Report: Bands Find More Money in Music Games than Traditional Album Sales
September 22, 2008, 16 years ago
The following report is courtesy of Rockgamer.com:
From the strong reported sales of Guitar Hero: AEROSMITH, to the frenzied pace of downloads for additional music albums and downloadable content in Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, musicians today are finding that rhythm games are a new way to get their music out to fans outside the traditional sales channels. While the revenues from the games themselves are a lure, bands are also finding in fans a renewed interest in their non-game music downloads as well as band merchandise. Is this the next big money maker to save the ailing music industry?
Case in point: Activision CEO Bobby Kotick spoke with folks recently during the company’s analyst day and discussed the success of the game Guitar Hero Aerosmith, launched earlier this summer. According to a quote in MTV Multiplayer, Kotick was quoted, saying,
“[Their] version of ‘Guitar Hero’ generated far more in revenues than any Aerosmith album ever has. Merchandising, concert sales, their ability to sign a new contract [have] all been unbelievably influenced by their participation in Guitar Hero.”According to online polls, many gamers were skeptical of the Aerosmith title, suggesting that a one band-only game wouldn’t hold the same appeal as a more diversified music game, however data from NPD shows that over a million copies of the game have sold since its launch in June.
To put those numbers in perspective, Aerosmith’s last studio album, 2004’s “Honkin’ on Bobo” sold 160,500 copies in its first week, equating to roughly $2 million in sales. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith sold 567,000 copies in its first week, grossing roughly $25 million.
Read more here.
