MTV Games Not (Technically) Boycotting Warner Music
Despite articles to the contrary, MTV Games is not boycotting Warner Music Group and blacklisting WMG artists from Rock Band. Well, not exactly. Not technically, they're not.
MTV and Warner are at an "impasse" and a "stalemate" concerning WMG's demands for a new, more profitable deal to license its music to MTV Games:
MTV requested several new licenses in that time, under the same deal terms as before, but WMG responded with counteroffers that MTV would not agree to. So MTV has stopped requesting new licenses until both parties can resolve the licensing dispute.
That's all fine and dandy, but what does it mean for Rock Band players who need their Jane's Addiction, Pretenders, or Grateful Dead fix? Delays, delays, delays - without a new deal, Rock Band will see its new WMG content dry up by early summer, and even after a new deal is agreed upon it may take as long as five months for Rock Band's WMG works to start flowing smoothly again.
WMG has been pulling this shtick left and right: it withdrew content from YouTube due to a similar spat, and pulled similar stunts on Last.fm and Nokia's mobile music store.
MTV Games, Warner: No 'Rock Band' Boycott Of WMG Artists [Billboard via VE3D]
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Music, Video Games on 3 March 2009
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: boycott, license, mtv games, rock band, warner music group
Not really surprised, WMG is pretty much all about the buck and to hell with the fans from my experience. Radio stations are lucky they don't get charged every time they play one of their songs.