The Daily Swarm

Yahoo Games:

In a partnership bound to shake, rattle and roll both the music biz and interactive entertainment, Rockstar Games and Amazon have teamed up to create an ambitious new model for digital music distribution. Built exclusively for the upcoming video game blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV, it allows players to buy real-world MP3s of tracks heard over the game’s numerous radio stations in a very seamless manner. (Initially, this service will only be available in the U.S.)

Advertised throughout Liberty City, the cheekily-named “ZiT” technology is built into the game’s mobile phone interface system. As players cruise around the world listening to the in-game radio, they can at any point ‘mark’ a song by opening their phone and dialing the number ZIT-555–0100. Gamers will then receive a text message with the song and artist names, and if they’re registered at the forthcoming Rockstar Games Social Club community site, they’ll find an e-mail waiting in their inbox with a direct link to a custom playlist on Amazon.com. All songs tagged “ZiT” will be stored here, available for preview and purchase at Amazon’s going rate of $.89—$.99 per track. Best of all, those MP3s are free of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) limitations imposed on files downloaded through Apple’s iTunes store and thus can be imported into any computer or digital device with no constraints.

Ars Technica:

It’s hard to predict just how well this service will work out as the Rock Band and GTA4 models are in actuality quite dissimilar. In Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the two marquee music distribution games of the day, the motivation to buy new songs is that one is essentially buying more in-game content that extends the experience. Furthermore, downloaded music is locked to the game. With Grand Theft Auto 4, users will be able to enjoy the tracks both in and outside the game. The lack of DRM will also prove an attractive incentive for digital music fans that are in the know.

This type of distribution is certainly unprecedented. Aside from included soundtrack CDs or vouchers for free downloads, this kind of game-based distribution marks another first for the downloadable music age. However, the additional step of signing up for a peripheral service on Rockstar’s website may be something of a hinderance. Ubisoft streamlined a similar process for Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 which allows users to register from directly in the game. Should Rockstar use a similar model, the prospect of cheap, DRM-free music may be a hard one to pass up for music-loving gamers.