When Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman jr. started his crusade on the games publishers it was clear this debate would stay alive for some time. Bronfman says the labels deserve a bigger cut from sales of rhythm games like “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band”. Games Publishers say the inclusion of songs in their games promoted the artists and their catalogs. Most recently, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick fired back at Bronfman via the “Wall Street Journal” by questioning music licenses as a whole. Apparently Kotick thinks that labels should be more than happy to be part of a “GH” release beacause it will propel download and merch sales for their acts.
“We compensate artists and publishers extremely well. There are millions and millions of dollars that are being made and paid. There’s a misunderstanding of the value we bring to the catalog. What happens to your catalog in digital downloads? What happens to your merchandise? What happens to your ticket sales? When you look at the impact it can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it’s really significant, so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse.”
Asked, if he wouldn’t consider the music as one of the major USPs for his products he flat out denied that.
“We have lots of music to choose from, lots of artists to choose from. A 12-year-old kid has no idea who Steven Tyler is or who Aerosmith is. The bulk of our consumers will tell you they’re not purchasing the products based on the songs that are included. They’re purchasing based on how fun the songs are to play when they’re playing them.”
An adequate response from the Warner Music camp should be imminent. This is almost as entertaining to watch as the sparring between Obama and McCain.
For those of you who want to read a little more about the relationship between the music and the games industries I once again recommend my feature story for German trade weekly MusikWoche.
