The Future of Music - Music Games
Music labels continue to lookup for new ways to make money in the face of declining cd sales. Digital track sales, such as individuals from Apple's iTunes Music Store, were up 27 percent from 2007, breaking the $1 billion mark for the Primary time in 2008. But, according to Nielsen Soundscan, only 428 million albums (including LPs, CDs, and online albums) were sold - down 14 percent from 2007. As recently as 2005, 619 million albums were sold.
Meanwhile, there are more options than ever to hear totally free music online, such as MySpace Music, Imeem, Last.fm, and Pandora. It seems clear that music on demand is heading towards the the day of cost-free streaming whenever and where-ever individuals want to listen, and labels and artists will demand to discover ways to develop music experiences for their fans that they are willing to invest cash on.
What individuals have always been willing to pay for is a particular encounter Exactly where they can engage with an artist's music in ways that can't be copied for free. For example, fans love to see live music given that they can't replicate that expertise at home. Ringtones have been popular for over a decade. people are even now willing to pay to join fan clubs since of perks like a closer relationship to the artist.
One of the most promising areas for music income growth is combining music with games. There have been over 30 million downloads of songs in Rock Band since fans to want to rock out to their favorite songs in game play. Guitar Hero has had over 40 million downloads and is now a $2B franchise. What is remarkable is that players have shown a willingness to pay for own songs for use in music games In spite of them typically costing double the price of a typical digital download.
In fact, Aerosmith claims to have produced more income from licensing its music to Guitar Hero than from any of the group's previous recorded albums. Even digital holdouts, The Beatles, will be releasing a Rock Band version of their own. much more music games will be coming soon, for instance Band Hero (for loved ones gaming) and DJ Hero which features turntable and record scratching games in a battle for victory in a virtual nightclub.
Other popular music games include Dance Dance Revolution, Jam Legend, and Tap Tap Revolution which is 1 of the ideal marketing iPhone applications. SingStar is a competitive karaoke video game series which requires players to sing along with music in order to score points. Loudcrowd supplies a constant stream of music fixed to a similar series of music-themed games.
Through game play and interaction with others, users can Earn or buy a variety of virtual goods including apparel for their character and music tracks that can be collected for play and competition within the site. perfect offering artists Fall Out Boy created an artist themed game on FriendsorEnemies.com. Even lo-fi games like lottery tickets are jumping on the music bandwagon. For Aerosmith's summer tour, fans can win backstage passes, front-row seats, and maybe an extra couple of million Dollars playing Aerosmith branded lottery games.
With the rise of popular casual games on web-sites like Facebook, Addicting Games, and Miniclip, along with the universal appeal of music, It can be a natural fit for the two to come together. Music games give labels a new way to Get paid revenue that users have shown a willingness to pay for. It seems clear that a lot more will follow.