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ForeverAutumn
01-22-2008, 06:47 AM
Take note record companies...this could turn into an unexpected cash cow and a new way to get exposure for some bands.

"Rock Band," "Guitar Hero" drive digital song sales

By Antony Bruno

DENVER (Billboard) - In the two months since MTV Networks and Harmonix released the music-based videogame "Rock Band," players have purchased and downloaded more than 2.5 million additional songs made available after the game's initial distribution.

Activision, meanwhile, said it has sold more than 5 million new songs via download for "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" since it began adding downloadable content in early November.

By comparison, it took wireless operator Sprint four months to sell 1 million songs on its over-the-air full-song download service. While new digital music services competing with iTunes and free peer-to-peer services have struggled to convince music fans to pay $1 for a single, downloadable tracks for games like "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" are flying off the digital shelves.

"With such a low installation base, we didn't think that there'd be 2 million songs sold in eight weeks," MTVN Music Group/Logo/Films division president Van Toffler said. "We live in a rough time around music where our audience struggles to pay $20 for a CD but don't hesitate to pay $50 for a game. The notion to pay 99 cents or $1.99 to have a song and repeatedly play with it apparently isn't a big hurdle."

The original "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" games shipped with more than 50 licensed songs each, a mix of master recordings and covers. Since then, "Rock Band" has made new music available every week as either singles or in three-pack bundles that can be added as new playable levels for between 99 cents and $5.50. "Guitar Hero III" did the same, focusing on three-song bundles of new music and music featured in previous versions of the game.

Although MTV is not providing specific numbers, it did say that the majority of the downloaded songs were purchased by Xbox 360 as opposed to PlayStation 3 users. According to the NPD Group, "Rock Band" sold 775,000 copies for the Xbox 360 through the end of 2007, compared with 250,000 on the PS3.

METALLICA SHINES

The game's impact on song sales for participating artists, however, remains unclear. While not providing exact sales figures, MTV did say that the Metallica three-pack of "Ride the Lightning," "Blackened" and "And Justice for All" is the best-selling "Rock Band" download.

According to Nielsen SoundScan data, those same songs saw digital download sales spikes of 31 percent, 39 percent and 48 percent, respectively, for the month after they were featured as a "Rock Band" download, over the previous month.

But those increased sales numbered only in the hundreds, while the "Rock Band" downloads numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Still, label executives are thrilled with the results.

MTVN already has plans to expand its outreach to artists, creating additional game expansions -- as both physical products and downloadable content -- around specific music genres and even artists.

"We are talking to tons of bands, from indie to the most established ... to release not necessarily their entire catalog, but maybe some of their classic albums and do special packages around that," Toffler said.

What's more, there's no reason for "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" to be the only videogames that sell music. It's only a matter of time before other games begin offering new downloadable soundtracks as well.

Titles like the "Madden" football series, the Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise and the venerable "Grand Theft Auto" games are well known for their extensive soundtracks. Offering gamers the ability to replace their soundtracks every few months after the initial release is not only technically possible with today's new-generation consoles, but also on the horizon.

"That's certainly something we're interested in," Electronic Arts worldwide head of music Steve Schnur said earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Finch Platte
01-22-2008, 09:37 AM
People really need to get out more.

BradH
01-22-2008, 09:04 PM
People really need to get out more.

You mountain bikers...grrrrrr...

This from KOB.com in New Mexico...

Sierra Club Proposes ‘Couch Potato’ Tax

The Sierra Club is proposing a tax on video games and televisions with the proceeds going to programs that encourage families to get kids off of the couch and into the mountains.

Call it “No Child Left Inside.”

Mike Casaus of the Sierra Club says families hiking a mountain trail together are becoming scarce as childhood diabetes and obesity is soaring, which is why the organization is proposing the one-percent tax.

“What we would do with this excise tax on tvs and video games and this type of equipment is to tax part of the problem to fund the solution,” he says.

The Sierra Club believes the bill would bring in about $4 million that could be used for programs like an outdoor classroom to teach children about the outdoors.

Lawmakers killed the same idea last year.

Finch Platte
01-23-2008, 02:43 PM
You mountain bikers...grrrrrr...

This from KOB.com in New Mexico...

Sierra Club Proposes ‘Couch Potato’ Tax

The Sierra Club is proposing a tax on video games and televisions with the proceeds going to programs that encourage families to get kids off of the couch and into the mountains.

Call it “No Child Left Inside.”

Mike Casaus of the Sierra Club says families hiking a mountain trail together are becoming scarce as childhood diabetes and obesity is soaring, which is why the organization is proposing the one-percent tax.

“What we would do with this excise tax on tvs and video games and this type of equipment is to tax part of the problem to fund the solution,” he says.

The Sierra Club believes the bill would bring in about $4 million that could be used for programs like an outdoor classroom to teach children about the outdoors.

Lawmakers killed the same idea last year.

Wow- that's quite an idea. :cornut:

No taxes on the ride we took last Sunday. No wonder I like mountain biking so much. :smilewinkgrin:

fp

3-LockBox
01-23-2008, 03:01 PM
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">You weren't thinking of jumping that canyon, were you?

You'll need rocket assist at least.
</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Finch Platte
01-23-2008, 03:28 PM
You weren't thinking of jumping that canyon, were you?

You'll need rocket assist at least.

It's doable.

One word: BEANS.

BarryL
01-23-2008, 07:32 PM
Is that you Finchy? I didn't expect you to be so colourful.

BarryL
01-23-2008, 07:37 PM
You mountain bikers...grrrrrr...

This from KOB.com in New Mexico...

Sierra Club Proposes ‘Couch Potato’ Tax

Mike Casaus of the Sierra Club says families hiking a mountain trail together are becoming scarce as childhood diabetes and obesity is soaring, which is why the organization is proposing the one-percent tax.



They complain when people walk on the precious trails because it causes corrosion, so they want the public banned from wilderness areas, and they complain when they don't use the trails. Obviously they just want the money without having to earn it. Organizaed environmentalists are looters. Greenpeace lost their tax-exempt status in Canada because they were defrauding the Canadian pubic by pretending to be a charitable organization when they were only a fundraising organization. They spent all the money they took in on themselves.

Finch Platte
01-24-2008, 08:35 AM
Is that you Finchy? I didn't expect you to be so colourful.

Yeah, that's me. That's what happens when I don't let my mom dress me.

Swish
01-24-2008, 04:43 PM
Take note record companies...this could turn into an unexpected cash cow and a new way to get exposure for some bands.

"Rock Band," "Guitar Hero" drive digital song sales

By Antony Bruno

DENVER (Billboard) - In the two months since MTV Networks and Harmonix released the music-based videogame "Rock Band," players have purchased and downloaded more than 2.5 million additional songs made available after the game's initial distribution.

Activision, meanwhile, said it has sold more than 5 million new songs via download for "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" since it began adding downloadable content in early November.

By comparison, it took wireless operator Sprint four months to sell 1 million songs on its over-the-air full-song download service. While new digital music services competing with iTunes and free peer-to-peer services have struggled to convince music fans to pay $1 for a single, downloadable tracks for games like "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" are flying off the digital shelves.

"With such a low installation base, we didn't think that there'd be 2 million songs sold in eight weeks," MTVN Music Group/Logo/Films division president Van Toffler said. "We live in a rough time around music where our audience struggles to pay $20 for a CD but don't hesitate to pay $50 for a game. The notion to pay 99 cents or $1.99 to have a song and repeatedly play with it apparently isn't a big hurdle."

The original "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" games shipped with more than 50 licensed songs each, a mix of master recordings and covers. Since then, "Rock Band" has made new music available every week as either singles or in three-pack bundles that can be added as new playable levels for between 99 cents and $5.50. "Guitar Hero III" did the same, focusing on three-song bundles of new music and music featured in previous versions of the game.

Although MTV is not providing specific numbers, it did say that the majority of the downloaded songs were purchased by Xbox 360 as opposed to PlayStation 3 users. According to the NPD Group, "Rock Band" sold 775,000 copies for the Xbox 360 through the end of 2007, compared with 250,000 on the PS3.

METALLICA SHINES

The game's impact on song sales for participating artists, however, remains unclear. While not providing exact sales figures, MTV did say that the Metallica three-pack of "Ride the Lightning," "Blackened" and "And Justice for All" is the best-selling "Rock Band" download.

According to Nielsen SoundScan data, those same songs saw digital download sales spikes of 31 percent, 39 percent and 48 percent, respectively, for the month after they were featured as a "Rock Band" download, over the previous month.

But those increased sales numbered only in the hundreds, while the "Rock Band" downloads numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Still, label executives are thrilled with the results.

MTVN already has plans to expand its outreach to artists, creating additional game expansions -- as both physical products and downloadable content -- around specific music genres and even artists.

"We are talking to tons of bands, from indie to the most established ... to release not necessarily their entire catalog, but maybe some of their classic albums and do special packages around that," Toffler said.

What's more, there's no reason for "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" to be the only videogames that sell music. It's only a matter of time before other games begin offering new downloadable soundtracks as well.

Titles like the "Madden" football series, the Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise and the venerable "Grand Theft Auto" games are well known for their extensive soundtracks. Offering gamers the ability to replace their soundtracks every few months after the initial release is not only technically possible with today's new-generation consoles, but also on the horizon.

"That's certainly something we're interested in," Electronic Arts worldwide head of music Steve Schnur said earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show.

When I see otherwise productive people spending countless hours in front of a TV screen playing some mindless game, it starts getting to me. Hey, I've played a number of them in the past, but after a time you realize you're becoming a total waste of space.

That's my 2 cents.

Swish

bobsticks
01-24-2008, 05:05 PM
When I see otherwise productive people spending countless hours playing some mindless game with their Wilco action figures and wearing their "What's Spinning?" t-shirts, it starts getting to me. Hey, I've even rooted for the Eagles in the past, but after a time you realize you're becoming a total waste of space.

That's my 2 cents.

Swish


fixed

ForeverAutumn
01-24-2008, 05:12 PM
Video games are the ruination of this country.

Really? And here I am thinking it's sub-prime mortgages, the cost of war, child obesity and lack of universal health care. Silly me.


When I see otherwise productive people spending countless hours playing some mindless game with their Wilco action figures and wearing their "What's Spinning?" t-shirts, it starts getting to me. Hey, I've even rooted for the Eagles in the past, but after a time you realize you're becoming a total waste of space.

That's my 2 cents.

Swish

LMAO!

Swish
01-24-2008, 06:52 PM
Really? And here I am thinking it's sub-prime mortgages, the cost of war, child obesity and lack of universal health care. Silly me.

LMAO!

If Hilary ends up as our president, although I don't believe she will, her new efforts to insure all Americans will lead us down the path of over-taxed destruction, just like you have in the United States of Canada. I don't want your health care, so please keep it to yourselves. That's all we need, the government involved in health car. God help us.

Sub-prime mortgages didn't ruin anything, it was the ratings agencies (Fitch, S & P and Moody's) who bamboozled everyone into believing Wall Street could make all the aggressive, no-money-down loans and not take on exceptional risk. They will get what's coming to them through the numerous lawsuits that have been filed against them, and their defense that 'we only make opinions about mortgage backed securities' is hogwash.

Child obesity is the result of lazy and uneducated parenting. Buy them Twinkies and let them play video games all the live long day. Morons.

As for the war, don't get me started...although you already did.

Swish - in a rather pis<s>sy mood tonight

Swish
01-24-2008, 06:54 PM
fixed

...open the package when you receive my surprise.

Just a suggestion.

Swish Baby - taking no prisoners

BradH
01-24-2008, 08:19 PM
When I see otherwise productive people spending countless hours in front of a TV screen playing some mindless game, it starts getting to me.

Don't assume everybody is otherwise productive. HAHA!!

Seriously, kids sitting in front of the tube playing console games is a marked improvement over watching garbage tv shows. A lot of the games aren't mindless at all, quite the opposite, in fact. I see a lot more effort put into these games than the cookie cutter crap that gets played on tv. This is largely a generational argument even though I play 'em and I'm 47. A parent who lets their kid grow fat in front of the tube is not a parent who's going to make his kid go outside or read a book, game or no game. So, overall, it's probably a net plus because they're at least using their minds whereas if they're watching television they're using nothing. Sure, it would be better if they went outside and played but, like I said, game or no game, lousy parents are gonna be lousy parents. Hillary loves to bash games because, y'know, it takes a village. Actually, this is coming out of both holes, from the left and the right. (O Boomer, save me from myself.) Watch how the cable squawk shows and news media ratchet up the anti-gaming rhetoric as tv ratings continue to decline as the gaming generation gets older. How many times can the world go to hell in a hand basket? Must have a lot of baskets...

Speaking of crisis newscasting, I completely agree with you about the sub-prime mortgages. This was a correction you could see coming a mile away. Hands off, don't bail anyone out. That's the best policy but it's unlikely in an election year.

Swish
01-25-2008, 02:35 PM
Don't assume everybody is otherwise productive. HAHA!!

Seriously, kids sitting in front of the tube playing console games is a marked improvement over watching garbage tv shows. A lot of the games aren't mindless at all, quite the opposite, in fact. I see a lot more effort put into these games than the cookie cutter crap that gets played on tv. This is largely a generational argument even though I play 'em and I'm 47. A parent who lets their kid grow fat in front of the tube is not a parent who's going to make his kid go outside or read a book, game or no game. So, overall, it's probably a net plus because they're at least using their minds whereas if they're watching television they're using nothing. Sure, it would be better if they went outside and played but, like I said, game or no game, lousy parents are gonna be lousy parents. Hillary loves to bash games because, y'know, it takes a village. Actually, this is coming out of both holes, from the left and the right. (O Boomer, save me from myself.) Watch how the cable squawk shows and news media ratchet up the anti-gaming rhetoric as tv ratings continue to decline as the gaming generation gets older. How many times can the world go to hell in a hand basket? Must have a lot of baskets...

Speaking of crisis newscasting, I completely agree with you about the sub-prime mortgages. This was a correction you could see coming a mile away. Hands off, don't bail anyone out. That's the best policy but it's unlikely in an election year.

It's funny how just about 4 or 5 years ago, the wonderful Alan Greenspan proclaimed that borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages were making out far better than those with fixed rates (I remember it well. Trust me). So after all these borrowers took out new ARM loans, then sat back while the fed raised interest rates for 13 straight sessions, thereby increasing most of the ARM rates that people were paying, all of a sudden they were 'bad loans' and lenders mislead people and Senator Dodd is on the warpath. Give me a break!

People got greedy because rates were low, homes were appreciating rapidly and money was being doled out like penny candy. So now we need to bail them out? Tell me something; when the dot com bubble burst and people lost billions in the stock market, did anyone talk bailouts? No, they didn't, but the similarities are striking. Sure, this involves peoples' homes, but you know what? They'll figure out how to survive without the government's help, and they should. People lose homes every day. Always did, always will.

Swish