessarily feel that future music experiences will only come with plastic instruments and that the two mediums may not even have to be necessarily defined as competitors. Tenth Street Entertainment, the managers of Motley Crue, explain that in an era of intense entertainment piracy, a sale is a sale, regardless of the platform. “As marketers, it’s our job to find the audience. If our audience tells us they’re sitting at Xbox and PlayStation, that’s our job to do that," said Tenth Street CEO Allen Kovac.
Kovac believes that the newfound popularity for this particular form of distribution comes with the recent discovery of enjoyment that results from interacting with the music, as Rock Band and Guitar Hero have so gallantly displayed. To him, the current generation of young music fans, whom also happen to be gamers, will prefer the interactive experience with today’s music found in videogames, making for a deeper and longer term investment.
Kovac’s point makes sense, as a fan of Motely Crue probably isn’t willing to buy the same single twice, first on iTunes and again on Rock Band. It’s also hard to blame someone for wanting a more interactive experience with their music and friends in the case of Rock Band. Regardless of who sells more, games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero could very well be the saviors of the music industry by motivating people to once again pay for their favorite artist’s work.
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