My favourite song from GH3 would have to be either 'In The Belly Of A Shark by Gallows' or 'Prayer Of The Refugee by Rise Against'.

Although I also loved the Trogdor bonus song from GH2 :D

okrangerbob

Favorite DLC track would be either And Justice for All or Blackened, both from the Metallica track pack for Rock Band. What can I say? I'm a sucker for sprawling metal epics.

chuffhoncho

@Billkwando: Same here. Kind of... I appreciate techno now because of Beatmania, but it's still not music I actively seek. I do enjoy playing a long to a lot of it in game though.

everybest

I've definitely purchased some songs thanks to Rock Band... mostly so I could get them more ingrained into my brain so I have a shot at the guitar+vocals thing, but also because I enjoy them.

I'd have to say the songs I most avidly sought out thanks to a game had to be the tracks from Osu! Tatake! Ouendan! 1 and 2. However, I will neither confirm nor deny whether this hunt ended in a "purchase".

PositivelyGreg

"Color all your world Blackened. Blackened."

AaronMD

I bought the CDs Screaming for Vengeance and Head for the Door after playing GH1.

FLYBOY611

Since I don't own Rock Band or any of the Guitar Hero games I can't say that I've bought any songs because I liked them, but give me another 10 days for RB to come out on the Wii and we'll see what I say then.

I do happen to love some other games' soundtracks though.

Katamari Damacy
Bioshock
Halo 2
The Legend of Zeldas (OoT, WW, and TP)
The Orange Box
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Warcraft 3

I also love websites like www.ocremix.org where people remix old game soundtracks to make newer, fuller versions that you can turn around and download for free. If you go there, be sure to check out remixes made by Arkimedes, DarkeSword, and djpretzel. Their stuff is what I listen to the most.

FeendRendor

I have about half of RockBand's tracklist on my Ipod. Though I actually went and bought the songs off itunes. (I have an annoying conscience when it comes to illegal downloading.)

The game did make me realize how little exposure to music I've had. Electric Version, Paranoid and Mississippi Queen are amazing.

Kanik

Orange Lounge Radio has played music game music since arcades were importing DDR cabinets, but I think they had to thin it out a lot for copyright issues...

I've been buying music games ravenously since the 90s but I've never bought a song online... I do have several "append discs" though since they last "forever."

fuchikoma

I don't have Rock Band, but I've played a lot of Guitar Hero 2 and Guitar Hero 3 and I've discovered a few nice bands. Usually it's from the bonus set lists since these are always lesser known bands. For example, Saints of St-Sebastian is a band I discovered in GH3 and I then got their album.

ActualSimulation

I love my metal, but Beatmania IIDX made me a eurobeat fan as well. It's all I listen to in my car now...

Pal

Yes, videogame music has influenced my music taste ever since the NES days! I listen to all kinds of genre of music, not just rock because of videogames like classical, j-pop, k-pop, country, rock-a-billy, etc. I would also have to say that old 1940's "Bugs Bunny Cartoons" made me like Classical and Opera music!

joseaqui

Oh,I almost forgot Freezepop,allthough even they were pretty damn popular prior to Guitar Hero. They were being played at clubs for a long time before the game came out.

kidnicky

@wild homes 5: treyarch attacks!:

I had heard of them, but I had just never listened to any of their songs. I wasn't musically aware until, like, 1998 anyway. Most I can recall of them before Rock Band is that I got them confused with the Butthole Surfers.

Hey, that's another good song from Guitar Hero II!

I'll also second liking "Even Rats". I haven't played Guitar Hero I in ages though.

KenzinFive

Favourite GH song: My Curse by Killswitch Engage or Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce

I haven't bought any of the music from the games, but I sure have downloaded it.

Crawl to China

Isn't Guitar Hero made up of mostly pretty mainstream stuff? I would imagine most people who play it have allready heard "Killer Queen",and I swear I remember hearing of this "Metallica" band once or twice before they were featured in a video game.

kidnicky

one of my favorite songs to play is "Even Rats" by The Slip from Guitar Hero. i haven't bought any of their albums though

teh_joe

@KenzinFive: I didn't really know Burning Brides before one of the Burnout soundtracks-- Takedown, I think? They're not bad.

But HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU SURVIVE BEFORE YOU HEARD THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS? Man. Thank God for Dan Bejar.

wild homes 5: treyarch attacks!

Obviously! If you like the music in the video game, wouldn't you want the soundtrack? Shoot, Elite Beat Agents gave more reasons to like Freddie Mercury and Queen. Its predecessor introduced me to the Blue Hearts and the Checkers.
Even JoJo's Bizarre Adventure led me to listen to many other bands.

Angryrider

@beeporama (brian.j.parker):

Yeah, almost forgot, I renewed my almost dead Iron Maiden interest. But I already got most of their albums (shared little collection with my brother) so I didn't remember.

Music games can definelty influence. Too bad that this is a question of only music games; my lists of osts from serie and other games would be a bit longer then.

The_guiding_blue

no it hasn't.
and any song by radiohead.
sweet.

thatguynamedguy

@Leigh:

I can be seen as a particular case, because chip tunes from the oldways of music making (namely on the Commodore Amiga 500, where I started makign music) influenced me to no end, because up to there, I just wanted to play games, but from there on, I decided to MAKE music.

AS tiem went on, the SNES realy got me intereted in computer game music, but when the PSX came out , one single game changed prety much my entire taste in music: WipeOut.

The songs track on it where simply amazing, an entire new genre of wich I never really payed much interest (only rock and classical up to then). I began making music of the same style anyway I could, influenced by so many names ( Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Astral Projection,, etc, etc).

Im still a noob today, but I have tons of fun making music. Or used to, work leaves little time for those hobbies nowadays. Wich reminds me, my music page redesing IS STILL INCOMPLETE!

[shiryumusic.no.sapo.pt]

Shame on me. Anyway, videogames influenced my life big time, and during a period where people pointed out to me that I was wierd for taping to the OST fo Turrican 1 2 e 3 and listening to it in my walkman. I just shruged and carried on.

Shiryu

I found Muse through GHIII as well (after hearing the song, I don't actually own it). I downloaded Hysteria for Rock Band and love it, even if it's damn near impossible on bass. Rock Band also reignited my interest in The Clash, and now I can't get enough of them.

Not to mention Freezepop. I was lucky enough to see them live and have their latest album signed by the band. I never would have heard of them if not for Harmonix and Guitar Hero/Rock Band.

Other notable acts for me: The New Pornographers, Faith No More, Burning Brides, Iron Maiden (a newfound respect), Reverend Horton Heat.

Nearly half of my iPod Shuffle is full of songs that I heard either through the Guitar Hero games, Rock Band or Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan. The rhythm game genre is an excellent way to discover music (at least for me). Even bands that don't usually get a second glance from me like Hoobastank get my Internet money once I can't get their song out of my head after playing a game.

Hell, it even made me download foreign songs (I'm looking at you, Les Wampas' "Manu Chao").

Favorite tracks? It's like asking to choose a favorite child, but here I go.

GH I - Spanish Castle Magic by Jimi Hendrix (I actually prefer the Guitar Hero instrumental version)
GH II - Psychobilly Freakout by Reverend Horton Heat
Rock Band - (Non DLC): Brainpower by Freezepop; DLC: Complete Control by The Clash

KenzinFive

GH2 introduced me to Bang Camaro, and I've now seen 2 of their shows live, one of which included a 500+ mile round trip drive. That's a pretty significant change in behavior.

Jakuub

Let's see.
JetSetRadioFuture.
Enchanted Arms.
Halo.
Fable.
..Wow. What the hell am I doing.

Sanjo

@noliferuin (PSN): @phrequency: Doh, my bad, my bad... tought 1/3 of ppl DOWNLOAdDED extra tracks.

Im more into electronic music, so , unless someone hurries up with "DJ Hero" or something like that, It's a little doubtful in my case...(but still, DLC is too expensive!).

Regardless, it's an amazing way to promote music to an audience rock bands could never hope to reach. Im just a bit surprised it took people in that side of the industry THIS long to get it.

PS: If I like a music in game, I usualy rip it myself...

Shiryu

@VeNoMmx: get a prepaid credit card. you can use that to buy content from the US shop, it's how us europeans get tracks for rock band.

noliferuin (PSN)

Oh and I believe my wife got into Soundgarden and Paw cos of their songs on Road Rash 3 (Saturn).

Billkwando

That stat is such bullshit. They would have me believe that of all gamers (ALL gamers?), take the percentage that owns either Rock Band or GH3 (the only two games that allow you to buy music online), and you'll end up with a pretty small percentage. Then take the those people, and take the percentage of them that have internet hooked up to that console. Then take THAT subsection and take a percentage of how many people have actually bought a song.

I call bullshit.

Laxcat

I'd say Rock Band really helped me get in to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Yeah, sad to say I never really listened to the band before then. :(

Another guy GH3 got me in to was Eric Johnson... hoooo boy, that guy is a damn awesome guitar player.

My favorite track ever in RB/GH is going to have to be "Green Grass & High Tides". It's perfect, absolutely perfect.

MrPulsar

Oh hell yeah. I don't usually go for game soundtracks, like the instrumental peices from an RPG that so many gamers will rave about, but I've come across and discovered a ton of songs from video games. I bought almost every song from GTA IV's Radio Broker channel and didn't know about any of them before playing.

There's a song I didn't know but learned about by Rock Band. I think it's called Welcome Home. It's pretty awesome. There's a few more, too, that I've made remidners to buy but the list is on my home computer.

karasu is my homeboy

This doesn't stop at Rock Band or Guitar Hero for me. I enjoyed a number of the songs in GTA4 and purchased digital versions of those as well.

Struct09

the only band that i hadn't herd before i played rock and then made an effort to hear the rest of there songs was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and that was worth it

Gypse-scum

Rock Band and guitar hero have gone a long way towards introducing me to southern rock a genre i largely neglected before.

Falconrith

I'm in the other 66.6% unfortunately? Most rhythm game music i just can't stand. A few from beatmania I like, but otherwise... ehh.

Now actual regular game music I'm retardedly nuts for. Final Fantasy XI had excellent themes(Especially The Star Onion's renditions of them), the Dragon Quest 8 symphony was just awesome.

Ashton

PS I'm still waiting for them to offer some Godspeed You Black Emperor on Rock Band. Maybe Moya. That would be excellent.

wild homes 5: treyarch attacks!

I did buy Jurassic 5 because of the sampler disc that came with my Dreamcast, and their song in Jet Grind Radio.....but that's not a music game.

I wanted to buy Frog One because of THPS but I could never find any to buy.

Billkwando

for me its the other way

mpar

I would like to buy tracks for my rock band on ps3 but since the PSN does not worry for Mexican customers we are really screwed, we are stuck on US accounts and are not able to buy anything form the PS Store without a US Credit card....we are really screwed up the arse with this one, i have called PS reps and they all tell me, "ohh that was supposed to happen las month, we don't know what happened, ohhh just wait 1 more month."

Does any one know from a good source when will Mexico be part of the PSN?

VeNoMmx

I've liked a few things I've heard in games well enough to seek them out, but not many. And, inexplicably, nothing from Guitar Hero or Rock Band-- very, very few of the songs featured therein were thing I didn't already know. I think I picked up a couple things from various Burnout soundtracks, and I think maybe something from MVP Baseball 2004.

wild homes 5: treyarch attacks!

I have bought game OST's (paid bloody $30 a pop for Parasite Eve and No More Heroes) but if games are selling people on such well-known artists as Metallica, that's a pretty good commentary on the sorry state of the music industry. (Although I'm happy to see that folks like @noliferuin (PSN) are picking up on more obscure artists like The Rev.)

This is probably why you can no longer play custom soundtracks in GTA4; too much money to be made selling you the songs on the radio stations! At least the GTA people have good taste and feature a fair amount of obscure and interesting music. (Of course, for every The Rapture there's a Swizz Beats too, so...)

beeporama (brian.j.parker)

@noliferuin (PSN): Wait, you can DO that?

The InterTubes truly know no boundaries!

I'll bet that's actually the case with some of the 1/3rd.

Not that I condone that, BTW.

Hubert Humphrey Methadone

I bought the Orange Box soundtrack and the new Bionic Commando ReArmed soundtrack. So. yeah. I buy music from games though I tend to prefer the original composed music, not rock band songs.

ExistentialEgg

Actually beatmania's helped me start to appreciate *some* techno.

I like Maps (RB) but I dunno if I'd buy it.

I do definitely blame anime for getting me into Japanese msuic.

Billkwando

i've bought music because of being influenced by rock band/guitar hero.

i'd have to say that my personal favorite track out of everything is "cliffs of dover" by eric johnson.

@Shiryu: i think they mean buying the actual artist's music through like itunes or at the store... or even expressing more interest in their music or genre.

phrequency

@The_guiding_blue: Yeah, mostly I had renewed interest in artists I already had on my iPod, ie Rage, Pearl Jam, Weezer, etc.

Hubert Humphrey Methadone

@Shiryu: That's because you have a Wii right? JK.

@unicronband: Me too.

udiie

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater turned me on the the Dead Kennedys.

unicronband

I'm definite that Knights of Cydonia winning the 2008 Triple J Hottest 100 was because of it's appearance in GH3, especially seeing as I didn't think it would qualify when two other songs from the same album were in the 2007 Hottest 100.

TrjnRabbit

the other 2/3 download them illegally right?

noliferuin (PSN)

It hasn't really changed my music tastes, I've pretty much heard everything they contain so far and I've only bought music I know off their services. For exposure to new things I've got Pandora on my PC.

The only game I think that's really ever influenced my music taste was Lucas Arts Outlaws from way back when, which introduced me to the guilty pleasure of Spaghetti Western music and had me go back and watch High Planes Drifter and A Fist Full Of Dollars with new appreciation.

Zazu_Yen

I was already a metalhead before, so yeah.

Ashurahori

i got into the reverend horton heat through guitar hero (and motorstorm). there are probably others, but that's the one that stands out in my mind.

noliferuin (PSN)

I've started listening to the Hives since playing RB.

Boudabras

I discovered The Sword through Guitar Hero II. Awesome band. I also like the Exies track Hey You from the first one. But that´s about it... cause I knew most of the other bands.

lucasreis

Ken Woodman's "Mexican Flyer" has to be on the rotation, for being the lynchpin for the awesomest music game ever.

LoopyChew

@Shiryu: this is referring to buying the artist's music because you enjoyed it in a game.

noliferuin (PSN)

I discovered Muse through GH. Most of the other bands were already in my playlist.

The_guiding_blue

I'll bet many a gamers' music tastes have been influenced by games, but only a small portion have bought music featured therein.

Hubert Humphrey Methadone

Exactly why Nintendo needs a bloody hard-drive, do they know how much money they could make!

excel_excel

Nope. Then again, I have a Wii, so it's not an option... but for the price of current DLC, my answer is still NO.

Shiryu

I met DJ Pretzel at a con once (he was the DJ). He's a pretty cool guy. He seemed surprised I knew who he was,which was odd because wouldn't you expect video game con atendees to know about a video game music site?

kidnicky

Yeah I've been influenced by stuff I've seen in some of EA games as well as GTA IV That's how I found lcd soundsystem

Kounji

I'm really hoping for a good Sub Pop package for Rock Band. Really, any excuse to put some of Arlo's Up High In The Night in a game will do. Any game. It can be Barbie Horse Adventures: Nighttime At The Ranch for all I care.

wild homes 5: treyarch attacks!

For me it was The Fall of Troy. I never heard those dudes before GH3 and they're one of my favorites now.

Dew_Lite

Game soundtracks are heavily underrated, my playlists nowadays are practically 80% game BGM's. Mostly RPG's though.

Chalice

No, but after hearing a song you don't like for the 100th time, you start to think it's tolerable. I didn't like most of the songs in The Show... and then some of them are OK to me. Mind you, there are still certain ones that peeve me. Those particular songs are off the playlist. :)

Naia

Music games specifically? No.
Games as a whole? Yes, definitely.
- The Chrono Cross, Longest Journey, and Wipeout soundtracks are regular visitors to my playlist, as are a number of others.
- I'm frequently amazed by some of the offerings at OC_Remix.
- Hearing a DJ drop a riff from some game I recognize is always a "Hell yeah" moment for me.
- I find nearly all of the GTA IV radio stations extremely listenable.

But ironically, music/rhythm games hardly ever produce any thing that makes a lasting impression on me. Adam Freeland's track on Rez would be one, I guess.

fulldamage

I WAS thinking of picking up the Cars album, actually.

And Even Rats is probably my favourite GH track to listen to.

Xylophone say

Never bought a music game, never will.

Kenny

@kidnicky: OCR Remix was one of the first websites I stumbled upon on my 1997 fisrt contacs with "the Internet thingy". I reckon he must be indeed an alright character.

Shiryu

can we count gta under this, because i acquired the entire vice city box set because the music was so good ...

meltyman

Yep, a ton actually. I listened to maybe a fourth of the original Rock Band setlist and now I like the majority of songs and artists on it. It's pretty cool.

Samos42

Glad I'm not the only person who likes Evan Rats. I'd also say that Harmonix did a masterful job selecting the bonus tracks for Rock Band. While some bore the heck out of me, "Time We Had", "Day Late, Dollar Short", "Pleasure (Pleasure)", "Seven", and "I Get By" are all songs I REALLY enjoy listening to and have eagerly sought on on my own. A bunch of GH1 tracks I did the same with, including the oft-mentioned Evan Rats. Aside from that, Rock Band has taught me that I love Boston. GH2 made me a Cheap Trick fan. While I love Synchronicity, I hadn't heard much of Police's earlier work before Rock Band, either. Ditto on Killer Queen, I'm ashamed to say.

BStu

But I forgot to mention that DDR songs and stuff occasionally make it into my playlist. Especially songs from Katamari Damacy.

The Queen of Everything

I would not have known of The Slip's existence without the original Guitar Hero featuring "Even Rats" as a bonus track. That song is so pretty, and it's so fun to play, too.

The Queen of Everything

I have definitely purchased songs/albums after hearing them used in games, particularly games with stellar soundtracks like Tony Hawk, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc.

It's awesome, thanks to these games I've discovered bands like Dragonforce, Gang Starr, and loads others.

ビッグ ボス

It would be amusing to walk into a music store like Sam Goody and ask where the Bemani music is.

Ashton

Oh those buyers, such mythical creatures. Everyone is talking about them, this survey says there are one third of them among us yet I haven't seen a single one.

Mayu-mayu

It's kind of true. Although a lot of my tastes come from custom songs from In The Groove. It's because of those games I've found my love for power metal and techno.

ShinjiKinomoto

Guitar Hero II got me interested in Avenged Sevenfold and Rock Band introduced me to Coheed and Cambria.

Music rhythm games are actualy useful as fuck for getting me into new music.

JAcK0R

I download every Rock Band track just because it keeps the game really fresh. I haven't stopped playing at least once a week since I got it (especially on Tuesdays, of course). That said, I hadn't listened to much Grateful Dead or Blondie before they came to Rock Band, and now they're among my favourite bands. I'd say the best Rock Band song would be China Cat Sunflower. I finally five starred it like, two days ago. Obviously I'm hoping they release Heart of Glass, but it's a little bit disco-y for the game.

NeoStarr

Ive bought over $80 worth of RockBand DLC

Rurik

I've bought one song from a Rhythm game so far. "Impulse" from Guitar Hero 3.

Dalren

Favorite track from Guitar Hero series: "One" by Metallica
Favorite track from Guitar Hero series DLC: "Stockholm Syndrome" by Muse

Favorite track from Rock Band: "Welcome Home" by Coheed & Cambria
Favorite track from Rock Band DLC: "Hysteria" by Muse

JoshuaB81285

I'm absolutely sure that there are definitely some artists I would never have heard of if it wasn't for Rock Band. Now I have a few new artists that I love to listen to.

blueshoals

The other two thirds download them illegally.

Gambia

Before Guitar Hero I had VERY limited knowledge of rock history. Now, not only do I better understand the artists, I also understand the instrumentation. Without Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I'd still have J-Pop droning out of my speakers all the time and I wouldn't be working my butt off trying to become better at singing.

Favorite song: "Smokin'" by Boston.

psychobaka

I've bought a few of the songs that I hadn't heard of before. I have to say though, it got me more into certain artists. GTA had me discover some new stuff too though

Volcomite

The last 8 songs I've listened to are from either GH or RB...

Also, I think I broke my space bar by getting syrup on it. And stay the hell away from me, Coldplay. <_<

TehAdz

See, what I hate about articles like this it THAT'S NOT GAME MUSIC!

It's regular music, in games.

I'm also kinda confused by the point of this radio station, what the difference between it and a classic rock radio station, in terms of what you hear? These are songs that have been on the radio for ages anyway!

That only bothers me because I'm an amazingly nerdy fan of the music in the video game industry in general.

Don't get me wrong, I love rhythm games, but I love them so much more (musically) when they have their own original music. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are amazingly fun, but musically not that interesting, because we've all heard these songs a million times before.

Games like Rez, or Lunines, or Everyday Shooter, however are a bit of a different beast, and these are the sort of games that have really had an influence on me musically. These sort of games are unfortunately also really hard to soundtrack because the music and the game are so integrated.

Video game music in general has had a HUGE influence on my musical tastes though, and I'm not the only one. If you love music in video games you can find internet radio stations for that, like ormgas. Also there should be some mention of bitpop and chiptunes. There are communities formed around music inspired by the style of video game music, like 8bitcollective.

Video Game music has a pretty large following and it's getting larger. I am terrified by the idea that when people think of music in video games they will think of Guitar Hero instead of Mega Man 2 or Final Fantasy VI.

ravelin

i bought the Vice City box set, DJ Lazlo FTW!!

@KenzinFive: dude i play the bass in RL, hysteria is sooo tough on bass in rl, lots of string hopping :p

RoyalewithCheese

I've got a friend who almost exclusively listens to Hip-Hop/Rap. After playing Guitar Hero 3 he purchased nearly every song on the game's track list. I asked him why he suddenly loved rock music and he responded "I dunno...because of Guitar Hero I guess."
Is that magic or what?

Gforman123

I'm not a rhythm games fan, but I do a radio show playing VG music (retro, remixes, new, etc), and I compose game music on my comp and on my gameboy. I wish more people were fans of game music, because there's a lot of gold in there (under the shovelware, as always).
I always take time out to listen in-game for music. Lost Winds is the next OST I'm on the lookout for, some very nice atmospheric pieces there.

If you've never listened to the BGM, give it a try. You might be surprised. :D

BonzaiRob

These games were a great way for me to extend my music library. I probably never would have listened to them if I didn't play the game.

SuFiAlliance

Freezepop. I bought everything they had after rock band and guitar 1 and 2.

AndroidKing

@The_guiding_blue: Me too. I'll buy their album eventually.

I think the only song I actually bought just because of Guitar Hero III was "Cliffs of Dover." I was trying to demonstrate to a friend just how horribly butchered the game's cover was, and I needed the original to demonstrate that.

sxp151, the happy-headed nose

@Polite Society: heh.. and i've totally blown any credibility by mentioning emo bands. oh well. :P

Polite Society

I don't think I've bought any album based of what I've discovered in rock band, but I've bought alot of C64 based music and remix albums.. does that count?

Guitar Hero/Rock Bands tracks are usually too mainstream, and I am a music snob. :P Although the Harmonix indie song choices are often pretty cool.

Actually, the Burnout series has got me into bands. I discovered I like some of the newer metal like avenged sevenfold and atreyu because of those games. Also the bravery!

Polite Society

GH3 got me to listen to Muse...

Road Rash 3d got me into a few bands, and Carmageddon 2 got me listening to Iron Maiden.

LuppyLuptonium

after a quick skimming of the comments, i'm surprised to see no mention of dragonforce.
"so far awaaaaaay..."

wheelerca5

@Hubert Humphrey Methadone: that's right, they don't buy, they just download.

MasterJoefus