Music biz unlikely to mourn Guitar Hero loss

The likes of EMI and Universal have enjoyed huge success partnering with Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise. However, Music Week’s digital specialist Eamonn Forde says the record companies will quickly move on following its demise.

In today’s music market, the decline of any revenue source is not to be taken lightly,” he says. It’s a bit like when a retailer closes down. But record companies aren’t about to shut up shop because this one channel isn’t there.

There are other areas for these companies to move into, be that social gaming or apps for mobiles. I think we may see some music games – that aren’t based on dance – make use of Move and Kinect next year. I also believe you will see a whole new wave of games for iPad and other touch screen devices.

There’s a huge opportunity for music companies to get in front of millions of customers via social games, without the player needing to shell out 40 or more to do so. These games are a lot cheaper to develop and you can get them in front of a mass audience quicker.

Guitar Hero did a good job for established artists like Aerosmith and Metallica, but it didn’t quite do the job for emerging artists.”