Rhythmic music video games are becoming increasingly popular, and changing the way people enjoy music.
In the games, players hit notes on musical instrument-like controls in sync with the song on screen to score points.
Last year, the Guitar Hero franchise and its rival, Rock Band, collectively racked up US$935 million in sales. That is US$100 million more than all digital music sales.
The games are also introducing old bands to a new, younger audience.
After it was included in Guitar Hero, sales of Kansas' song 'Carry on My Wayward Son,' more than doubled last year to nearly 300,000. Now more and more bands want to get in the game.
Greg Lopiccolo, vice president of game developer Harmonix, said that in the beginning the company had to approach the bands to be included in the game. But that's changed.
"They're absolutely coming to us now. Yes! Because now they understand that this is a way for an entirely new audience to appreciate their music," Lopiccolo said.
So groups like Boston, The Who and Rush have signed up with Rock Band.
"We're sharing our music to new fans. So that's great for us. And new fans are learning more about the nature of how songs are constructed which I think is kind of a cool thing," said Geddy Lee, Rush's lead singer.
In effect, the game designers have become part of the music business.
3 News / CBS