Musician Martyn Ware has taken to Twitter recently to air his frustration with Rockstar Games. The source of the Heaven 17 member’s dismay is an offer he allegedly received from the acclaimed studio to put his song inGrand Theft Auto 6, which he refused.
Ware claims Rockstar contacted his publisher about the band’s song “Temptation” possibly being used in the studio’s upcoming titleGrand Theft Auto 6. The offer was $7,500 for each of the three writers of the song, which would serve as a buyout of the band’s claim to royalties.
Ware learned the details of Rockstar’s offer in an email sent to him from his publisher. The musician wasn’t impressed with the amount offered by Rockstar, and he was upset that accepting the money would lock him out of receiving any royalties due to the game’s success. Martyn’s publisher attempted to make a counter-offer of $75,000 up front or $7,500 with a royalty fee. However, the studio allegedly refused to negotiate.
Some Twitter users are claiming that the amount offered was a standard rate, going so far as to call Ware greedy. Others claimed the exposure and uptick in digital streams of “Temptation” would make up for the lack of royalties. Martyn responded to these claims by pointing outGrand Theft Auto Vgrossed $8,600,000,000 and that every one million streams of the song would net each writer around $1,000 each, concluding with a “go fuck yourself.”
Rockstar has yet to make an official statement on the matter.
