The lead singer of Aerosmith, Steven Tyler (Picture: Getty Images)

As album sales have plummeted, some bands have found far more lucrative ways to make their millions.

While Aerosmith has sold over 150 million albums and its members are each worth over $100 million, the majority of their earnings now derive from Guitar hero, according to the game’s publishers’, Activison.

The rock band’s lucrative relationship with Guitar Hero began in 2007 when they allowed the game’s developers to use 29 of their songs.

In 2008, Video game publisher Activision released ‘Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’ which sold 600,000 copies and made $25 million (£16 million).


Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision has said the band’s ‘version of Guitar Hero generated far more in revenues than any Aerosmith album ever has.



‘Merchandising, concert sales, their ability to sign a new contract [have] all been unbelievably influenced by their participation in ‘Guitar Hero.’

Last year saw only 257 million albums sold globally (CD, vinyl, and digital) which was an 11 per cent drop on album sales the year before according to Nielsen’s 2014 Report.

No wonder some musicians are now looking to novel ways to make extra cash.

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