Reactions to story from Ars Technica

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  Grand Theft Auto 4, Amazon team up for digital music downloads

  http://dvice.com/archives/2008/03/grand_theft_aut.php
  42 days ago in DVICE · Authority: 1,665

  In a unique new feature, the upcoming crime blockbuster Grand Theft Auto 4 will team up with Amazon to bring digital music distribution into the game. Since the music and radio stations have always been a huge and important part of the GTA universe,
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  GTAIV's dial-a-song digital music feature partners with Amazon.com

  http://www.destructoid.com/gtaiv-s-dial-a-song-digital-music...
  41 days ago in :: DESTRUCTOID - Hardcore Gamer Community :: News, Hints, Cheats, and Codes on Video Games: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation · Authority: 1,708

  Grand Theft Auto III made great use of popular music, but you had to buy CDs to get the soundtrack for yourself. This time around, Amazon and Rockstar Games have worked out a deal where gamers have easy access any song they hear in Grand Theft Auto IV.
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  Hear a song in GTA IV you like? You can buy it in-game.

  http://stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/hear_a_song_...
  42 days ago in Stupid Evil Bastard: Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger. · Authority: 143

  Now heres an interesting idea: Rockstar Games and Amazon.com have teamed up to bring you the option of buying any of the tracks you hear in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV from within the game itself: The in-game radio feature of the Grand Theft Auto
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  Music and Entertainment News Update

  http://www.bumpershine.com/2008/04/14/music-and-entertainmen...
  24 days ago in Bumpershine.com - Pop culture specialist. - Home · Authority: 92

  Music and Entertainment News Update Movies, Music, News, TV Photo: Gerben Pul I usually like to report music and entertainment industry news when they happen, but I kind of fell asleep at the wheel over the last week or two, so here’s a rundown of a few stories I found interesting (that may or may not have crossed your path already). Buzznet Acquires Stereogum and Idolator [The Daily Swarm] Mos Def To Play Chuck Berry in Chess Records Film [Billboard.com] Amazon Music Links Up With GTA IV [Arstechnica.com] CBS To Stream All Radio Stations On Last.fm [Yahoo! Finance] MySpace Unveils New Music Service [News.com] ‘Idol Gives Back’ Ratings Down 36% From Last Year [HollywoodReporter.com] Canadian Stars Fight Against Bill C-10 [CBC.ca] NHL Partners with Horrible Looking Mike Meyers Film [CNNMoney.com] Court To Hear Baidu Copyright Infringement Suit [Forbes.com] Bob Dylan Wins The Pulitzer Prize [Yahoo! News] Mark Ronson Signs Deal with Interscope Records [CMJ.com] The Colbert Report, 30 Rock, Mad Men, Dexter, Project Runway and Others Win Peabody Awards [AP] Tags: Entertainment News,
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  Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo spin NPD numbers. We investigate

  http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/04/18/sony-m...
  21 days ago in Opposable Thumbs · Authority: 952

  Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo spin NPD numbers. We investigate By Ben Kuchera | Published: April 18, 2008 - 01:02PM CT When the NPD Group sends over its numbers for console and software sales every month, every console manufacturer follows almost instantly with its reaction to the numbers. If you read these announcements, it seems like every month had three winners, as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all argue for why they came out on top. Today, let's take a look at what the numbers say, and how each company reacted. Sony Sample quote: PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) continued the strong momentum with 257,120 units sold in March. (according to NPD March 2008 sales data). This represents a year-over-year sales growth of over 98%. More than 1.9 million software units were sold for PS3 in March, representing a year-over-year growth of 139.2%. Sony had a good month, but the PS3 didn't beat the Xbox 360, although the PSP sold in high numbers. So how does Sony spin this? The company points out how much growth each console has experienced as a way to show that the PS3 and PSP are both picking up momentum. Sony also has a strong release schedule for the year, and its report hits this aspect of the business hard. The overall message? We're selling more and more, and we have the games coming. Microsoft Sample quote: In just two weeks, Xbox 360 will extend its industry lead with the year's most anticipated game launch, GTA IV. Launching April 29, GTA IV will be coming to Xbox 360 on day one. GTA IV will feature the first ever online multiplayer for the franchise and Xbox 360 is also the only place you can earn GTA IV Achievements and increase your gamerscore. Microsoft barely beat the PS3, and was outsold by the PSP. How do you spin this? Microsoft brought up the old excuse about console shortages again, before claiming the shelves will be stocked with systems in anticipation of Grand Theft Auto IV. Microsoft also leaves off the portables from the list to claim that it's in "the number two position in the next-gen console category." Sneaky! Microsoft also goes on about the attach rate of the 360, which the charts agree with: people buy a TON of 360 games every month. Third-party games are big, and online is huge as well, with 10 million Xbox LIVE gamers around the world. In other words, Microsoft's only forward-looking bit in this mini-report is about Grand Theft Auto. The rest of it is things the company has done in the past, or what it has so far excelled at. That's not how you get to a dominant position, and its report, out of the three, feels like it's reaching the hardest. Nintendo Sample quote: In March, Nintendo again defined industry momentum in both home and portable video games sales, according to the independent NPD Group, which monitors retail activity in the video game industry. More than 720,000 Wii™systems sold in March, representing the highest monthly sales total outside of holiday months (November or December) to date, while Nintendo DS also sold through nearly 700,000 systems. Nintendo's reaction to the numbers was probably the easiest to write; Nintendo dominated both software and hardware in March, and the company knows it. It's just a whole bunch of stats about how awesome Nintendo is. Not a ton of spin, just a page of smug happiness. Sony is growing, Microsoft has Grand Theft Auto IV
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  GTA IV - Great in-game music marketing

  http://tommyk.tumblr.com/post/31408866
  28 days ago in TOMBLG · Authority: 2

  GTA IV - Great in-game music marketing Everyone loves the music and banter on Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto radio stations. And apparently the new Grand Theft Auto IV game will allow you to call up the “radio station” from your character’s in-game cellphone, and “request the name of that track”. Then, the good folks at Amazon MP3 (in real life) will email you (or SMS to your real mobile) details about buying the song from Amazon’s DRM-free music store. Cute idea. Details about GTAIV Music Downloading at ARS Technica P.S Karl Lagerfield DJs on one of the radio stations: http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/#?page=k109&content=interactive0
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  Smashing through barriers

  http://blog.odeworld.co.uk/2008/04/09/smashing-through-barri...
  30 days ago in odeworld - an online digital content store for educators · Authority: 12

  Rockstar, the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series, have made a rather significant jump up the evolutionary digital distribution ladder by partnering with Amazon to add music downloads to their game world. Their new title, GTA IV, will likely be the best selling game of all time. Amazon are the most successful online retailer in the world. Obviously some bright spark noticed their might be an opportunity… A major slice of awesomeness found throughout all the GTA titles has been the music. When you drive any vehicle in the game you have a selection of radio stations you can “tune” into. Music in games is nothing new but the GTA coup was that their music was proper chart music, music you recognise, music you could have an emotional connection to. And not just pop and rock hits but also opera, classical, jazz and much more. It really did add an edge of realism to the whole thing. One of my favourite gaming memories of all time is from GTA: San Andreas. I was running from a car park roof top ambush and firefight. I stole a motorbike and gunned for the exit. Just as I thought I had got away the camera swung round to show an articulated lorry driven by one of my adversaries smashing (in slow motion!) it’s way off a flyover I had just passed under and barreling towards you. But what made it really sweet was that all this happened as “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns and and Roses was blasting out. I seriously cannot tell you how cool this was. So now Rockstar have teamed up with Amazon to sell you extra music via the medium of your characters mobile phone. From within the gaming experience you will be able to browse a music store and download digital music to compliment your game. Also the tracks will be portable, meaning you can then transfer them to your MP3 player. This type of approach will help revolutionise the distribution of digital content. Rockstar provide the traffic (customers) and Amazon provide the content. This is a “mash up” to all intents and purposes, on an unheard of scale. What this does is further widen the gap between those who want to exercise a “command and control” approach to content delivery and those who want their content to touch as many points as the consumer requires. Everything is pointing towards content liberation and greater user choice. Virgin and Sky allowing you to choose your own TV. iTunes abandoning restrictive DRM so you aren’t forced to own an ipod. BBC iplayer giving free and easy access to the last 7 days of all BBC programming. Youtube encouraging you to embed their video streams into your website. Ringtones being available to buy directly from your mobile phone. RSS feeds bringing website content updates to you rather than you having to go and find the content. Guitar Hero 3 releasing extra tracks through the next generation of consoles shop fronts. All these methods are commerically viable or bring added value. If a community is available any switched on company should be able to provide them with a channel to their content in a form (or forms!) that enhance or complement that experience.
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  Monday’s Music 2.0 Briefing: Tour Sponsors Hit $1B, Grand Theft Adds MP3’s, SoundExchange Audits Last.fm & More

  http://yournewssite.info/2008/04/03/news/mondays-music-20-br...
  36 days ago in News · Authority: 4

  HYPEBOT FEATURES: Last week’s Music 2.0 Week In Review U2 has made a 12 year deal with Live Nation that stops short of a full 360. Interscope made a multi-million investment in music social networker Buzznet. > Brand sponsorships of music tours and festivals is expected to top $1 billion in 2008. (BrandWeek) > Users will be able to buy music while playing the new Grand Theft Auto 4 via a new Amazon deal. Songs will be transferable to iPods, etc. (ars) > SoundExchange will audit Last.fm. The royalty collector has often been critical of the custom radio site in the past. (pdf of public notice, analysis via DMW) > Buzznet is using some of its new funding to buy music social network application provider Qloud. (Mashable) Other acquisitions appear to be in the offing. The Daily Swarm has a letter from Buzznet to a music blogger offering to talk about a deal. > A look at the South Korean music market and the branding efforts of local music powerhouse JYP. (Business Spectator)
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  links for 2008-04-02

  http://www.musicalfoster.com/blog/2008/04/01/links-for-2008-...
  37 days ago in is this binding? | Musical Musings from the mind of Randall Foster, Music Industry insider and futurist · Authority: 5

  Rockstar and Amazon bring digital music distribution to GTA4 This makes too much sense! Grand Theft Auto, already known for their excellent soundtracks is now offering up MP3 purchases with GTA 4. Videogames are going to be such an influence as we move forward looking for sales… (tags: Amazon Digital DRM Music games rockstar gaming) 25 Social Media Buzzwords…Explained (Part I of II) Awesome explanation for the un-initiated re: social media (tags: socialmedia web2.0 Media) Music20 - Music 2.0 Get it, Read It, Love it (tags: Music DRM Digital Futurism) 100 Questions | New Music Strategies Dubber is another music visionary… Thouroughly looking forward to reading 100 questions! (tags: Music Music-Industry Digital) 20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time :: Blender.com Great screwups! I love it.. A great history lesson for all music lovers (tags: Music Music-Industry Blunders history funny)
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  links for 2008-04-01

  http://www.hupandsteph.com/2008/04/01/links-for-2008-04-01/
  38 days ago in Hup and Steph · Authority: 4

  Rockstar and Amazon bring digital music distribution to GTA4 Teh future of music distribution is video games…who woulda’ thought? Musicians take social networking into their own hands Why limit yourself to someone else’s network when you can build your own? Adobe Photoshop Express - Made You Look. This could be cool…

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