NEWS

MUMBAI: Music has found a new alley in the online gaming industry. The more sophisticated the videogames get in terms of storyline and presentation, the more important music becomes in setting the tone. The constant efforts for promoting as well as selling music through the gaming medium are entering its next phase. The recent release of “Grand Theft Auto IV,” the raunchy shooting and driving game, is making waves and is sure to create history on several levels.

Firstly, it will have the largest soundtrack of any videogame. Second, it will be the first game that will let the players tag songs in the soundtrack for a subsequent online purchase. GTA IV features a soundtrack of more than 200 songs -- the largest in videogame history. It also includes a feature that lets players tag any song in the soundtrack in order to receive more information about the title and artist. Additionally, it stores the tagged tracks in a custom playlist on the Amazon digital music store for later purchase.

The in-game "ZiT" technology is built into GTA IV's mobile phone interface, enabling players to tag a song currently playing on the in-game radio

These new features make "Grand Theft Auto IV" the most important videogame release for the music industry since "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero III" which sold millions of songs through their respective platforms. More so than most videogames, the “Grand Theft Auto” crime series has used music to establish the tone for each installment’s storyline, setting and era.

Music in the "Grand Theft Auto" series is split between several radio stations organized by genre, which gamers choose when they enter one of the many vehicles that serve as the primary game play experience. Each station is like a mini soundtrack of its own, allowing gamers to tune to their favorite every time they enter a new car.

"Music has long played an integral part of the game playing experience," said Ronn Werre, EVP, EMI Music's Sales, Licensing and Synchronization unit. "We think giving players the ability to identify and buy their favorite tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV's popular radio stations is a great new music discovery tool for fans and an innovative new revenue stream for artists," he added.

It's a very big deal for us," said senior vice president of marketing and licensing for EMI Music North America Cynthia Sexton. "We're continually looking for new ways to sell our music. There are millions of people buying 'Grand Theft Auto,' and we hope they will enjoy the music and in turn buy those tracks."

There are more casual games generally featuring mainstream hits with the occasional emerging act thrown in. "That's fine for the masses," said GameSpot editor Ricardo Torres in a report. "But when you're dealing with a finicky crowd like gamers, it has to be really cool and really different."

The soundtrack also carries a hefty price. According to sources close to the deals, Rockstar is paying as much as $5,000 per composition and another $5,000 per master recording per track. If that deal applied to all songs, Rockstar's soundtrack budget may exceed $2 million.

That's welcome news to a music industry that has long struggled to convert videogame licensing from a source of mere promotion to one of actual profit. According to Cynthia Sexton, senior VP of strategic marketing and licensing for EMI Music North America, label negotiations with videogame developers have "changed dramatically" in recent years.