Vancouver electronic duo Bob Moses says its 2021 collaboration “Inner Light” has spiked in streams after appearing in an extended “GTA VI” trailer released in late August.
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Vancouver electronic duo Bob Moses says its song “Inner Light,” a 2021 collaboration with British musician Elderbrook, has gained more than 50 million additional streams after being featured in an extended trailer for the video game “Grand Theft Auto VI” in late August.
The duo, made up of Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, said its manager emailed them earlier this year with a request from Rockstar Games to use the track, with few details about how it would appear. Howie said they initially “sort of forgot about it,” until later messages came in from people who hadn’t been in contact for years.
Vallance said “Inner Light” landed in a key moment during the trailer’s climax, with the synth-driven track underscoring an emotional speech about living in one’s “glory days.” He said the song became “the part that everyone clipped and re-shared and kind of made the song go viral.”
Spotify reported a 500 per cent surge in streams since the trailer dropped, and said daily additions to listeners’ playlists increased by more than 3,000 per cent.
Bob Moses said it received a relatively modest licensing fee, with Howie saying, “I forget how much money it was, but it's not enough to remember,” and that the opportunity was in potential reach rather than the payment.
Toronto music supervisor Heather Gardner said music supervision placements in major games can still be valuable even when the licensing payment is not especially large, noting that “GTA” is “such a cultural icon” and that players’ discovery can be different because they are “an active participant in the media in a way that no other form can do.”
“GTA” music has historically been tied to the franchise’s fictional radio stations, and for “GTA VI,” Grammy-winning French electronic duo Justice composed the score. Rockstar has also said it plans to release an album of original songs on Thursday, featuring SZA, Tame Impala and Keith Richards.
Bob Moses said the inclusion of “Inner Light” is a meaningful validation after years of navigating a changing music industry shaped by social media, with Vallance saying, “Every once in a while something happens and you're like, 'Oh, we're a real band.'”
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