Record labels want bigger video game slice

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. record labels are seething that they aren't getting what they see as their fair share from popular music-based games like Guitar Hero, analysts say.

With the zooming sales of such video games as Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Guitar Hero and MTV's Rock Band, which use songs by popular bands as their basis, music publishers say privately they're being shortchanged on the deal, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Warner Music Group Chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr., brought the record labels' concerns into the open during a teleconference call with investment analysts earlier this month, saying, "The amount being paid to the industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content that we own and control, is far too small." And privately, many other industry executives agree, the Times said.

"Music publishers see music-based games as a growth opportunity in an otherwise struggling music business, and they're trying to grab as much of that growth as they can," Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, told the newspaper.

Analysts' estimate the sales of music-themed video games should top $1.5 billion this year and grow as much as 35 percent next year, the Times said.