RedOctane: Aerosmith's Guitar Hero Take Bigger Than Recent Albums

Musicians such as Aerosmith already generate more revenues from its Guitar Hero game than they do from album sales, according to GH publisher RedOctane RedOctane president and co-founder Kai Huang claims that many songs’ sales have more than doubled after appearing in a popular music game. Speaking to the Associated Press, he specifically claimed that Aerosmith made more money from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith than either of their last two albums. "The kind of exposure that artists can get through the Guitar Hero platform is huge," said Huang. In the same report a record label executive speaking under condition of anonymity indicated that typically record companies make more from a single 3 million copy selling album than from all of their video game revenues combined. Record companies also often miss out on image and likeness licensing deals, which go straight to musicians and are becoming increasingly important. Earlier in the year Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman infamously claimed that the amount being paid to the music industry by video games publishers was too small. But despite his complaints, the company continues to license its music for use in games. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reported sales of $10.4 billion in 2007, down 11.8 percent from 2006 -- and expected to decrease again in 2008. By comparison, total video game sales collated by NPD Group more than doubled in 2008, reaching $1.9 billion by the end of November.