Madden soundtrack madness

For the last few years, on-the-cusp music acts have been salivating to make it on a certain soundtrack. But surprisingly, the platform they’ve all been clamoring for isn’t a brand-new TV show or a blockbuster movie.
Instead, it’s a video game: Madden NFL Football.
Whether or not through overzealous hype or actual merit, the soundtrack of the annual Madden football video game has essentially become one of the most coveted spots in the music industry. Electronic Arts, the “powers that be” behind the game, want everyone to believe that being a part of the video game juggernaut’s soundtrack is crucial to an up and comer’s career and intends to make a media event out of releasing the track list each July before the game hits shelves in August.
However, it’s time someone calls EA’s bluff. Aside from benefitting from the ungodly amounts of hype behind it, being on the Madden soundtrack doesn’t mean anything. I refuse to believe that it has truly changed any struggling act’s career or truly lit the world on fire. Sure, it’s not a bad place to be, but there are at least a few reasons why having a track on Madden won’t add much to a band’s record sales.
Granted, ever since Madden became a whirlwind global sensation in the beginning of this millennium, it’s opened up a lot of opportunities for EA to take advantage of that success. And although they claim they’re looking out for bands on the rise and trying to help young kids discover new artists instead of having to listen to the same radio dredge, it’s all just another way for EA to promote themselves and make money.
Tracking back to when the soundtrack really became important, it seems that the game can really only claim helping to break three artists: Good Charlotte in 2003; Yellowcard in 2004; and Fall Out Boy in 2006. That’s somewhat impressive, but it’s not as if those bands owe a lot of their success to EA or the game.
If anything, since the soundtrack for Madden became a big deal, it has done the opposite of what EA said they would. They continue to place songs from already-established mainstream acts on the game, even though they’re supposedly trying to fit the power against mainstream radio or MTV.  A quick browse over this year’s list includes Busta Rhymes, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Gym Class Heroes, Good Charlotte and Shinedown. Not-quite-struggling indie artists trying to get their big break. It seems like once the soundtrack meant something EA probably got the licenses for tracks from the highest bidder. Maybe not, but it would make the smartest business decision, and we all know that’s all this entire gimmick is – business.
It’s not that the Madden soundtrack is a bad thing; it’s quite fine for a massively popular video game to include some mediocre to good music to get more fans to buy. But it’s about time for EA and anyone brainwashed by them to cease thinking that the world of music is changed annually with each subsequent soundtrack release. After all, it’s still just a video game.