Asthemusicindustrysearchesforanewmodelintheageofdigitaldistributionandinternetpiracy,itisgettingahelpinghandfromanunexpectedquarter:videogamessuchas“GuitarHero”and“RockBand”,whichletpeopleplayalongtosongsonsimplifiedimitationinstruments.“Thesegamesarerevitalisingtheindustry,”saysAramSinnreich,anindustryexpertatNewYorkUniversity.“They’rehelpingasbotharevenueandanadvertisingplatform.”
Themainimpactofthegamesistoprovideexposure.Inclusionoftheirmusicinthesepopulargameshasallowedpreviouslyobscurebandstoachieveinternationalfame,andveteranmusicianstoblasttheearsofanewgeneration.AccordingtoActivisionBlizzard,thevideo-gamegiantbehind“GuitarHeroIII”,bandswhosesongsareincludedinthegamecanexpectonlinesalesoftheirmusictoincreasebyanaverageof300%asaresult.“We’redefinitelyindemand—we’reconstantlybeingpitchedbyartistsandmanagement,”saysPaulDeGooyer,seniorvice-presidentofgamesandmusicatMTV,whichpublishes“RockBand”.Aswellasincreasingsales,havingasonginhisgamealsoboostsaband’soverallfameandpopularity.“We’reprovidinganewoutletforpeopletoexperiencemusic,”hesays.
OnebeneficiaryhasbeenDragonforce,aBritishspeed-metalbandthatrosetofameaftertheirsong“ThroughtheFireandFlames”wasincludedasthehardesttrackin“GuitarHeroIII”.Itsdifficultyhasinspiredmanyplayerstopostvideosofthemselvesplayingthesongonline.ChrisBrown,whoisinchargeoftheband’smarketing,saysthetrackhadsold55,000copiesonlinebeforethegame’sreleaseinOctober2007.“Nowwe’reupto624,000.GuitarHerohasreallyopenedupourmusictothemainstream,”saysMrBrown.
Establishedartistsarealsousingthegamestopromotetheirmusic.BobbyKotick,Activision’sboss,saysAerosmithhavemademoremoneyfrom“GuitarHero:Aerosmith”,aversionofthevideo-gamethatfeaturestheband,thanfromanyoftheiralbums.MrKotickhasevensuggestedthatratherthanexpectinggamescompaniestopaytolicensetheirmusic,bandsshouldpaytohavetheirmusicincludedingames.MotleyCruereleasedanewsinglevia“RockBand”inApril,andinSeptemberMetallica’snewalbum“DeathMagnetic”wasmadeavailableasadownloadfor“GuitarHero”onthedayofitsrelease.（Fanshavepointedoutthatthevideo-gameversionactuallysoundsbetterthanthealbum.）Suchin-gamedownloadsaretypicallysoldfor$2persong,twiceasmuchasthemusicalonefetchesoniTunes,theleadingonline-musicstore.
ButwillitlastBobLefsetz,aveteranindustryfigure,speculatesthatmusicgames,whichburstontothescenein2005,couldburnoutjustasquickly.Teenagersalreadylikeclassicrockanyway,hesays,sothegameswillnotgreatlyexpandthemarket.“Themusicbusinessislookingforanygoodnews.Thesegamesaren’tgoingtosaveit.”
注（1）：本文选自Economist；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2002年真题Text3。
1.Themainproblemfacedbythemusicindustryis______.
A)theunexpectedcompetitionfromvideogames
B)itneedstofindanewbusinessmodelforlong-termdevelopment
C)itisseverelythreatenedbyonlinepiracy
D)itfailstocatchupwiththetechnologicaldevelopmentofdigitaldistribution
2.Itcanbeinferredfromthetextthat______.
A)allthebandswiththeirmusicincludedinvideogamescangainpopularity
B)themajorinfluenceofvideogamesonthemusicindustryisincreasingrevenue
C)artistsandmanagerstrytofindthebestmusicbandsfromvideogames
D)inspiringinteractionwithgameplayerscanincreaseaband’sfame
3.BobbyKotick,Activision’sboss,believesthat______.
A)hehasalreadyestablishedanewbusinessmodelforthemusicindustry
B)musicinvideogamesshouldalsobedownloadableontheinternet
C)thereshouldbedifferencebetweenthevideo-gameandalbumversionsofasong
D)videogamesshouldchargebandsbutnottheotherwayaround
4.Wecandrawaconclusionfromthelastparagraphthat______.
A)thecollaborationbetweenvideogamesandthemusicindustrymightbeaflashinthepan
B)thevideogamemodelisthelastgaspofthedeterioratingmusicindustry
C)rockmusicisnotexactlythereasonwhythebandssucceedinvideogames
D)themusicbusinessisstilllookingforgreatermusic
5.Fromthetextwecanseethatthewriter’sattitudetowardthecollaborationseems______.
A)objective
B)positive
C)pessimistic
D)indifferent
篇章剖析
词汇注释
revitalise/rivatlaz/v.使复活，使复兴
obscure/bskj/adj.无名的，微贱的
veteran/vetrn/n.经验丰富的人
pitch/pt/v.为…确定标准，定调
outlet/atlet/n.途径,方法
beneficiary/benfri/n.受益人，受惠者
speculate/spekjlet/v.推测，猜测
难句突破
Asthemusicindustrysearchesforanewmodelintheageofdigitaldistributionandinternetpiracy,itisgettingahelpinghandfromanunexpectedquarter:videogamessuchas“GuitarHero”and“RockBand”,whichletpeopleplayalongtosongsonsimplifiedimitationinstruments.
主体句式：itisgettingahelpinghandfromanunexpectedquarter.
结构分析：本句结构比较复杂。句子开头是一个由as引导的状语从句，其主体结构是themusicindustrysearchesforanewmodel。主句冒号后面的内容是对quarter的具体说明，而which引导的非限制性定语从句进一步说明了这些游戏的特点。
句子译文：在当前这个数字发行和网络盗版猖獗的时代，音乐行业正在探索新的经营模式，他们出乎意料地得到了电子游戏“吉他英雄”和“摇滚乐队”的帮助。这类游戏可以让人们使用简化的模拟乐器来跟随歌曲演奏。
题目分析
参考译文
这些游戏的主要影响就是能够增加曝光率。流行游戏中的音乐能够使之前不太出名的乐队成为国际明星，也能使年轻一代对老牌乐手的歌耳熟能详。“吉他英雄III”的幕后电子游戏巨头“动视暴雪”公司宣称，如果哪个乐队的歌曲被编入游戏，他们的在线销量平均可增加3倍。发行“摇滚乐队”游戏的MTV公司游戏与音乐部高级副总裁保罗·德古冶尔说：“毫无疑问，我们的销路很好——我们总是由音乐人和管理者来不断调整定位。”歌曲被编入游戏的乐队不仅销量增加，同时其知名度和流行程度也得到提升。他说：“我们正为人们提供一种体验音乐的新途径。”
著名音乐人也用游戏来宣传自己的作品。动视暴雪的总裁博比·科蒂克说，吉他英雄发行了空中铁匠专版，乐队从这版电子游戏中获得的收入比从任何专辑赚到的都多。科蒂克先生甚至提议，乐队不应该指望游戏公司来购买音乐使用许可，而是应该主动付钱给游戏公司，使自己的音乐可以用于游戏中。4月，克鲁小丑乐队通过“摇滚乐队”游戏发布了一首新单曲，9月，金属乐队的新专辑《致命吸引力》在发布当天就可以在“吉他英雄”游戏上下载。（歌迷甚至说这首歌的电子游戏版本听起来竟然比专辑版还要好。）这种游戏内下载的价格一般是每首歌2美元，比从在线音乐巨头iTunes下载音乐要贵一倍。
但是这种情况会持续下去吗？据经验丰富的业内人士鲍勃·拉弗塞特兹推测，音乐游戏虽然在2005年异军突起，但可能只是昙花一现。他说，青少年已经是经典摇滚的乐迷了，所以游戏不会大幅拓宽市场。“音乐产业正在寻求希望。这些游戏并不能拯救它。”