Video Games Are Launching Rock-n-Roll Careers

jillduffy writes "Steve Schnur, a high-level music exec at Electronic Arts, talks about how video games are launching the careers of top musical artists these days. Some of his examples: 'Avril Lavigne was first introduced to European audiences through FIFA 2003. Fabolous was first introduced in America via NBA Live, and went on to sell over 2 million albums here. JET got their American iPod commercial based on exposure in Madden 2004. Avenged Sevenfold were an unsigned act when we featured them in Madden 2004...' Schnur explains how the phenomenon is made possible by the new generation of media junkies, who feel a song becomes real when they 'play it.'"

Comments

WHAT???

[zappepcs]

You mean to tell me that the RIAA are NOT the only ones who launch big music careers?

Somebody better tell them quick, surely this means the end of their business model?

http://www.riaaradar.com/ is a place to look for other artists that are not associated with the RIAA if you are interested.

Re:WHAT???

[westlake]

You mean to tell me that the RIAA are NOT the only ones who launch big music careers?
Somebody better tell them quick, surely this means the end of their business model?

You do have some notion of how big and rich the video game industry has become? How many in the industry have a working relationship with the owners of the major labels?

Re:WHAT???

[nacturation]

You mean to tell me that the RIAA are NOT the only ones who launch big music careers? That's right... and if you want to launch your big music career through video games, there's only one company that matters to you, and that's Electronic Arts. See, we the fine people at Electronic Arts realize that there are other video games out there whose developers would like you to believe they can offer the same thing, but that's utter rubbish. So if you're a really good band then don't waste your time with any other company. Come to us and give us your music for free, because after all (dramatic Jedi hand maneuver) only Electronic Arts can make you extremely popular and launch your career.

Turning it around

[decipher_saint]

A better question would be why aren't these groups getting exposure in Europe / United States in the first place? Isn't that what organizations like RIAA are for?

I find it interesting that a video game soundtrack or an iPod commercial might be a better distribution system for pop music than radio or television. Something seems broken here.

Re:Turning it around

[TheLink]

AFAIK, lots of people heard Avril Lavigne before FIFA 2003 was released.

So I don't know what this story is really about.

Sonic Music Rocks

[Tailsfan]

Don't forget Crush 40.

Re:Sonic Music Rocks

[ILuvRamen]

dude I got the sonic the hedgehog 2 and 3 music in my car :D it's awesome! I re-recorded it from my emulator hehehe.

I agree

[Dr. Eggman]

Nearly all the music I have (that was made in this decade or the previous) has come from video games. There is very little I like in the music industry, but video game music provides me with music backed by experiences, settings, characters. It creates a strong connection that evokes thoughts and images far better than detached music does for me. I hate lyrics, which really reduces the set of enjoyable music for me, but video games provides some of the widest variety in music I like.

Re:I agree

[Anonymous Coward]

Nearly all the music I have (that was made in this decade or the previous) has come from video games.

That is most likely an indication of video games being the only way you're introduced to new artists and genres.

Re:I agree

[DwarfGoanna]

Wow.

One one hand I want to find this fascinating, but it kinda seems horribly sad (in b4 "must be new here"). I mean, you do realize that outside in the big world music (the best of which you simply aren't going to find in a LCD medium like console gaming) functions much the same way, right? Music is fairly ubiquitous IRL, and aside from the appeal of one taste or style versus another is usually reinforced by "experiences, settings, and characters". That your appreciation of something so broad and potentially enriching as music is defines solely by what video games you're staring at (meaning cross promotional tie-ins)while the rest of us are living out life is just... well, horrifying, frankly.

I'm sure this comes off as terribly elitist or pretentious to some of you, but if thats the case I'd at least ask you to consider what ratio of your interests are simply being dictated to you by media corps. Yikes.

Re:I agree

[rishistar]

So how do you feel about music now Audiosurf has come out!?

Re:I agree

[moosesocks]

Music today has boundaries that stretch unfathomably far beyond what gets played on the radio.

For starters, there's the absolutely massive "indie" community that fosters a fantastic amount of great music.

If you prefer ambient/electronic music with few or no words, quite a lot of artists have cropped up in this genre thanks to the magic of file-sharing and the internet, given the genre's relatively specific audience, and the difficulty for such bands to effectively promote themselves.

There are a whole slew of artists in this genre worth checking out: 65daysofstatic, Mogwai, Sigur Rós, Four Tet, Explosions in the Sky, The Books, Battles, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, and a thousand others that I've either forgotten or never heard of.

No matter how obscure you might think your musical tastes are, chances are good that there are many, many others like you. Don't be confined by video game soundtracks!

That all said, I've never been all *that* impressed by a video game soundtrack, with the very notable exception of the Final Fantasy series.

Re:I agree

[Dr. Eggman]

I forgot to qualify my first post as an agreement that video games are a good source of music, even more than a launch of "Rock-n-Roll careers," but still I agree with their statements. I have odd and specific tastes, very little of which is popular. For instance, in addition to a dislike of lyrics, I *mostly* dislike acoustic/electric guitars. Something about the vast majority of music featuring them just grates on my ears (there are a number of exceptions, of course.) Video games just happen to provide a large portion of enjoyable music that does meet my tastes. That's not to say they aren't available elsewhere, just that I find the music in video games more accessable for the type of music I want.

Most of which comes in the form of PC games, from which I can easily extract the files from and don't need to actually be playing the music. The rousing themes of Supreme Commander go quite nicely with the feeling one gets as they workout the bugs of a program and accentuate the excitment I feel as I watch my work come together like a glorious army assembling outside my enemy's gate. The thoughtful economic themes of Rise of Legends play gracefully with idle searches of wikipedia. The underrated techno-orchestral themes of the recent Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 video game (itself an exception to many of my tastes (prominent guitar themes in the same game as light jazz AND accordian music?!), modes of music acquisition (console, though taken to the PC via a wonderful website, Shadow of a Hedgehog,) works wonderfully with various activities from driving to posting online.

This is not to say I don't enjoy music outside of video games. I enjoy classical orcestral, as well as modern pieces from the likes of John Coolidge Adams. It just happens that I first encountered Adams' work through Civilization IV rather than through some more traditional introduction via an interest in minimalism and active seeking of such composers.

Re:I agree

[spinlight]

I definitely think that there's something to that.

Back in my TFC days, I used to listen to an internet radio station while I played. I have found that years later I have a very strong association between those songs and the game itself. So much so that when I think of playing the game, the songs pop into my head, and vice versa. Obviously, the songs have nothing at all to do with TFC, nor were they associated in any intelligible way to what I was doing in the game, yet I developed an affinity for them nevertheless.

All this to say that I would not be surprised to learn that other people create strong associations with the music they hear while playing a video game. It makes a lot of sense, almost like subliminal messaging, the music kind of interlaces with the experience.

Now, if the songs are jingles about coke products or clothing lines, I'd be a little concerned. Otherwise, it reminds me of how NIN did the soundtrack for Quake. It's just kinda cool, and if you don't like it, can't you usually turn off the music and get sound effects only? Then play any kind of music you want.

Another thing that might be fun would be if there were a "video game music" genre. Like bands that just made music for video games. You could break them down into sub-groups by game type or they could theme their albums. A music industry based entirely on gamer culture, now that would be something.

Re:I agree

[Dr. Eggman]

It is nice to see that at least a few other people listen to my (extreme taste-exception,) E.G.G.M.A.N. Doc. Robeatnix Mix -- and show them whose the best mono, mono pro, and mono ninja of it! Kind of disappointing no one plays Mad Matrix, anything from SimCity 4, or Bioshock...

Re:I agree

[Dutch Gun]

You espouse on *slashdot* in a *games forum* the idea anyone who enjoys music from a video game (obviously wasting their life) is simply sucking on the teat of our corporate overlords, and should rethink their tastes (presumably to fall more in line with yours)? How wonderfully "I'm-so-enlightened-and-open-minded-oh-and-anyone-who-disagrees-with-me-is-an-idiot" of you.

You're making the assumption that someone who enjoys a particular genre of music is only going so because they are being spoon-fed by some corporation trying to create some sort of cross-promotional tie-in. The fact that you find it "horrifying" that someone may like to relax and play a video game... and, shocker of shockers, might also like the music that accompanies said game, is a bit baffling to me. Have you considered the remote possibility that there's a lot of enjoyable video game music out there? Why are people so quick to judge individual taste as "worthwhile" or "not worthwhile"?

I tend to prefer instrumental music. I especially enjoy classical music and symphonic music. This pretty much includes everything from Beethoven to John Williams to Jeremy Soule. Frankly, I don't give a damn if the music I like comes from a media corporation. That doesn't diminish my enjoyment of it a single bit. That's because I'm listening to the music, not thinking about where it comes from. If you want to make some sort of statement about why you listen to particular types of music, that's fine... good for you. But then, that's really not about just the music anymore, is it?

And by the way, if you're just "staring at video games", you're doing it wrong.

Re:I agree

[ichthyoboy]

MOD PARENT UP!! The indie community, along with a great many college radio stations, is a wonderful place for finding great music. Even the major labels think so: aside from the studio manufactured boy-bands and bubblegum pop, a large proportion of bands currently found on commercial radio got their start on indie/college stations.

Re:I agree

[hairyfeet]

This is the first game that I can remember really enjoying the music as more than background enhancement while I played. I do like how the trend seems to be more "real" music and I hope that they keep mixing in lesser known bands. And it has the added bonus of really fleshing out the game if done right.I think have the reason I enjoyed Vice City so much is it took me back to my youth with its soundtrack.IMO the soundtrack really meshed well in that game. That said,I agree with the parent-if it sounds good to your ears,go for it.Just try to buy any RIAA music used,if you can.The last thing we need is even more insane copyright laws.But that is my 02c,YMMV.

Re:I agree

[popmaker]

I have a somewhat different viewpoint. I like all music, or at least like to listen to it and check it out to study it, try to understand it, etc, especially since I'm studying composition. Given that viewpoint, you can't but actually be surprised in some cases how GOOD video game music actually is. I was playing some of the old NES games the other day, and I have to admit that I just love the music in some of them, despite the midi-quality of the instrument (and maybe even because of them).

As a few really good games, musically, you could mention Life Force, the mega man series and, of course, Zelda. :) Newer games that have awesome music in them are for example Starcraft and Icewind Dale, as well as the rest of the black isle games. Final Fantasy VII has some very memorable tracks. And if you can remember "Sam'n'max hit the road", you won't be disappointed.

In short, video game music is often very good music. It's much better, for one instance, than modern pop music. Then again, that isn't saying much.

Re:I agree

[ntimid8]

It's posters like this that make me fear for the future. You are so disconnected by your life of cheap convenience that you have become completely devoid of creativity, beauty, or integrity.

Re:I agree

[Captain Murdock]

For me it was the first of the Tony Hawk series for N64. Of course, I got extremely sick of the Goldfinger song after a while, but it was a decent soundtrack nonetheless.

Re:I agree

[hairyfeet]

Oh,man. That was one of the things I couldn't stand about the N64. Remember Gex the Gecko? How he would say those same damned ten lines OVER and over and over? I swear you could use that game as torture.

Anyway now I'm off to try to find a 70's or early 80's Camaro to add to Vice City so I can enjoy my teenage years in 3d glory. Oh how I miss the days when you could actually afford Muscle cars that went really fast and got really sh#tty gas mileage. The fastest I ever had was a '71 Pontiac Gran Le Mans Sport with a 455 Rocket,but at .85c a gallon I had to sell her because a 100 mile round trip was over $100 and took three gas station stops. Now if I could find a model of my Pontiac for Vice city THAT would be a blast!

Re:I agree

[zaguar]

But artists like Aphex Twin (SAW 85-92 for example) were popular before the internet became the massive file-sharing place it is today. I'd argue that whole genres of music were created out of the internet, rather than the internet popularising it.

Ambient/IDM artists like Helios, BT, Solar Fields are products of the Brian Eno 70's and 80's, which created AFX and then led onto the ambient/techno, but EITS and Mogwai are post-rock and are more influenced by the more instrumental indie like Hex and Slint. That's my theory anyway.

Re:I agree

[Grimbleton]

I can't listen to a good 2-300 songs (The extent of my collection in '00) without being flooded with memories from 'back in the day' in Ultima Online. Kind of makes me wish I could take a trip back in time and visit with some of my old friends again..

Re:I agree

[spyrochaete]

EA used to be a bastion of great soundtracks but really dropped the ball with their EA Trax licensed music initiative. For example, the Need For Speed series used to be renowned for its airy and percussive techno soundtracks - so much so that I even found a torrent with these soundtracks that was relatively well seeded (the soundtracks aren't for sale unfortunately). In recent years (these past 5 years or so) the series as well as others have fallen back on EA Trax which encompasses pop garbage rock from douchebag bands I've never heard of, and most of my EA Games titles have been played with music muted after being turned off by the buttrock title track.

However, If you're interested in a great, voluminous, original video game soundtrack, I highly recommend the music from The Sims 2. Your sims can listen to any of about 12 radio stations, each with several songs of a certain genre, and most or all of the many expansion packs is ambitious enough to add new music to every one of those stations. The high quality and "genuineness" of the music is so consistent that I'm guaranteed to listen to something new or at least familiar and excellent every time I play.

Re:I agree

[Skuldo]

Check out Helloween and Dragon Force :) I don't know what video games you like, but if you like western RPGs, they'll probably appeal to you.

Re:I agree

[camg188]

Every few months, I'll download a large sampling of songs from usenet and load them onto my MP3 player just so I can check out some new bands. To be honest, you have to dig through a ton of shit to find one gem.

Re:I agree

[moosesocks]

1) 99% of everything is crap.

2) This is doubly so on Usenet.

I haven't heard of any of them

[phaunt]

what does that say about me?

Re:I haven't heard of any of them

[smittyoneeach]

Um, you are deaf?

Re:I haven't heard of any of them

[IANAAC]

You're not alone.

Re:I haven't heard of any of them

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

You stole my post. I think someone should stop putting music in video games to prevent crappy artists from hitting it big. New video game rule: no music created within the last 20 years can appear in any video games.

Spokesmodel

[Doc Ruby]

That's not "rock & roll". That's pop drivel, that's not even primarily a music product. It's primarily a video product. The music is manufactured as a prop in a photoshoot for some model to sell units of some crap no one will like after the marketing push is done.

Notice how none of this crap stays in anyone's playlists or even radio stations a few years after it's new? Because it doesn't speak to, or for, anything real. It speaks to some manufactured hype of the moment. Which is all it can, because the artists are commercial artists.

That's not "rock & roll". That's corporate rock. The same manufactured pop that real rock & roll, from real people, chased from the charts back when it was real.

Re:Spokesmodel

[corychristison]

Yeah.
I wanna be real, okay!

Re:Spokesmodel

[jadin]

You have a point, to a degree.

The Beatles were pop, same as Britney Spears is pop. Don't hate pop music just "because", there is quality in the genre.

Re:Spokesmodel

[Doc Ruby]

Pop has brief periods where it's actually good. That depends on what the public buys: when it buys music with folk (Black, White and other) roots, then pop can be good. The Beatles were the ones who reintroduced those folk roots to pop, standing on the shoulders of both the White Folk Revival and the Black Rock & Roll / R&B slowly becoming mainstream. A decade earlier, jazz was pop briefly, just as it was in the 1920s along with blues.

There's a difference between some music that's actually good which has the good fortune to be issued at a time when the people buy a lot of it, which makes it pop, and music that is nothing but pop, which has the good fortune to be sold hard to an uncritical audience.

Since sometime around 1980, there has been only rarely any music that has been both rooted in folk and sold by the formula-obsessed weasels in the music business. Since the late 1990s, there's been nearly none, as the folk-rooted artists have mostly sought alternative distribution. And so we've seen little pop that's anything but superficial product. And we watch the music business die, as that kind of pop isn't enough to go on, unless you're scoring forgettable commercial jingles. Or trying any possible stunt to keep the old pop from passing into folk, which is much harder to charge for.

Re:Spokesmodel

[Doc Ruby]

Rock & roll wasn't corporate before Elvis. It was Black. And a little bit the White people who corporations tried to pretend didn't exist. It was Elvis getting on Ed Sullivan that showed corporations that rock & roll could be exploited. And then the stuff that was corporate stopped being rock & roll.

Videogames aren't responsible for shit music. It's the music industry that's found a great vehicle for its shit music in videogames.

Re:Spokesmodel

[ClamIAm]

That's not "rock & roll". That's pop drivel, that's not even primarily a music product. It's primarily a video product.

I think the key word here is "product", which is indeed what the Big Four consider the music they finance. But once you get into that territory, I stop really considering it "music". Sure, this manufactured swill might fit a technical definition of "music", but I think it's a pretty big stretch to consider it a significant form of creative expression.

Re:Spokesmodel

[Doc Ruby]

Music products aren't necessarily bad just because they're products. All the music you and I like, even if it's totally different (and even if we hate each other's music) was produced and distributed as a product. All the records are products. Motown was a product factory. Even Bach, Beethoven and Mozart and the rest were produced for money.

Just because it's a product doesn't make it bad. It's music that's only a product, that isn't a connection between people deeper than brand identity or cliche, that's crap.

Re:Spokesmodel

[Omestes]

The Beatles were pop, same as Britney Spears is pop. Don't hate pop music just "because", there is quality in the genre.

But then some nice man gave John Lennon some acid, and they started to do NEW stuff. Yes, they started in the crappy 50's pop box ("I wanna hold your hand"), but went on to Sgt. Pepper. Britney is still doing bubblegum, last I checked, with very little chance of actually changing the music scene, or producing something with even a small amount of edge.

The Beatles, also, were musicians, first and foremost. Ms. Spears is a "star" first and foremost, I kinda doubt that she would be doing it if it wasn't for the status, money, and image.

People who listen to Ms. Spears, and her ilk, don't LIKE music. When someone gets a new Brittney Spears CD do you see them putting on some good studio headphones, sitting in a dark room, and actually enjoying it?

Best Soundtrack

[autocracy]

Back when the PS2 launched, one of the best games around was SSX, and it had a soundtrack worthy of the game. I enjoyed, and acquired, much of the music I heard from playing that game.

Full Throttle

[jannone]

The Gone Jackals.

Only band "from games" that I really cared about.

Colin murray

[RiotingPacifist]

He had an hour of songs from video games, its quite impressive how many good songs there are in good games. For those of you in the UK check out his Wednesday show on radio iPlayer.

I dont think in the age of myspace that any real talent is getting boosted by games. The bands that break into the mainstream after a couple of albums of giging and getting fans, thats where the real bands are.

Whew

[cjfs]

For a second I thought the "Rock Band Experts start Real Band" stories had started.

I dread that day.

Re:Whew

[jonaskoelker]

Yeah, something like that would be horrible.

Re:They already had their break

[Brian Gordon]

I was introduced to a lot of great artists that I had never heard through Guitar Hero and its sequals. How else do you expect a slashdot nerd to be introduced to that kind of music-- by my first birthday, the 80s were over. I've also been pleasantly surprised by SCGMD2.. you'd think that some indie music ripped off newgrounds would suck, but some of those are real pro-quality music (here's looking at Hollywise)..

Sweet

[zaunuz]

Considering the fact that i have three different people wanting to use my music in their games, i guess i've got a chance :D
Small indipendent games, but atleast it's a start..

Re:fuck no

[Brian Gordon]

They're like "so whatever";

1990s called...

[vertinox]

And they want John Romero back... Oh wait. Never mind, they said to keep him.

Re:1990s called...

[Degreeless]

We don't want him! See if the 70's will have him.

John Romero: Nomad in Time

Re:They already had their break

[R2P2]

One of the reasons I bought Rock Band and skipped Guitar Hero 3 was that GH3 didn't include the "bonus" bands that the first two games introduced me to, and Rock Band did. Anarchy Club and Freezepop FTW!

Assosciation

[Degreeless]

There's definatly something in this, when I'm playing a game the music becomes assosciated with something from the game; a plot point, a grand set-piece, or even just the elation of victory. From this an assosciation is built so that when the music is heard its subconsciously linked to those gaming moments and if these moments were good it can fire the desire to hear the song again.

Perhaps not the most scientific of proofs but from personal experience it holds water.

Re:Assosciation

[popmaker]

It's the same thing as ballets, operas, a movei soundtrack or any kind of music designed along with some visual medium. Sometimes the music really flies if it actually has something to say, and that is easier if you have story in the form of a video game or something else.

Re:They already had their break

[Kinthelt]

Nice theories. Too bad they get shot down by the fact that she writes her own songs.

The claim about Avenged Sevenfold is disingenuous.

[Mr. Heavy]

With their usage of the term "unsigned," they're trying to imply that nobody had heard of the band previously, when they were in fact on two labels that were at the time pretty well-known in the metalcore and punk scenes (Good Life and Hopeless). They happened to be in between contracts. Whoop-dee-doo.

newsflash:

[stormguard2099]

Large media exposure is good marketing. No seriously, anything that gets your music out there to a large audience is a good thing. The more people that play videogames, the more this influence will be. Why would it be any different for games?
What would make an interesting article is if music in videogames doomed bands to fail.

Re:They already had their break

[Tuidjy]

Having been born in the 60s, Guitar Hero was mostly a trip into memory lane for me. But I did buy Jonathan Coulton CDs because of Portal, and I would have never ended up as one of Chiasm's fans without Vampires: Bloodlines. I have to admit that I have been introduced to quite a few bands through video games. But this is only to be expected. Video Games have completely displaced TV for me, and as for radio, the stations to which I listen tend play songs from the 80s and 90s.

It were not for Oktober/Ozzfest and opening bands, where would I hear the new stuff :-)

Out of the abyss

[Barbobot]

I'm going to retroactively launch my musical career with the soundtrack to "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" You might remember me from such underground hits as "Combat: game 23"

What?

[Opportunist]

You mean, like, artists that are marketed primarily to people with computers can sell CDs? I was under the impression that everyone who has a computer doesn't buy music anymore but only swaps it through P2P.

Dammit, did the RIAA lie to me?

Re:They already had their break

[Achromatic1978]

What crap. JET got their exposure due to Madden 2004?

Or to being a multi charting Australian Top 10 act?

Sorry, Occam's Razor ain't on the EA games' side, on that one.

Journey tried the reverse

[zakezuke]

I think Journey can be credited with the first video game tie in with their Journey Escape game in 1982. Wiki says it was released for the 2600, however I do recall a coin up version, but as I remember it from a disused machine in a pizza place circa 1986, I imagine it could have been their later release.

Journey attempted to tie in their 1983 Frontiers album with a coin-op arcade game which featured a cassette of their music on a loup. Given Dragon's Lair was also released in 1983, there was not enough time to learn how unwise it was to use a mechanical system in an arcade box.

They get points for being innovative, but given the limits of technology at the time, someone who even knew their music would have a hard time recognizing the vintage beeps and boops. It didn't help the fact that the game it self wasn't very good, but the idea was sound.

But needless to say the band was already successful before this tie in, and the tie in was hardly what I would describe as being successful.

Re:Journey tried the reverse

[zakezuke]

Might have gone over better if the game included banging chicks back stage instead of 'evading sneaky photographers' Well, ironically enough the band broke up after the release of this game, though I doubt there was a connection.

Re:Journey tried the reverse

[Stormwatch]

I think Journey can be credited with the first video game tie in with their Journey Escape game in 1982. Wiki says it was released for the 2600, however I do recall a coin up version, but as I remember it from a disused machine in a pizza place circa 1986, I imagine it could have been their later release.

Journey Escape was for the 2600, Journey was the arcade. They were different games.

Re:Journey tried the reverse

[Barbobot]

Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" was kind of a fun game in the arcade (just to mention this one) although very strange, as usual. His career ran into trouble a few years after that game came out... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson's_Moonwalker

Re:Journey tried the reverse

[zakezuke]

Journey Escape was for the 2600, Journey was the arcade. They were different games. So it would seem Journey Escape looks totally different than what I recall. As noted the coin-up version of the music was something one couldn't easily recognize even if you happened to have heard any of their music.

Escape looks like it was done very tongue and cheek, sort of poking fun at the whole music industry.

The coin-op looks like it was an attempt to suck the player/consumer into a fantasied world.

play the music!

[Silm]

does this remind anyone else of audiosurf, the game where you fly over your music? I can imagine quite a community forming making music for it, even discovering new artists through it.

Re:play the music!

[Phyvo]

Audiosurf was the first thing I thought of when I read the last line of the summary.

I don't know if people will exactly be introduced to new stuff though. You don't really get introduced to new things in the game itself (unless you happen to have never heard of dragonforce), but it's possible people will share what songs they like to play on the forums.

In any case, Audiosurf embodies "playing" music.

Freezepop, etc.

[Mathonwy]

I'll admit. I had never even heard of freezepop until they became popularized by harmonix. Same goes for Bang Camero.

Now I find myself actually interested in their music, thanks to the magic of Harmonix's rhythm games.

Great...

[Perseid]

"Avril Lavigne was first introduced to European audiences through FIFA 2003" Are they trying to blame ALL the evils in the world on video games now?

Re:They already had their break

[JNighthawk]

"Wah wah, all new music on a big label sucks. It's drivel and droll for the masses. Here, listen to this underground band that only 20 people have heard of!"

I hate people that say stuff like that. Liking pop music isn't a bad thing, nor is liking or disliking *any* kind of music. Take your tinfoil hat off and listen to what you want, but don't get all high and mighty about it. It's exactly the same way with religion.

Re:They already had their break

[billcopc]

Yep, that's because GH3 wasn't made by Harmonix. I'm not at all implying that Aspyr isn't a decent game house, they've got quite a few massive hits to their credit, but Harmonix are the people who made the music game genre popular in North America. DDR already existed, but its uber-cheesy eurodance and J-pop soundtrack was too lame for the 3-chord jock tards of the USA and Canada. Harmonix released Frequency and Amplitude, which featured popular acts known to average suburban white kids like The Crystal Method, BT, No Doubt and Run DMC. Then of course, they threw in a few catchy indie tunes from their musician friends. I also found out about Freezepop through Frequency, and immediately fell in love with their sound. If I ever make another musically-inclined piece of software, you can bet your spleen it's going to feature some local talent. It's a no-brainer: little or no royalties to pay, tons of exposure for your friend's music, and of course lots of extra tracks for your game.

Then Guitar Mania came along, with the same weak-ass euro-J-dance and even weaker Bon Jovi tracks :P Harmonix took the concept, gave it some real rock'n'roll tunage and the star power bonus just like they had done for Frequency/Amplitude, and history was made. Come on, it took some serious awesomeness to include the Trogdor song from Homestar Runner :)

To most people, Rock Band is the true sequel to Guitar Hero 2. GH3 is okay, and has a decent track list, but it is inevitably inferior than the first two, simply because its creators are obviously not music lovers of the same caliber.

Re:They already had their break

[Gibsnag]

She does? Wow she really is talentless.

Have you heard her Chop Suey live cover? There are no words to describe how terrible it is...

Actually

[Scuzzm0nkey]

I've discovered quite a few artists from games that I've played. Seconding Gone Jackals for one (who didn't love Full Throttle?), I also had never heard of Mastodon before NFS Most wanted. I first really heard Trent Reznor's music in the original Quake, leading me to purchase much of his other work. Bella Morte in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, etc etc. There's a lot of great bands (depending on your tastes in music) that get MAINSTREAM exposure from games that they weren't getting otherwise.

Re:They already had their break

[MMMDI]

Wait, what? GH3 has the bonus bands this time around...

An Endless Sporadic - Impulse
Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
Bret Michaels Band - Go That Far
Die Toten Hosen - Hier kommit Alex
Dope - Nothing For Me Here
Dragonforce - Through the Fire and the Flames
Fall of Troy - FCP Remix
Gallows - In the Belly of a Shark
The Hellacopters - I'm in the Band
Heroes del Silencio - Avalancha
In Flames - Take This Life
Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
Killswitch Engage - My Curse
LA Slum Lords - Down N Dirty
Lacuna Coil - Closer
Lions - Metal Heavy Lady
NAAST - Mauvis Garcon
Prototype - The Way It Ends
Revolverheld - Generation Rock
Rise Against - Prayer of the Refugee
Scouts of St. Sebastian- In Love
Senses Fail - Can't Be Saved
The Sleeping - Don't Hold Back
The Stone Roses - She Bangs the Drums
Superbus - Radio Song

So, what you're telling me is...

[straponego]

JET got their American iPod commercial based on exposure in Madden 2004.

A product that was advertised by one megacompany got so much exposure that it was also advertised by another megacompany? Did I mention I'm impressed?

I don't buy it...

[93 Escort Wagon]

... and I won't until I hear one of the Mario Bros. themes on the radio.

But seriously - given most of the examples cited, it seems more likely that some already up-and-coming bands just happened to catch the ear of the music honchos at various gaming companies. To provide a counter-example: It's not like any J-Pop tune is sweeping the US, despite the popularity of all those DDR variants currently out there.

It's not the music but the experience

[Sean0michael]

I think the reason video games are a good platform for music because of the attachment of the experience. When gaming, people become engrossed in what they are doing and absorb all elements of the game, including the music. For me I easily recall the different themes from some of my favorite games. Over-world themes in particular are very stuck, but games I loved to play over and over (Banjo-Kazooie, various Zelda games, etc.) are songs I won't forget.

More to the point though, I am also attached to whatever music I put on while I was playing. Whenever I hear some songs, it instantly takes me back to playing that game. The same goes for pop songs today. If you put the song in an engrossing atmosphere, people get attached. It's no different than hearing the "NHL Tonight" theme and thinking hockey, or hearing "Zombie Nation" and thinking college hoops.

I'm not surprised that people like the songs, and then seek the artist. Any exposure to the music in these environments is good for the artist.

Re:It's not the music but the experience

[zakezuke]

More to the point though, I am also attached to whatever music I put on while I was playing. Whenever I hear some songs, it instantly takes me back to playing that game ......Lemmings

{What you describe can't be a good thing}

Re:They already had their break

[macshit]

Avril Lavigne is essentially a product created by a marketing team and her music is written in just the way that it will appeal to a label afraid of risks

What I want to know is, who on the team is responsible for her mascara?!?

...shudder...

Certainly made this guys career

[MrCopilot]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1790221

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RthZgszykLs

Re:They already had their break

[HAKdragon]

For what it's worth, Aspyr is only responsible for the PC and Mac port of the game. The PS3 and 360 versions of the game were done by Neversoft.

Re:They already had their break

[Crimson Wing]

Aspyr was only involved in porting GH3 to PC. All the console versions were made by Activision.

Does this mean?

[Vexorian]

RIAA claims that although music piracy aids terrorists, "game piracy is a good, benign thing".

Lavigne's "Complicated" charted EU huge in 2002...

[femto113]

This article is utter nonsense, at least as it applies to Lavigne. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avril_Lavigne

"Complicated" is Avril Lavigne's first single, released in 2002 from her debut album, Let Go. The single reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Lavigne's first top-ten single. The single also reached number three in the United Kingdom and number one in Spain...

Re:They already had their break

[RiotingPacifist]

while you do have a point, we are talking about Avril Lavigne here!

I generally don't try and put music in boxes, but it does piss me of when somebody pretends to be rocky, shes not, she never will be, she never was anything more than a popstar.

And the otherbands broke out due to their tallent in other markets, no offence but the mainstream american music isnt exactly cutting edge, good bands often build up support a lot quicker in europe/australlia (depends on genre i think). I put it down to the fact we have more small music scenes.

*IMHO no country where MUSE support MCR will ever be worth visiting, whats wrong with some people!

chipbreak / bitcore

[call-me-kenneth]

One of the young chaps who hang around our office looking "cool" tried to interest me in his music, which is stuff like Sabrepulse and :( colon open bracket. The Sabrepulse stuff is all up for free download from his site. If you can listen to "Storm Raid Battle" or "|xxx is dead" and not have your jaw hanging open in amazement, well, you ain't no friend of mine. Absolutely fantastic stuff. The "Nintendokore" album's good as well.

Re:They already had their break

[g1zmo]

JET got their American iPod commercial based on exposure in Madden 2004.

It's really not that hard of a sentence to parse. Really.

And for what it's worth, as a Norte Americano, Madden 04 was in fact the first time I had ever heard of 'em.

Decade late in some regions.

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

SMILE.dk got big in Japan after having one of their songs in the very first DDR back in 98. They broke up a few short years later, but, big hit none the less.

Avril Lavigne?

[morari]

Gee, thanks video games...

In video games too?

[popmaker]

So now we have to listen to those suckers in video games too, as if it weren't enough to hear anytime someone forgot to turn of the radio?

What happened to those highly-skilled Japanese composers that used to make music for the nintendo games? Those are the guys I want to listen too, it's simply much better music. The Mega Man soundtrack still rings nicely in my ears while Avril Lavigne can basically go shove that skateboard.

Road Rash

[Renaissance 2K]

Before Electronic Arts gave up on unique compositions almost entirely with their "EA Trax" feature, they licensed the soundtrack to the 32-bit version of Road Rash on 3DO, Sega CD, and PlayStation. The in-race music was still generic, repetitive trash, but the Jukebox that played during the menus had a bunch of great tunes. Road Rash introduced me to the likes of Soundgarden and Hammerbox, which then opened the doors to a number of other great bands to which I still listen.

The irony, though, is that shortly after I discover a band through video game channels, they disappear. Soundgarden made one more album and vanished (though Chris Cornell still lives on in all his Casino Royale crooning glory). Hammerbox (also from Road Rash) is gone. Full on the Mouth (Road Rash 3D) is gone. Curve (FreQuency) lost their lead singer and is on life support. There are others, but I could redraw my iTunes library window faster by hand than Vista has been recently.

You may be making a few careers boom, but even more talented musicians are falling by the wayside. Inclusion in a game is great exposure for a budding band, but if the music, the image, or the attitude doesn't fit, the people that play the game are going to mute the music and put on their iPod, or they'll just hit the [R2] button and jump to the next track.

All that being said, I've discovered more great music from video games than I have from the radio, MTV, and record store clerks combined.

Question!

[The Living Fractal]

So, what video game do my brother and I need to be in to get 'launched'?

Check out our first song on YouTube from my sig.

this is clearly paid PR

[protomark]

"GCG: What games have you played recently? SS: You mean besides introducing my kids to Deep Purple, Molly Hatchet, and The Ramones on Rockband? Mostly I've been playing beta versions of upcoming EA titles. Not only do I want to ensure that each soundtrack and song choice works within the context of the gameplay itself, but I genuinely believe that EA creates and distributes the very best games in the industry." i'm sorry, what? how much are you being paid to say that? cannibalization of art for profit! testify! more more more!

Re:this is clearly paid PR

[badboy_tw2002]

Well, from TFS:

"Steve Schnur, a high-level music exec at Electronic Arts,"

My guess he was probably paid his annual salary to say that.

Guitar Hero 3 features 25 bonus songs...

[Ericular]

What about all these bonus songs?

I'm not defending GH3's superiority, just saying... there are bonus songs. I know you mentioned Aspyr, who did the PC/Mac port -- were there no bonus songs on the those versions?

Re:They already had their break

[R2P2]

I meant the *same* bonus bands that were in the first two Guitar Hero games:

Anarchy Club
Count Zero
Freezepop
Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives

All of them were in the first two Guitar Hero games, and none of them are in Guitar Hero 3. Count Zero is the only one that's _not_ on the Rock Band disc, and they still got a track in through the Official Xbox Magazine.

And yes, I *know* it's because Rock Band was made by Harmonix and GH3 was made by Neversoft, and I'd say Rock Band has a huge advantage simply because it was made by people who make music games (and music - employees are in a lot of the bonus bands), not people who make skateboarding games.

Re:They already had their break

[R2P2]

Like the Freezepop song in Phaze says, "Pop music is not a crime".

It isn't all about rock

[westlake]

Consider the video game credits of Grammy award winner Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Ratatouille):

The Lost World - Jurassic Park
Medal of Honor
Secret Weapons Over Normandy
Call of Duty

Michael Giacchino

Credit where credit is due

[Wordplay]

Some of this is crap. I had both of Avenged Sevenfold's pre-2004 albums, purchased in Tower Records. They were on a smallish metalcore label, sure, but they were on a label, and were starting to get buzz with the mix of traditional metal and emocore/metalcore influences (which has turned out to be a timely trend, as alternative in general turns more and more to metal for inspiration). They may have been between labels in 2004, or just not on a major label, but they weren't unknown and they had plenty of momentum.

JET were also up-and-coming well before Madden, and again, were at the beginning of a rise in 60s/70s retro-rock that pretty much guaranteed they'd be successful.

Seems to me this is like the annoying kid on the soccer team who touches the ball on its way to the goal then claims the assist. I'm not saying the exposure didn't help--it almost certainly did--but I don't buy that the games were pivotal.

There are some bands I've discovered through games. M.O.P. and Freezepop come right to mind. But these are bands that are truly obscure.

Still Alive?

[MaliciousSmurf]

Err, no mention of Jon Coulton? I can't think of a better example.

Re:Still Alive?

[Wordplay]

I don't know. I have him more associated with the Code Monkeys theme, for breakout exposure. Plus, he was already well-known among "our" crowd, which is much of the crossover to Code Monkeys -and- Portal. I wouldn't necessarily call Portal a mainstream breakout, either. It's a huge critical success, and I'm sure The Orange Box has sold a lot of copies. I wonder how many of the mundanes actually played Portal through to Coulton's contribution, though.

Grand Theft Auto

[Renaissance 2K]

Surely, having their music licensed for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was a great jump start to those artists' careers.

Something Similar

[rdnetto]

I can see where this is coming from. Around 3/4 of my music ollection comes from TV shows, films, etc.

It's a Win-Win-Win

[Phoenix666]

The game companies get great music without the hugely inflated licensing fees charged by the Big Labels. The artists get intensive exposure to the very demographics they hope to reach without selling their souls. The gaming fans get to hear great music without supporting the Labels or simply suffering through corporate pop retreads.

It's interesting, because while this is happening through the medium of videogames, it's also happening through the medium of advertising. I worked on an in-house indy artist sourcing system at one of the big Ad firms on Madison Avenue, and they were trying to solve this same problem from their own angle--how to supply music in Ads more affordably and also promote independent artists.

Between iTunes, videogames, and advertising it seems like they'll each seize on the carcass of the music industry and tear it to pieces.

Not actually true

[Bazzargh]

- FIFA 2003 was released at the end of October/start of November 2002.
- Avril Lavigne's first single was number 1 in Spain and number 3 in the UK... in April 2002.

So, the game made people go back in time 6 months to buy records? Now, thats impressive.

I noticed because I remembered being annoyed by the music at the time; NBA/Madden games don't do much business over here so I can't comment on those.

This was a triumph-

[greyhueofdoubt]

I'm making a note here
"HUGE SUCCESS!"

Re:This was a triumph-

[Thuktun]

I'm GLaD I wasn't the only one this immediately occurred to.

Without video games...

[goatpunch]

... the Genki Rockets wouldn't exist. Wait, they don't exist...

Re:They already had their break

[CSMatt]

Offtopic, but I have to ask: why hasn't Harmonix released a soundtrack for the Guitar Hero games? Yes, Guitar Hero 3 offers one, but I'm more interested in the playlist of the first two.

Not passing the smell test.

[Lemmy Caution]

While I'm all for the idea that games and pop music have an interesting relationship, the claims made in the article seem overblown. To me, this stood out:

Our FIFA 2005 soundtrack featured the earliest appearances of Franz Ferdinand, Marcelo D2, and Scissor Sisters.

Franz Ferdinand was already huge when FIFA 2005 came out, and the Scissor Sisters were pretty well established. I think a lot more of the claims made by the EA spokesmodel are unlikely to withstand scrutiny.

Since nobody brought this up (or I didn't check)

[dnab]

Video Games Killed the Video Star.....

Avril Lavigne .. sk8er boi

[pbhj]

>>> "Avril Lavigne was first introduced to European audiences through FIFA 2003"

That may be true, but in the UK at least I'd have thought it was not through Complicated but through her second top 10 UK single (charting at number 8, 5 Jan 2003) "sk8er boi" from December 2002 that she was widely aired.

Who even knew she sang on Fifa 2003? Fifa 2003 was apparently released in UK in Oct 2002, some reports say November - which means it would have targetted the christmas market ... Complicated was on "Top of The Pops" (the erstwhile UK chart show of record!) on 4 October 2002 (so was already popular), following the showings from the MTV Music Awards in August 2002 (MTV I warrant is far more popular across Europe than Fifa2003) which in turn followed the June release of Complicated.

So I'm guessing that this is far more correlation than cause.

Whatever.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2629761.stm/

Re:Avril Lavigne .. sk8er boi

[bungo]

"sk8er boi" from December 2002

I agree. I think the FIFA 2003 idea is just totally rubbish.

I remember first seeing her around then on MCM, a French language music
video channel.

Re:They already had their break

[hedwards]

Does she write the music or does her producer? IIRC Alanis Morissette was pulling the same sort of deal. Yes, writing the lyrics can be a step up, but it isn't necessarily more artistic than a particular interpretation of the song. And it can be a real step in the wrong direction when the lyrics suck.

Think quality covers. Like most of Nirvana's live album. Or strange covers like many of the Ramones covers. Or virtually covers like a few by the Sex Pistols.

Trent Reznor Again Ahead of the Curve

[castadream]

Prior to seeing this, I was just thinking about how Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, just released his latest music (under Creative Commons), and is doing it in such a way in that he is exploring different avenues of making money. Then I was suddenly taken back to playing Quake years ago, of which I believe he did the soundtrack and in fact, there were NIN boxes laying about everywhere.

Re:They already had their break

[kaizokuace]

I agree with you JNighthawk. You might say that these type of arrogant comments are from someone who thinks they are better than you because they know a band that you don't or follow a religion that you don't. I think that these people just don't know how to validate their own existence other than at the expense of others' feelings. Its easy to get over yourselves people! Just stop acting like shit even matters!

Re:They already had their break

[drgruney]

I agree with your saying Rock Band seems more like the true sequel to GH2. I tried GH3 at a friend's house. It just feels like button mashing to me. All the way back to Frequency.. Harmonix games feel like I'm actually creating music. When I saw the track list for GH3 I about died with glee.. but then I realized it was being published by Activision... who also published the disappointing Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s.

Re:They already had their break

[JNighthawk]

I like some of Avril Lavigne's songs, but that's not the point. The point is that calling someone else's music tastes *wrong* is idiotic.

Re:They already had their break

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, I totally agree. How DARE she butcher such a magnificent example of modern rock!

BLARGA BLABBA BLIBBA BLOOGA BLICKUP!
BOOBLE BABBLE BOGGLE BARBLE BLUCKUP!
FLIBBLE FLABBLE FLARBLE FLOOBLE FUCKUP!
GLIBBLE GLABBLE GLOOBLE GLOBBLE SHITFUCK!

Look, April Levine is jizz in a sock, but don't try to make your case by talking about how she butchered a song by the Arrhythmic Gypsy Pickpockets or what the fuck ever that band is called. If they weren't goat-bearded Roma wank-rockers nobody would give a flying fuck what they did or who covered it. That shit is positively unlistenable unless you're a trust-fund college anarchist majoring in "The Suppression of the Vagina in Modern Theocracy" or some equally Dworkin-esque horseshit category. I'd rather have an iPod with "Sk8r Boi" on infinite loop permanently wired into my brainpan than have to listen to that overblown circle-jerk of a song even once more.

Re:They already had their break

[S2ThaNizzle]

Not sure how the parent got modded as Flamebait, but he actually has a point. On Avril's first album she co-wrote most of the songs (including three of the singles, all of which hit #1 on the pop charts) with The Matrix who is responsible for (co-)writing generic pop-rock songs sang by Hilary Duff, Lillix, Skye Sweetnam and the commercialized fluff from the Liz Phair. Avril only ditched them on her second album when she decided she didn't like that commercialized sound.

EA are Super-Gods of media power

[nfc_Death]

The ego on this guy. Not that any of those artists had talent or skill in their field that got their careers going. No, it was all-powerful EA that launched their careers. Bow to their marketing skill.

I don't think this is true, however. . .

[Fantastic Lad]

I do remember a long time back hunting down and ordering a CD from a little indy garage band. --You've all seen similar projects; the kind where the CD cover was done by a friend of the band who earned their respect by drawing flaming skulls real good on the covers of his high school notebooks.

Why did I order this CD from the other side of the U.S.? --Well, because the band had somehow gotten a contract with Lucasarts, and supplied the theme and background music for Full Throttle.

Bad-ass biker music with consumer-grade top-40 appeal and studio time on the Lucasarts budget. (Side note; It was 1994, and the game was awesome. I wish Lucasarts still made cool stuff like that.)

Anyway. . . The band was called, "The Gone Jackals", and so far as I know, they never went anywhere, and it wouldn't surprise me if the CD they mailed to me was one of less than a hundred mail order sales they ever made.

And that was before Napster.

Some of the musicians I've met who make a living at their art without big label contracts are those who are constantly on the road performing at clubs. It's a tough life in many ways, but it's also very rewarding in other ways, plus you can make a living at it if you don't mind constant travel. The death of the big labels doesn't mean that the troubadour and bard are lost. I don't think they ever were.

-FL

"Def Jam Vendetta single-handedly created a...no"

[skreeech]

"Def Jam Vendetta single-handedly created a new global market for hip-hop."

Uhh what? I'm not aware of
1) Any increase in hip hop exposure because of the EA games at all
2) A new market brought on by the game

I don't believe the credibility of that statement at all.

What's funny is...

[frogjimmy]

I have a ton of music that was discovered through gaming and in most cases, the music that was on these games were signed acts that, at some point, were promised the world through MTV/radio playlists... yet never made it. Tony Hawk was one of the first games where I really paid attention to the music in the game. A song called "Here & Now" by The Ernies (who seemed to vanish after that) sent me on a hunt for their CD. It started there and keeps going. I'd say around 40 CDs of music I own is due to gaming soundtracks and exposed me to music I really would've never heard before. Sadly, most of the artists I've listened to from gaming have rarely gone on to anything beyond that but exposure is the key. I'd like to know how much of these selections were an label A&R dink and how much was the developer/publisher side... I wouldn't want to give the labels props for anything positive, you know. :)

Stop romanticizing the Beatles

[elrous0]

The Beatles were constructed pop shit. They were all PR stunt, bubblegum shit music, hype, and ego. It wasn't until their later years that they started writing anything besides standard "make teenage girls wet their panties" garbage, and even that stuff was WAY overrated.

Pop has always been around and always will be. And it's always been shit and it always will be.

Re:Stop romanticizing the Beatles

[Doc Ruby]

The Beatles constructed themselves. They started writing meaningful songs after meeting Bob Dylan, like so many others did. It was the world's good fortune that at the time such music was popular.

Pop isn't a style, it's a statistical market condition. When teenage girls are wetting their panties over music with deep roots and modern meaning, then pop can be great.

By the way, you suck. And the Beatles rule. FWIW, what do you like to listen to?

Re:They already had their break

[jriding]

The great thing about these games and music / bands is the fact that its actually revitalizing a lot of older bands with out having some "new" band redo the song. There is an 10 year old who's favorite song is Woman by Wolfmother.

Re:They already had their break

[RiotingPacifist]

ouch! my point was that calling avril lavigne rock and/or roll is just wrong!

Re:Avril is faker than Britney

[camg188]

Who gives a shit who writes the song? Does persona, manufactured or genuine, matter? The only thing that matters is if you like the music they deliver.

Re:They already had their break

[camg188]

no offence but the mainstream american music isnt exactly cutting edge

I don't understand. Doesn't the definition of "cutting edge" mean "not mainstream"? And vice versa.

Re:They already had their break

[BlackSnake112]

Avril Lavigne, Briteny Spears, and Christina Aguilera are similar in the type of songs they sing. Spears had the best marketing. Spears also has the least amount of talent. Singing talent not dancing/looking like a stripper. Take away all the effects when they 'sing' and you find that Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne can sing. They have different strengths and sound but they each can sing. I don't think the same can be said of Spears.

I must be really old

[BlackSnake112]

I have not heard of any of those songs or bands.
In fact does that list go: Song - Artist or Artist - Song?

Re:I must be really old

[armareum]

Artist - Song. But a simple google search could have told you that.

This explains a few things

[Samuel_Gompers]

Like why the appreciation of EA stock in the past few years shows the same general trend as recording industry sales over the same timeframe. I guess great minds think alike.

Re:Oh... launching carreers...

[Cappy Red]

Luckily we have Heroin Hero to take the edge off.

. . .

I'm gonna catch that dragon!

Re:fuck no

[PopeGumby]

I assume the only reason you haven't been modded Funny for this is that not enough Slashmods have heard and can remember the lyrics.

However, rest assured your comment brought a wry smile to my face, and points would be yours if I had them.

Meanwhile, wtf is a flounder pounder? He who sleeps with the fishes? Troy McClure?

Re:They already had their break

[PopeGumby]

Presumably the licensing arrangements that Harmonix reached with the various labels doesn't include them (Harmonix) putting out the music on an album. If it had been part of the agreement, it would have cost Harmonix significantly more money to get the record labels to agree to contribute their music to the game, and if the game didnt do well, then thats Harmonix out of pocket for a lot more money.

Re:fuck no

[Brian Gordon]

I'm very reassured that nobody does. Those are mega irony quotes.

Rock&roll?

[zmen]

Britney Spear's music isn't rock&roll. Nowadays everything is "(...)&roll", sell, sell, sell.. exploit, and them sell some more. And after that, show some flesh (or panties) to exploit it some more! http://myspace.com/djalex_figueira/