If you release a song through Guitar Hero or Rock Band, do you sell more downloads of it through other digital stores? A report on the Associated Press seems to suggest so.The piece compares how many downloads various tracks sold in the last week of 2007 and the last week of 2006, when in every case they’d been released through either Guitar Hero III or Rock Band in the US during 2007.Guns’n’Roses’ Welcome To The Jungle saw downloads rise 153% to 38,000, While Pat Benatar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot soared 180% to 9,800 downloads. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Suck My Kiss rose 200% to 3,900 downloads, while Aerosmith’s Dream On jumped 15% to 10,000 downloads. These were all following Guitar Hero III releases for the songs.Meanwhile, on Rock Band the Smashing Pumpkins’ Cherub Rock jumped a whopping 843% to 6,600 downloads, while there were rises for Nirvana’s In Bloom (543%), Kiss’ Detroit Rock City (89%), David Bowie’s Suffragette City (55%), and REM’s Orange Crush (256%). In some of these cases, other elements were likely at play – for example, I’m sure the Smashing Pumpkins comeback tour was in the news around this time too. But doubtless these kinds of stats will be to the fore as publishers Activision Blizzard and MTV Games negotiate licensing deals for future titles in both franchises.
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Tools: Kaiber
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