DJ Hero devs admit to licensing hurdles

DJ Hero developers FreeStyleGames has admitted that there has been licensing problems involved in creating the 80 two-track mixes for its upcoming turntable title.

FreeStyleGames has enlisted the expertise of star producers such as DJ Shadow to create 80 individual mixes for the game, with each one blending two separate tracks together.

DJ Shadow has, for example, mixed David Bowie’s Let’s Dance in with KRS One’s Jack Of Spades.

The problem therein, however, is that both songs will need to be licensed for a single track, and both licensors will need to agree to the mix and the artists they are paired with.

“It’s been very difficult to commercialise mashups,” admits FreeStyleGames Studio Manager Kevin McSherry, who speaks to Develop in an interview published today.

“There is a licensing hurdle to get over,” he says, “but thankfully we’re working with the best licensing guys in the industry. These are the guys that have gone and licensed all the good music on Guitar Hero, these are the guys that have taken acts which are no longer on the road and put their albums back into the charts and got these guys back out of retirement.”

DJ Hero is set for release across America late in October. The full interview with McSherry can be found here.