http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/15/arts/music/15POPL.html
For Musicians, Microsoft's Xbox Is No Jackpot By NEIL STRAUSS OS ANGELES, Nov. 14 - Tomorrow the Xbox, the new video-game console from Microsoft, arrives in stores on the heels of a $500 million marketing blitz. But it doesn't seem as if much of that money is going to the thousands of musicians who have provided the company with songs to use in the games that will be played on it. Though a band can typically make $10,000 to $20,000 when a song is included in a video game, Microsoft has been asking musicians to contribute their music to video games for pennies - and in some cases no money at all, with no upfront fee and no royalties on the back end. Musicians, from small, independent punk bands to major-label artists, have been accepting this deal, hoping for the promotional boost that comes with being heard in a game that is played obsessively by teenagers across the country. Joining a band is not a lucrative career choice for most musicians. Many who are signed to major labels spend their careers in debt to those record companies, trying to earn back advances and expenses. But the increasing use of contemporary songs in movies, video games and advertisements has meant an unexpected windfall for lesser-known and midlevel artists. Microsoft, however, is changing that dynamic. "I asked if we could get any money, and they just said no," said Larry Cooper, who runs Revelation Records, a punk, metal and hardcore label that has several songs on the soundtrack to Amped, a snowboarding game. "I almost thought that out of principle, if there's no payment, we shouldn't do that kind of stuff. But I didn't want to snip out an opportunity for a band that might want to do that kind of promotion." Of the bands Mr. Cooper asked, all but one agreed to provide free music to Microsoft. "I think they were just looking for cheap music, and that's why they called a lot of small labels," Mr. Cooper continued. "I asked them who else was on the soundtrack and made some suggestions, but they said they wanted to stick with certain labels because they didn't have to pay for licensing." ... -- Kristian K�hntopp, NetUSE AG, Dr.-Hell-Stra�e, D-24107 Kiel Tel: +49 431 386 435 00, Fax: +49 431 386 435 99
