Rolling Stones Earn a Few Bucks Off Black Ops

[Tom Goldman]

Rolling Stones Earn a Few Bucks Off Black Ops


The Rolling Stones hit the jackpot by putting their song in an advertisement for Call of Duty: Black Ops.

a ton of money [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Playstation-3/dp/B003JVCA9Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1290525159&sr=8-3] for Activision, it also put some dough in the pockets of the Rolling Stones. The band's song "Gimme Shelter" which was attached to a prominent Black Ops advertisement saw a big increase in sales in the first half of November.

The ad itself, which features various regular Joes/Janes and celebrities firing weaponry, has seen its controversy [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105174-Columnist-Calls-Black-Ops-Ad-Twisted], but the Rolling Stones are only seeing dollar signs thanks to its airing. The sales of "Gimmer Shelter" more than doubled the week of the ad's release, from around 2,000 to 5,000, and the following week more than doubled again for around 11,000 copies sold. Another Rolling Stones song featured in the game, "Sympathy for the Devil," also saw its sales double.

Activision VP of music affairs Tim Riley told Billboard that it was a big deal to get the Rolling Stones in the commercial and in Black Ops. Activision had to fly out to the rights holders of "Gimme Shelter" to show the advertisement on a secure laptop, and even allowed them to make edits so that the band would approve. "It's such a big deal, such a serious song and such a big band . . . we had to fly out for it," Riley said. "They certainly say 'no' more than they say 'yes.' It's the Rolling Stones. It's not like they need the money."

Riley also hinted that something else Rolling Stones-related is coming to the world of Black Ops, vaguely called a "new element." Whether that means a there's a new advertisement in the works, or something in-game is unconfirmed. Either way, the Stones are sure to profit yet again.

Source: Billboard [http://www.billboard.com/news/rolling-stones-team-up-with-call-of-duty-1004128142.story#/news/rolling-stones-team-up-with-call-of-duty-1004128142.story]

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[Onyx Oblivion]

If's funny how some of the people in the comments of Rolling Stones vids on Youtube had no clue who the Rolling Stones were until Black Ops.


Wait. That's not funny. That's sad.

Like 'em or not. Everyone should know them.

 

[cjbos81]

It just goes to show, no matter who you are or what you think you stand for, it all comes down to cash. At least with kiss, there was never any pretense.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

If's funny how some of the people in the comments of Rolling Stones vids on Youtube had no clue who the Rolling Stones were until Black Ops.


Wait. That's not funny. That's sad.

Like 'em or not. Everyone should know them.

Well, you know, at least they got introduced the some of the greatest music ever.

That's pretty great.

OT: Well, awesome. A game that I like helps a group that I like. It's really cool when you hear good licensed music in video games (see also, L4D2) and then the musicians' decision to lend their music pays off.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

snip with Black Ops spoilers

Good try. Everyone who gave a crap about Black Ops's single player has gotten it already and beaten it.

However, you get extra points for being a jerk.

Reported.

 

[Therumancer]

If's funny how some of the people in the comments of Rolling Stones vids on Youtube had no clue who the Rolling Stones were until Black Ops.


Wait. That's not funny. That's sad.

Like 'em or not. Everyone should know them.

Well, you know, at least they got introduced the some of the greatest music ever.

That's pretty great.

OT: Well, awesome. A game that I like helps a group that I like. It's really cool when you hear good licensed music in video games (see also, L4D2) and then the musicians' decision to lend their music pays off.

I'd also wonder how many of those people are just trying to be funny. I mean the Boomers are still heavily involved in society and I'd figure most kids will have been exposed to "The Rolling Stones" through their parents or even grandparents.

When someone makes a joke like "Who are the Rolling Stones?" it tends to snowball with imitators, claiming the same thing, or trying to recapture the same thing by copying it a bit later.

Sometimes this works, infamous things like "Candle Cove", or "The Lanky Man" (turned into Clay Hornets) become cool as a result, more often than not it just becomes obnoxious.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

snip with Black Ops spoilers

Good try. Everyone who gave a crap about Black Ops's single player has gotten it already and beaten it.

.

Not me yet...So...Yeah. That guy was a dick.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Man that is a really clever add, up their with the "Finger Combat" add for Ex-Bawks way back when. Too bad there's so much controversy.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

snip with Black Ops spoilers

Good try. Everyone who gave a crap about Black Ops's single player has gotten it already and beaten it.

.

Not me...So...Yeah. That guy was a dick.

It's okay. It's really not that important of a spoiler anyway.

Yeah, okay, it's the main twist of the game, but I'm sure that if you play it, your enjoyment of it won't change a bit.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Rolling Stones Zombie mode. You know it's coming.

 

[DeadAccountMoveAlong]

Rolling Stones earns a few bucks? Please, they are one of the most expensive bands out there. The increase in sales is virtually nothing compared to how much it cost just to acquire the rights to the song.
Their songs are so expensive, when Conan introduced new expensive characters to the Tonight Show as a joke (in his final week), the Bugatti Veyron clip has been pulled off of Hulu and NBC.com due to how expensive it would be to air the Rolling Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." The joke was to blow through NBC's money by acquiring these rights to begin with, but it cost a lot of money to play it. For that money you could bring Princess Diana back from the grave to cover it herself, for Christ's sake.

 

[Tim Latshaw]

Rolling Stones Zombie mode. You know it's coming.

Have you seen them lately? It's already here.

 

[Mr.Amakir]

Rolling Stones Zombie mode. You know it's coming.

Oh god i want to see this now.

 

[wildcard9]

There are a few songs out there that are immediately associated with 'Nam and the associated era: Gimme Shelter, For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield, All Along the Watchtower by Hendrix, and Fortunate Son by Credence Clearwater Revival. What sets Shelter apart is that it has a unique apocalyptic feel to it; maybe it's Merry Clayton's wailing and cooing, maybe it's the lyrics itself, but when you heard this song, something melancholic and apocalyptic was about to happen. There's a reason why Scorsese uses this song in most of his major works, after all.

There was a French director by the name of Truffaut who once said that there's no such thing as an anti-war film because said film will make the war part too exciting that it'll appeal rather than repulse in order to keep the audience's attention. We're seeing a further evolution, or possibly mutation of his rule. Now the once rabidly anti-war counterculture is instead shelling out to media that portrays and makes violence fun. Yes, fun. Let's be honest with ourselves: we play violet games because it's fun. But now that they're explicitly selling into a facet of our medium where armed combat and violence is fun makes me cry a little inside, as now the Military Industrial Complex has finally won by integrating themselves in a popular new medium and co-opting their former enemies in the name of profit.

Oh, and for the naysayers: you'd have to be blind not to see we've got a full-blow complex, but as long as you're civil about it, I won't hold your opposing opinion against you.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Love the rolling stones. Practically sold the game for me.
You know apart from peer pressure.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Hm, I was watching that ad the other day and wondering what the royalties were like to use that song... looks like they'll be just a drop in the bucket for Mick and Keef (and those other dudes).

 

[JDKJ]

Rolling Stones Zombie mode. You know it's coming.

Have you seen them lately? It's already here.

Ha! That's a good one.

I'll swear that Kieth Richards died from a heroin overdose back in the late 70s but it's just taking him unusually long to keel over and go stiff as a board.