Rockstar's GTA 6 offer is so measly that a rock star tells Rockstar to "go f*** yourselves"

Martyn Ware, one of the greatest electronic musicians of all time, is a true legend. He may not be well-known, but you will have heard of two bands he cofounded: the Human League or Heaven 17. Ware is a composer, music programmer, songwriter and has a long list of production credits. He has also been involved in creating several global hits.

One of them is the Heaven 17 track Temptation. It's a pulsing song about lust built around a lyric taken from the Lord's Prayer ("lead us out of temptation"). Ware has revealed that Rockstar Games contacted his publishers to use this song in Grand Theft Auto 6. To say he was not impressed with the company's proposal would be an understatement.

"I was recently contacted on behalf of Rockstar Games by my publishers RE the possibility of using Temptation in the new Grand Theft Auto 6," states Ware. "Naturally excited by the wealth that was about my way, I scrolled down to the bottom of email RE the offer.

"It was $7500 -- for a buyout on any future royalties," said Ware. Later, he clarified that it was his cut of the game as one of three writers. "$7500 for each of the 3 writers -- Still utterly unacceptable."

The offer was $22,500 up front, but Ware and co-writers agreed to forgo any future royalties if the song was used in the game. Ware compares the 20-odd thousand dollars to Grand Theft Auto 5's $8.6 billion in sales. Ware writes: "Ah but think of the exposure ..."."

Ware was surprised to find that GTA fans were brigaded into saying they had never heard of him. They also said GTA's popularity would make the game worthwhile, and that it will be a great game regardless. Ware, a successful artist at the age of 68 has no patience with this.

Ware responds to someone who had said that he'd "fucked up". "I have been working in artist rights advocacy for over 20 years. I know the game. "This is iniquitous."

Ware addressed the "exposure argument" again, pointing to the fact that an additional one million streams of a song "generates a pitiful $1,000 each for each writer." Ware's response to someone who said that Rockstar's offer was better than nothing is "get off your knuckles."

Ware is in the right and musicians should be grateful that he's bringing up the topic of royalties for Grand Theft Auto. $22.5K may be a typical licensing fee for a song used in a boss fight or cutscene, but the way these games use licensed music works the same as radio stations. Heaven 17 receives a royalty when their song is broadcast on IRL radio stations. Why shouldn't they get one when the same song is used in a videogame as well? After all, they wrote and performed the song.

Rockstar Games doesn't deal with criticism very well, especially if it is made public. The result of this is likely silence and Grand Theft Auto 6 being released without Heaven 17 tracks. Who knows, it could mean that Human League is no more. It's a sad moment for Vladivostock FM fans.