Rock bands in talks to do music games
GNR! Eagles! The Halen! But not Led Zep.
Famous rockers such as Guns 'N Roses and Van Halen are said to be fleshing out deals to capitalise on the popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
That's according to Front Line Managemet boss Irving Azoff, who was speaking to the Wall Street Journal. Those groups, alongside others such as The Eagles and Steely Dan, "all have deals of varying types in the works with one or the other or both of these companies" said Azoff, referring to Activision and MTV.
The Front Line music label has Aerosmith among others on its books.
The reason Azoff believes videogames deals are becoming so popular is money. "[They] can be much more lucrative than anything you can do in the record business," he said.
Not only do bands apparently get millions of dollars up front, but also a hefty royalty on all of their songs sold through the games.
The Wall Street Journal claims a source close to Aerosmith says the rock group could make more from its Guitar Hero spin-off than from a dozen or more CD albums.
However, there is one band still eluding the greed grasp of us videogame head-bangers: Led Zeppelin. The world renowned rock group is uneasy with outsiders touching its master recordings, apparently.
Pop over to our Guitar Hero: Aerosmith review to see how that turned out.