The economy may be dark, but one branch of the entertainment industry thriving in these increasingly dystopian times is the computer games business. Fuelled by the popularity of the Nintendo Wii, and the high technology of the PlayStation3 and XBox 360, the games industry is near the top of the technology cycle, where consoles and games sell into the millions.

What the popularity of games such as SingStar and Guitar Hero show is how games have matured, moving from teenagers’ bedrooms into the living room. Just as Doctor Who reinvented family viewing, the new generation of games reinvented family entertainment.

What the music games also reveal is a route to revival for the beleaguered music business.

The appeal of music has always been far more than listening to recordings or the radio; it involves going to gigs and festivals – and singing into the shower head. While only a minority can play or sing well enough to be taken seriously as performers, music games tap into the desire of the rest of the population to be rock stars. And because people cannot pirate the technology easily, the games and the songs can be priced to generate a sustainable income.

The interest is clear from the number of songs that people are prepared to download – 20 million in the case of Guitar Hero. The most frequently purchased download by SingStar customers is Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart. Both games are racing to announce tie-ups with familiar bands – SingStar will release a Queen-themed game next year, a few months after Guitar Hero’s Metallica special edition.

Computer games will not be enough, in isolation, to solve the structural problems facing the music industry but by tapping into people’s true relationship with music, it demonstrates that the day the music dies is a long, long way off.

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