Rock Star Games’ Grand Theft Auto has made UK£6.4 billion over the years.
It’s makers have apparently just offered Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware the princely sum
of UK£5,700 for the rights to Temptation.
It’s a shit business and getting shittier by the day
Crushed by the wheels of industry…
Chapeau!
Indeed
Was he Tempted?
Martyn don’t need no fascist groove thang
Did RSG tell MW “I’m Your Money”?
Grand Theft Auto, eh? I’ve no idea what it involves, but I bet Ware plays to win. You know how men are.
It’s quite a violent game I believe. But you can make something of yourself. From pavement to penthouse.😬
On the flip side….
… this is a revenue stream that didn’t exist when he recorded the song. If he doesn’t think it is enough then he can ask for more or say no. Let’s be honest – no one is buying GTA to listen to that song.
Fwiw, there will be over a thousand songs in GTA 6. I actually know the people who are doing the music licensing – it’s a mammoth task, and any one song is only really adding comparatively small value.
The songs aren’t playing over key scenes, or part of a soundtrack in the conventional sense: they play in the background on radio stations as you tool around to add a bit of ambience. You could spend hundreds of hours in the game and never encounter any specific song. £5k looks about right to me for a track at this level. Maybe even generous.
There’s also an argument that with this being quite probably the biggest entertainment release of all time, and given that Heaven 17 are not exactly red hot, Ware should be paying Rockstar😜
Interesting points there. I’m a huge GTA V fan – I think it might well be the best game of all time – and I’m always impressed by the way the music/radio has been put together so that when you start a mission, for example, a suitable song always seems to kick off on whatever station you choose.
The tech that makes it all work is far beyond me, but the selection of songs really makes a big difference to the gameplay. Yes, after a few years of hearing the same tunes I would have liked a bit of a change (before news of GTA 6 came out), but I can’t imagine how much work must go into licensing more songs that could be heard by millions of gamers all over the world. I get the impression from, say, the re-released Now compilations that licensing for the UK alone can sometimes not go according to plan, so doing it for what will be one of the most successful entertainment products in history must be very tricky.
Besides the huge catalogue of GTA bangers, the various DJs have been eye-opening and interesting: Kenny Loggins is happy to get into the satirical spirit of the game, and Cara Delavigne is also a bit of fun.
Should Rockstar pay more? Yes, probably – clearly they can afford it. But I wonder how many people will hear Heaven 17 for the first time in a GTA game. As the saying goes, exposure doesn’t pay the bills – but £5,700 plus a GTA audience sounds like a nice little boost to the pension.
“Satirical spirit” of celebrating wanton criminality? Must we subject our children to this vile filth?
Still seems scant reward for music of such quality and distinction
Hats off Sir!
It’s not as if they.ve taken it away from him. He still owns it and will still get royalties for when it gets played outside of that game.
Seems unfair, but he made masses of money from Tina Turner’s Private Dancer album, so he’s probably doing ok.
Money can only be spent once, and that was a long time ago.
No mention of the development costs of the game itself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for artists being paid for their work but it’s never as simple as saying this grossed X amount. TBH, I’m not sure that Heaven 17 are household names these days so either take the money for a 41 year old song with good grace or don’t.
Have you heard any of Martyn Ware’s podcasts? “Good grace” isn’t a phrase he’s familiar with. Neither is “shut up”. I gave up on them several years ago.
I was also a bit surprised to hear him finish off at least one episode with a request for donations to help meet the podcast’s running costs. Maybe this pop music malarkey doesn’t pay as much as we think – or maybe he’s simply a canny businessman.
I have a theory that everyone in pop is either much wealthier or much poorer than you think they are. I just came up with that inside my own head..
That’s one of Hepworth’s many theories. ‘There are two types of money people make in music. Less than you would think and more than you could possibly imagine (you know what I mean?)’
Last time I tuned in, the devoted “Sheffield Socialist” was moving from London to Venice. He won’t need his Winter Fuel payment there.
I fear he will. Venice in winter is cold and damp. I’m going to send a tenner.
Now that made me laugh. Well played!
Should continue to get his fuel allowance in Italy, save your tenner Gary.
Didn’t MW and Ian Marsh also negotiate themselves what ended being a very lucrative slice of future Human League earnings when they broke off to form BEF/K17 not long before the latter band went stratospheric in 1981
Almost every podcast has something like this, Patreon, and so on. I don’t see the problem.