Forget Beatles vs. Stones, Michael Jackson vs.
Prince, or Madonna vs. Mariah.
She dials up the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Maps, and hits the kick-drum pedal with stiletto precision.
Credit: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AARON GOODMAN
A minute later, its obvious that shes being extremely modest: Kunis is one seriousRock-er.
Okay, be a little impressed.
I can get 99 percent if I take my heels off.
Together that adds up to more than $1.7 billion in revenue.
Were making them active participants, and theyve demonstrated a willingness to pay for that experience.
With both brands spending large sums on advertising, expect the phenomenon to absolutely explode.
I couldnt be prouder.
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The music industrys getting pretty excited too.
Activision and MTV are selling song downloads specifically designed to work with their games.
[Compared with iTunes,] the artists split is bigger, says Motley Crue manager Allen Kovac.
And if you own the masters and the publishing, its humongous.
Fans have already bought more than 44 million downloads throughGuitar HeroandRock Band.
And were just getting going, says president of MTV Networks Music Van Toffler.
Imagine the catalogs we can unleash.
For once-mighty rock bands now struggling to get noticed, this is excellent news.
But rhythm games are helping break new bands, too.
We get offered a lot, but the games shouldnt be jumping ahead of something.
Still, its nice to be asked, especially since the music business was slow to catch on.
We had a lot of doors shut on us, no question, says Huang ofGuitar Heros early days.
Artists didnt want to work with us.
They thought, Cheap little toy guitar?
I dont want my name associated with that.
Eventually, the games success made labels and bands take notice.
Its about connecting people more deeply with your music.
Guitar HeroandRock Bandare two of the greatest things to happen to our industry in recent history.
The creators of these games are optimistic.
[At first] we had this self-doubt: Is there even a market for rock & roll?
Rigopulos says of his start-up plan.
But then we looked around the room and realized that we all love rock music.
So What Do Real Rockers Think?
I play with my kids, and theyll go, Dad, you suck!
Its harder than it looks!Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips
Its kind of a shame.
When I was growing up, kids wanted to be in a band.
Now everyone wants to playRock Band.Nick Wheeler, The All-American Rejects
Anything that advances music is really interesting.
