Music Charts To Include Games Downloaded
July 11, 2009 by Rajiv
We just heard about Jackson 5 being included in Lego Rock Band, and now the line between music and video games is getting thinner. Yes, the leading music company in UK, the Official Charts Company (OCC) has told MCV that it wants to see music games’ DLC sales counted in the charts it compiles.
The reason is simple – if music chart popularity is gauged based on its sales, which indeed is the right measure, then why not include the DLC sales when the games based on a chart are downloaded as well? Makes sense, for sure.
OCC is in the process of thrashing out a deal between publishers and format holders. Once it is through, music downloaded to play in the likes of Rock Band, Guitar Hero, SingStar and upcoming games like DJ Hero, will be combined with the current download charts.
The Official Download Chart started in 2004 and from the following year included that data in the weekly Top 40. Since then there have been numerous artists who have topped the charts based on download sales – but now the Official Chart Company wants to make its listings more accurate by monitoring the rock and pop songs sold through video games.
Omar Maskatiya, chart director at the Official Chart Company, has narrated to MCV:
“We have been in discussion with record labels and the various games companies that host games which allow users to download master recording versions of artist tracks. In theory they could be eligible to be combined with downloads of the same tracks that take place from the wide range of digital retailing services that currently make up our chart panel”
Sample these astronomical numbers of downloads some of the charts have witnessed through their video game versions:
• iTunes and other similar services sell over 2m tracks a week
• Guitar Hero fans have downloaded over 40m tracks globally, according to Activision
• Rock Band – over 30m
• PS3 version of SingStar – several millions
Maskatiya has added:
“Our brief is to ensure that the charts are the most accurate barometer of the best selling tracks or singles in the UK. And the information we have to date suggests that the incredibly successful Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises can generate significant volume of master recording downloads that we would like to capture within our weekly survey….We are at various stages of discussion in terms of capturing these additional downloads so we are not talking about inclusion from next week, but it is certainly high on our agenda to follow through between now and the end of this year.”
I think this is perfectly justified logic. I only hope the gaming industry’s resources are not garnered entirely by the music industry, given the clout and financial muscle of the music industry.
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