Warner Music: streams of Korn songs increased by 1000% after appearing in World of Tanks Blitz

Collaboration between musicians and developers is reaching a new level. Labels have moved from simply licensing songs to adding artists to games and other large-scale collaborations. Warner Music spoke about working with developers and explained why such cooperation is beneficial to both sides.

Games have become as important to labels as movies and TV shows

According to Tim Miles, vice president of synchronization at Warner Music’s UK office, collaborations between game developers and musicians have huge potential. If earlier films and TV series could increase the popularity of an artist, now the appearance of his music in the game can double the number of song streams.

“Stormzy, who appeared in Watch Dogs, is probably the first time in video games when we could observe a similar effect that a Bond movie had on Billie Eilish,” Miles explains.

This is a mutually beneficial cooperation

Such collaborations make it possible to interest fans of a certain artist in the game, as well as to encourage gamers to listen to the songs of the musician represented in the project.

When Watch Dogs: Legion was released, visual materials for the game appeared on Spotify. Previously, Ubisoft would not have been able to access such a platform. The song Stormzy is currently playing on Radio 1, and therefore the presenters can also mention the game every time the track is played. Ubisoft made a good profit from this, and in return the gaming press began to write about Stormzy. Both sides have only benefited from this.

Tim Miles

Warner Music Vice president of Synchronization

Authenticity is above all

“Questions about the games have become part of the contract signing process. We still ask, what kind of sneakers do you wear? But now we’re adding to that the question of what games do you play and what consoles do you like?” says Miles.

This approach is already bearing fruit. For example, Warner Music found out that their new band Hyyts is playing Call of Duty, and offered cooperation to the organizers of the Call of Duty League.

Stormzy’s appearance in Watch Dogs also looked authentic. Being a popular English rapper, he has a great influence on the local youth and the street culture of London, and therefore his virtual character looked organic in the setting of the game.

How musicians use games in their work

Another example of such cooperation is the appearance of the Korn group in World of Tanks Blitz. As part of the collaboration, the musicians also shot a clip in the setting of the game, as a result of which the song’s streams jumped by 1000%.

Collaboration with developers and game publishers also expands the creative possibilities of the musicians themselves. As an example, Miles cites Gorillaz, the virtual band of Damon Albarn (Damon Albarn).

“If Gorillaz had said ten years ago that they wanted to do something related to Pac-Man, we would have had to make cold calls for six months,” Miles explains.

Now it’s much easier for them to write a PAC-MAN song by adding this character to their clip, or to shoot a whole video “inside” GTA V (although, as a result, Rockstar blocked the band’s video on YouTube), because more and more gaming companies are also interested in such cooperation.

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Warner Music also highly appreciates the potential of music events in Fortnite, such as Travis Scott’s record concert. However, according to Miles, such collaborations have a temporary effect, and therefore he wants to collaborate more with developers on projects that can perpetuate artists in the game — whether it’s the appearance of a musician as a character or the involvement of a group to write a soundtrack.

Also on the topic:

• Gismart invited musicians to promote themselves in the company’s hyper-casual games
• Netmarble invested $190 million in music label shares
• Sony: how to choose music for a project