Video game sells more music than itunes

The music business is finally getting headlines through innovation instead of legal actions. Motley Crue sold more tunes in the Xbox game Rock Band (a total blast, I can’t wait for it to be available in Europe!) than on iTunes (and therefore, than on CD).

According to data provided by the band’s management [...] the track was downloaded more than 47,000 times via the Xbox 360 version of the game alone in the first week after it became available. [...] By comparison, the same track received slightly more than 10,000 downloads via digital services like iTunes and Amazon

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A business based on something fundamental like music will always find a way to make money. It is all about following consumers, like Amazon and Rockstar Games who combined their efforts to offer players a seamless way to buy tunes from GTA4′s soundtrack:

As players cruise around the world listening to the in-game radio, they can at any point ‘mark’ a song by opening their [in-game] phone and dialing the number ZIT-555-0100. Gamers will then receive a text message with the song and artist names, and if they’re registered at the forthcoming Rockstar Games Social Club community site, they’ll find an e-mail waiting in their inbox with a direct link to a custom playlist on Amazon.com. All songs tagged “ZiT” will be stored here, available for preview and purchase at Amazon’s going rate of $.89-$.99 per track.

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After relying on one of the world’s most outdated and boring business model, is the music industry becoming a place for killer innovation?