In reporting on music and technology my dislike for large music labels is growing and growing. Check out this post over at Idolator, The Guitar Hero People Don’t Think Much of the Music Biz. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the CEO of Blizzard, the company that produces Guitar Hero, addresses complaints from the music labels that they aren’t be paid enough for the songs used in the video game.

WSJ: How do you feel about the criticism from Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman that Activision and others aren’t paying enough for the use of artists in Guitar Hero and other music games?

BK: We compensate artists and publishers extremely well. There are millions and millions of dollars that are being made and paid. There’s a misunderstanding of the value we bring to the catalog. What happens to your catalog in digital downloads? What happens to your merchandise? What happens to your ticket sales? When you look at the impact it can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it’s really significant, so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse.

WSJ: Traditionally, music in videogames has been seen as a good promotional tool for artists. But aren’t you a little more sympathetic to the idea that songs in music games like Guitar Hero are actually selling the games?

Mr. Kotick: No. We have lots of music to choose from, lots of artists to choose from. A 12-year-old kid has no idea who Steven Tyler is or who Aerosmith is. The bulk of our consumers will tell you they’re not purchasing the products based on the songs that are included. They’re purchasing based on how fun the songs are to play when they’re playing them.

I have to agree with Mr. Kotick on this one. Guitar Hero instantly made older, forgotten to the young generation, songs popular. To be honest I never heard Ziggy Stardust until I played the first version of the video game, and that got me to check out David Bowie’s music. And for the other songs I knew, it made them even more fun to listen to. It will be interesting to see what kind of influence this game will have over the industry as time goes by. It certainly is playing a large role in shaping the musical listening habits of the younger generation. Perhaps even more influential then MTV at this point.

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