Rock Star Tells Rockstar to ‘Go F*** Yourself’ After ‘Extremely Low’ Offer to Use Hit Song in GTA 6

A founding member of British synth-pop band Heaven 17 has alleged Rockstar offered the three writers of hit song Temptation $7,500 each for its use in Grand Theft Auto 6 — a figure he has flat out rejected.Martyn Ware, founding member of Heaven 17 and, before than, synth-pop pioneers The Human League, tweeted to tell Rockstar to “go f*** yourself” after allegedly receiving what he called a “extremely low” offer to use 80s classic Temptation in GTA 6.“I was recently contacted by my publishers on behalf of Rockstar Games re the possibility of using Temptation on the new Grand Theft Auto 6,” Ware said.“Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer…“IT WAS $7500 – for a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever… To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto 6 grossed, wait for it… $8.6 BILLION. Ah, but think of the exposure… Go f*** yourself.”IGN has asked Rockstar for comment.Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 performs on stage at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on November 14, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by C Brandon/Redferns)Ware’s tweet includes a figure for money made by GTA 6, which obviously isn’t out yet. Predecessor GTA 5 is the second best-selling video game of all-time with an eye-watering 200 million sold, so perhaps the figure relates to an estimate of earnings from that game (Rockstar parent company Take-Two has not disclosed a GTA-specific revenue figure.)Ware later tweeted to clarify that the $7,500 offer was $7,500 for each of Temptation's three writers, which amounts to $22,500 total. "Still utterly unacceptable," he added. He said he then suggested $75,000, but Rockstar allegedly rejected the counter offer. "If they’d have offered a royalty, we wouldn’t have asked for any advance," Ware said.Either way, Ware’s point that GTA makes a huge amount of money and therefore the offer to use Temptation should be significantly higher is clear. And in subsequent tweets, despite many replies suggesting he should take the money and enjoy the “exposure” offered by having Temptation appear in what is likely the biggest video game of all time, Ware doubled down, saying: “For those claiming H17 should have accepted the extremely low offer for buyout for Temptation in GTA6 claiming ‘increased exposure’… An extra 1 million streams generates each writer a pitiful $1k each.”Then, replying to another user who suggested $7,500 would be “better than nothing,” Ware said: “Get off your knees.”

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