Mötley Crüe's release of the single Saints of Los Angeles via Rock Band has paid dividends for the group. Sales of the song as downloadable content over Xbox Live have significantly outdone those via traditional download services such as iTunes.
In the first week that the track was available on Xbox Live since it launched last month, it racked up 47,000 sales, according to data released by the band's management, Tenth Street Entertainment.
That compares to slightly more than 10,000 sales via the likes of iTunes and Amazon according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales.
It is also, of course, worth noting that the figure for the Rock Band version of Saints of Los Angeles only accounts for sales through Xbox Live. Sales figures for the track on the PlayStation Network were not available at the time of press.
This all adds weight to the argument that the likes of Rock Band and Guitar Hero offer a serious new outlet for record companies to sell and promote music.
"We do research on every artist we have, and the research said that the people who bought Mötley Crüe music and tickets play Rock Band and video games ... (so) it was our inclination to go there", said Tenth Street's CEO, Allen Kovac. "As marketers, it's our job to find the audience. If our audience tells us they're sitting at Xbox and PlayStation, that's our job to do that."
Kovac even went so far as to claim games have revived Rock music. "The resurgence of rock has happened because of Rock Band and Guitar Hero", he said. "And the reason is because of the interaction with the audience. The more music marketing people look at interaction with the audience as opposed to only radio or a video, the more lasting the experience will be and the longer the artists' career will be."
Another example of the boost a game can provide to track sales comes in the form of new metal band Black Tide's Shockwave. The track sold around 6,000 copies in the six weeks following release via online retailers, compared to an estimated 60,000 downloads through Rock band.
Of course, it should be borne in mind that players have far less choice when buying Rock Band or Guitar Hero tracks than they do when using a service like iTunes. Were every artist and its tribute act to get on board those bandwagons, the discrepancy in sales seen with songs like Saints of Los Angeles would no doubt diminish. Still, those are some impressive figures.
Rock Band launched for the Xbox 360 in the UK last week. Keep your eye on SPOnG to see how it has performed in the Charts.
Activision, meanwhile, has just announced Guitar Hero World Tour – complete with instruments and a music editor.
Source: Reuters
In the first week that the track was available on Xbox Live since it launched last month, it racked up 47,000 sales, according to data released by the band's management, Tenth Street Entertainment.
That compares to slightly more than 10,000 sales via the likes of iTunes and Amazon according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales.
It is also, of course, worth noting that the figure for the Rock Band version of Saints of Los Angeles only accounts for sales through Xbox Live. Sales figures for the track on the PlayStation Network were not available at the time of press.
This all adds weight to the argument that the likes of Rock Band and Guitar Hero offer a serious new outlet for record companies to sell and promote music.
"We do research on every artist we have, and the research said that the people who bought Mötley Crüe music and tickets play Rock Band and video games ... (so) it was our inclination to go there", said Tenth Street's CEO, Allen Kovac. "As marketers, it's our job to find the audience. If our audience tells us they're sitting at Xbox and PlayStation, that's our job to do that."
Kovac even went so far as to claim games have revived Rock music. "The resurgence of rock has happened because of Rock Band and Guitar Hero", he said. "And the reason is because of the interaction with the audience. The more music marketing people look at interaction with the audience as opposed to only radio or a video, the more lasting the experience will be and the longer the artists' career will be."
Another example of the boost a game can provide to track sales comes in the form of new metal band Black Tide's Shockwave. The track sold around 6,000 copies in the six weeks following release via online retailers, compared to an estimated 60,000 downloads through Rock band.
Of course, it should be borne in mind that players have far less choice when buying Rock Band or Guitar Hero tracks than they do when using a service like iTunes. Were every artist and its tribute act to get on board those bandwagons, the discrepancy in sales seen with songs like Saints of Los Angeles would no doubt diminish. Still, those are some impressive figures.
Rock Band launched for the Xbox 360 in the UK last week. Keep your eye on SPOnG to see how it has performed in the Charts.
Activision, meanwhile, has just announced Guitar Hero World Tour – complete with instruments and a music editor.
Source: Reuters
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