Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware has kicked off a huge discussion on RockStar licensing terms.
The games conglomerate are responsible for numerous globally successful franchises, including the controversial evergreen Grand Theft Auto.
Grand Theft Auto’s in-game radio stations have a following entirely of their own, with artists such as Flying Lotus having contributed in the past.
Over the weekend, Martyn Ware revealed that RockStar had attempted to license the song ‘Temptation’ by Heaven 17 – a bristling piece of UK funk-pop, its bold, over-the-top vocal and future-facing arrangement remains a wild listen.
The terms, however, surprised many. Martyn Ware wrote:
I was recently contacted by my publishers on behalf of Rockstar Games re the possibility of using Temptation on the new Grand Theft Auto 6 Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer…
IT WAS $7500 – for a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever… To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto 6 grossed, wait for it… $8.6 BILLION Ah, but think of the exposure… Go fuck yourself
The post sparked a massive discussion, with many onlookers split around the offer. ‘Exposure’ is a nebulous concept at the best of times, but the streaming uplift connected with high-profile use in the Grand Theft Auto series leads to several other monied income streams.
That said, $7500 wasn’t the figure even fans of the game expected to read.
Responding to one comment, Martyn Ware wrote:
I haven’t ‘fucked up’ I’ve worked in artist rights advocacy for 20 years / I know the game This in iniquitous
Bella Union founder Simon Raymonde responded:
Martyn is it too late to change your mind? GTA had around 440 songs in the last game so really that fee for 1 (albeit brilliant) song is normal. Might seem low but if they pay $7500 each then that’s 3.3 million on the music alone. The fee imho is irrelevant. 200 million people …
This one will run and run.
