EA Tries to Go Platinum With Music Label

With CD sales on the decline and recording labels struggling to maintain their stranglehold on a business ravaged by free sharing of music and online download, video-games companies are finding themselves in a strong position with the opportunities they can offer.

"Game companies offer great exposure," says Holkenborg.

"If you are Madonna or a Jay-Z, you are well off with a major record ompany, but for the kind of music I make, it is better to work with a special interest company that has its own audience," he says.

EA decided to venture into the business of music when it found its games were helping shape popular tastes.

Take Australian hard rock band Jet. The group's song, Are You Gonna Be My Girl, was first featured in EA's Madden NFL 04 game and went on to be a part of an Apple iPod commercial.

Another group, Ozomatli, also found one of their tunes featured in Madden NFL 05 being later used in another iPod commercial.

"You have two bands where the exposure is so significant with the game that they ended up getting used in a pretty broad license," says Schnur.

Other bands on the Artwerk label include Australian band Airbourne, the Norwegian group DataRock, the Montreal, Canada-based Chromeo, the British act Ladytron and a Los Angeles band, First to Last.

Bands want to sign up with Artwerk because of the marketing and real estate that EA can offer. A typical music company will sign a band and then try to create exposure for it, says Schnur. But artists on the Artwerk roster have access to EA's portfolio of products, new releases, advertising and marketing opportunities -- in short, anything that requires music.