Can Video Games Save The Music Industry?

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Activision, meanwhile, has trumpeted NPD research group numbers citing over one billion dollars in North American sales for the Guitar Hero franchise, with Guitar Hero III becoming the best-selling game of all time for any given calendar year. Whew. The company further claims users have downloaded five million songs since the advent of Guitar Hero III. And since Activision charges something like $2.50, one thumb and a heart ventricle per song, that would count as an unqualified cash cow.

No surprise, then that downloadable content is proving to be a legitimate way for labels and artists to distribute and profit from their music.

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Who needs radio when you've got DLC?

Such astounding numbers makes gaming not only a new listening platform, but a possible new distribution method. MTV, for instance, has a deal in place to exclusively release the first single from Metallica's new record through Rock Band. While once we relied upon radio or MTV for new music, there's now the potential for spanking new tunes to be delivered straight to your console. Seems like a perfect avenue for Trent Reznor's new anti-label tendencies, doesn't it?

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Experimenting with the future

Beyond the big name games and bands, however, lies a fertile development ground for experimental music. The kooky, infectious pop of Katamari Damacy wasn't a familiar sound to most players, but encouraged fans of the series to investigate the more adventurous end of the musical spectrum. Games like Elektroplankton and Everyday Shooter offer a sort of impulsive and free-thinking control over music that wasn't possible just a few years ago. The latter's lead developer, Jonathan Mak, even wrote all of the music for his quirky action game, his riffs reaching more people than he could have ever dreamed imaginable.

Band Aid

And plenty of other bands are enjoying boosted sales. As reported by USA Today, digital downloads of Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames" went from roughly 2,000 per week to a staggering 37,825 during the last week of 2007. Thank Guitar Hero III for that; the game introduced the band to a whole new fanbase by making its fret-burning song the final unlockable track.

Older bands have benefited from Activision's guitar monster, too. Cheap Trick saw digital sales of "Surrender" go from 58,000 in 2006 to 161,000 in 2007, and classic rockers Kansas watched downloads of "Carry On My Wayward Son" more than double from 119,000 to 297,000. Kansas also claims a more visible result of the video game effect: younger crowds. Where previously their shows might have been attended almost exclusively by an audience old enough to worry about interest rates and cholesterol, now they've got front rows "filled with young teenagers."

It's a whole new ballgame, all thanks to video games.