Single sells five times as many copies in "Rock Band" versus iTunes

Following a recent report that many bands were signing on to Guitar Hero and Rock Band as a new way to distribute their music comes the news that singles released in the games are outselling even the dominant music store, Apple's iTunes.

According to this Reuters report, Motley Crue placed its new single, the title track from "Saints of Los Angeles," for sale as a downloadable track on "Rock Band" well in advance of the album's release date, which has been pushed back to June 24. The only other places to obtain the track was iTunes and Amazon.

According to data provided by the band's management, the track was downloaded more than 47,000 times via the Xbox 360 version of the game alone in the first week after it became available. By comparison, the same track received slightly more than 10,000 downloads via digital services like iTunes and Amazon, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With video game versions of tracks clocking in $1.99 versus iTunes' $0.99, the games offer a real alternative way to sell music.

Would you buy music from a band you liked inside a video game?

Update: There was a problem with the poll provider. It's working again now.