Actilizzard CEO finds Warner Music's logic on music licensing 'one-sided'
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Aug 15th 2008 at 11:00AM }
With the music industry taking a backseat to the games industry, it's not surprising to find record execs trying to figure out a way to squeeze more money out of a billion-dollar franchise. The thing is, though, that Activision's merger with Vivendi Games, connects it to Vivendi Universal, which owns Universal Music, the "world's largest music publisher." At the end of the day, Kotick can snap his fingers and never talk to Warner Music again, all the while squeezing every last dollar out of the Guitar Hero franchise until it stops being the soup du jour.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marty @ Aug 15th 2008 11:17AM
This just in: Warner Music finds Blizzactivision CEO's logic on music licensing 'one-sided'
koehler83 @ Aug 15th 2008 11:18AM
Can we please all come up with a universally appealing Activision-Blizzard compound word?
My suggestion: Actiblizzion
G$ @ Aug 15th 2008 11:25AM
I think the folks at Warner should consider that the current batch of music related video games may introduce new listeners to a band they've never heard before, possibly resulting in future sales.
koehler83 @ Aug 15th 2008 11:54AM
We're amidst a paradigm shift. The digital age is quickly leading many industries to obsolescence. The music studios are a prime example. No one needs them anymore. Artists can record and publish their own music from home. The studios are gouging anyone and everyone while they can before they disappear. They don't care about 'future sales'. They have no future. There are no future sales.
Its the exact same thing with the Oil companies.
Marty @ Aug 15th 2008 1:39PM
That is not correct. While I hate the music studios / RIAA as much as the next guy, the smaller guys can't compete without them. Sure, big bands like Radiohead or NIN can sell music to a large group of fans directly from their websites, but the small guys with no ability to market themselves and no past fame to bank on can't compete with that.
Without a backer to promote your stuff, how do you get to the point where you can make a real living off of online sales?
redneckvampire @ Aug 15th 2008 2:26PM
"Its the exact same thing with the Oil companies."
Ahhhh ha ha ha....*giggle*, snort, hiccup.
You just keep on drinking that Obama flavored kool-aid and crackin' me up.
tactics @ Aug 15th 2008 12:13PM
Hmmm... What's the Soup du Jour?
That's the soup of the day.
Oooh... That sounds good; I'll have that.
LordChimp @ Aug 15th 2008 1:09PM
Do you guys only post this picture because that dude on the right looks like he is hovering??
Maic @ Aug 15th 2008 1:54PM
now everything makes sense
I miss those times when all this music-game-related-posts were accompanied by those good ol' Skeletor photoshops.
Barnhardt1 @ Aug 15th 2008 2:16PM
Interesting that after years of complaining that nobody pays for music anymore, Warner is picking a fight with somebody that still is.
Tim The Enchanter @ Aug 15th 2008 3:08PM
Hah, well said.
On another note:
"It's part of a trilogy, a musical trilogy I'm working on in D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why."
KeenCommander @ Aug 15th 2008 3:12PM
Warner are dumbasses, putting their music in these games is doing them a favor. Boosted sales are a guaranteed result if the game does well. Further proof that they no longer even understand their own industry.
Heh {XBL: P4nic 4tt4ck} @ Aug 15th 2008 4:49PM
"Blizzavision chief thinks comments made by Warner Music's Edgar Bronfman don't take into account the "capital and resources" required to turn the song into something "fun to play.""
Since when was the last time you played "Raining Blood" on expert fun?
Purple Haze @ Aug 15th 2008 6:52PM
I would argue that Activision don't know how to make the music fun in the first case.
Purple Haze @ Aug 15th 2008 6:53PM
Ok, I wrote that broken, but you know what I mean. Playing songs in Guitar Hero 3 just wasn't that fun. Too much chugga-chugga.
t_m @ Aug 15th 2008 11:04PM
Joystiq seems to have missed it, but he also said somethng like "they are ignoring the fact that we are introducing lots of new customers to their product and boosting their sales"
The music industry is the only one on the planet that seems determined to STOP people promoting it's products or enjoying them.
Frankly, they've created a new market for the music industry, introduced lots of new people to new bands, revitalised a lot of stale old catalogues, and convinced lots of us to pay AGAIN for music we already own (and probably should be able to import).
Glad the music industry is true to form and still manages to bitch about it. But i'm surprised they haven't sued anyone yet. scum.