GTA 6: The Album Announced, Pre-Orders Available Now

I honestly have no words on how utterly ironic this is

We all know the physical CD and Vinyl comments are coming. And by jove I won't be one to rest on my laurels. You mean to tell me physical media isn't dead after all? But I've been told so many times that digital is the future wink

I really hope we'll at least get some metal (and also jazz and blues) on this. And that it's not just some cookie cutter normie metal like Slipknot, Bring me the Horizon or Sleep Token

CD's are also on the rise lately.

I’ll be making sure to pick this up on vinyl and CD, mainly as I know my daughter and wife will really love it.

Not usually much for compilation albums myself, but it’s a nice little keepsake of a moment in time.

Thank you, adding it to my soundtrack vinyls. I only use vinyl for Classical/scores/soundtracks and Metal. The last game one I picked up was for Mewgenics, it's very Jazzy/Dark Cabaret.

@Toilet_Goat I expect Bad Omens to land on there too, I've heard nothing about Sleep Token getting a credit. I wouldn't mind seeing Alkaline (not Alkaline Trio, the song) on there, at least people would get an education in Chemistry. 'Cause I'm dying to melt through to the heart of her molecules, Til the particles part like holy water, she's an undiscovered element, either born in hell or heaven-sent
but either way I'm into it', still a great lyric.

@Toilet_Goat Normie metal? Never heard that before lol, what's non normie metal, like Nile or something?

I think if they don't have Foreigner - Waiting for a Girl Like You then they've missed a trick. Anything by Cannons too.

@Toilet_Goat Iowa is a top 20 metal album and I don't care how deep into metal you are (not YOU you, the general you).

@Rezium They know who ever goes out their way to actually purchase this, isn't going to resell or lend to someone else.

Physical music popularity ≠ physical game popularity 😇

@BattleAxeOfDoom I'm mostly teasing, I'd be happy for any metal in reality. I'm a prog metal fan though, so I unfortunately just find their music too simple for my tastes. Like a metal version of Foo Fighters

@GuttyYZ I suppose stuff that's a bit more rhythmically complex and less a version of pop with heavy guitars added. Not that there's anything wrong with it, just not my favourite

@GuttyYZ @Toilet_Goat you named three mainstream metal bands but said one was cookie cutter and the others werent…

Metal fans are some of the worst offenders in the music scene at playing the “what I like is better than what you like” game.

@TheArt They view physical music sales as bonus, since anyone can just stream the soundtrack for free at home, while they view physical games sales as cutting into their profits. I don't think they care if you lend the physical GTA soundtrack to anyone.

I still have my GTA Vice City album collection sitting on my shelf. I may need to get this as a companion collectable.

@Rezium Well yeah exactly my point.

Kind of crazy how they've announced the soundtrack before officially revealing any cast members.

@GuttyYZ I heard it when I spent time in that industry. Metal and music to me is a second oxygen and I never shut-up about it in the music thread. But there is a divide in that Metal community. It really spiked when bands like BabyMetal started playing Download/HellFest and probably Wacken too. I've spent enough time around each label/attendee to understand the mentality. I respect both sides of the argument because the guys who were raised on Dio, Motorhead, even Venom and of course Sabbath spent their whole lives dedicating their time and money to those shows. The majority of those older bands were Fathers working their fingers to the bone on tours, they needed to support their Families. They didn't cared about likes.

The younger ones treated it differently, the word entitled is one I'd use. There have been some shortcuts for newer bands, the industry is changing and streaming is a big part of that. I do still use drop-boxes to hear new talent and read press-kits too, but the quality has unfortunately dipped. It's not as noticeable on Spotify/Youtube, when it comes to a live stage it really shows. They didn't break their backs touring on pennies, they were born in an environment where likes and reaction videos dictate visibility and labels need to keep the lights on. Venues cost to much now, hotels for touring has been doubled, logistics for our trucks tripled. Standards dropped, simply for survival. I like both camps regardless, but he's right that normie Metal label is real. Even in the labels and PR we embraced it too.

As a reminder, if you buy this you are not going to actually 'own' it.

Maybe this is a sign of physical games coming back. There was a time when music was going to be digital only. Might get it, rockstar was really good with the music in previous games.

The vinyl would be cool to display.

As for the music, it depends on how strongly it gets stuck in my head. If it's anything like Cyberpunk 2077, I'll be hearing certain songs in my dreams.

None of these tracks interest me in the slightest. Few months in Vice City will change that

@GirlVersusGame It's been a good while since I was in a gigging band but I can't remember hearing it then and I don't use social media now so must have passed me by. Interesting you were in that industry, thanks for the insight.

I always had a second job when I was gigging because making a living from music was hard enough 10 years ago, much more so now I suspect.

I’ll get this and not open it. It’ll go in the record crate in my entertainment room. These types of items are interactive home decor.

Crazy that it's physical, as they can't be bothered to release the game as that.

@GuttyYZ I'm still unofficially in there, I never gave my drop-box back when I left, I can still hear all of the demos and submissions from new bands, I still get press-kits too. I left because it wasn't a position I earned and had too much respect for the music to stay.

A lot of big names are doing their second farewell tours because it's how they spent their lives earning and Metal guys don't earn as much as other genres. Everything from PR/labels to booking is done differently. Streaming and likes/social-media are seen as selling out. For a lot of bands it's still word of mouth and it still works, but younger bands are definitely riding those shortcuts to record deals. The nature of labels are different too.

Metal bands rotate labels frequently, always looking for a better deal. If it wasn't for live shows a lot of labels would have to start shuttering or move their rosters onto bigger labels. It's messy because promoters go out of pocket if a show undersells and no one in that genre wants to bleed their fans dry either. Ultimately it's loyalty to the music that's keeping things running smoothly, vinyl sales are helping too. That music saved my life, I'd hate to see it go under but I don't think it will. Even if those bands had to play in a broom closet they would, their passion isn't money it's music. I learned a lot by being around those people.

@Jswift56 Physical games never left. There is still massive demand for them. Playstation still sells over 70 millon new physical games a year, and Nintendo sells even more than that. Companies just make more when you buy digital so Sony is killing the market.

I know they're going to go with more modern music, but I do hope we get an 80s station.

So far GTA has been really good about providing an eclectic mix along with a lot of music that I never would have heard of otherwise. I've enjoyed every soundtrack from Grand Theft Auto 3 through 5, so I'm counting on them not dropping the ball on this one. Definitely adding it to my vinyl collection.

Hard Pass. I don't have any interest in any one of the listed tracks.

Is this a piss take or a piss on the customers. Jam your physical soundtrack up your ass because you can't do that with digital GTA 6.

From what I’ve read cd sales are increasing like hell along with Blu-rays and vinyl. Did Sony jump the gun a bit? Well looking at the stats of game sales probably not but who knows where we could be by the end of next gen if they just hold off for a few more years.

@Rezium cd and vinyl are a lot more dead than physical games though 😅

@WhatTheFrog Why? The PS5 doesn't read CD's or vinyl records.

Just like it doesn't read C90 tapes. 🙄

@Rezium physical media for games is dying lol

@GamingGod people are doing a trend we all know it be dead next year these new generations do something for a bit then stop they find out something else we use to do in the 90s lol

I'm sorry, Keith Richards?? THAT Keith Richards?? He's recorded a song especially for GTA?? I did not have that on my 2026 bingo card

@dodgykebaab Strauss Zelnick called cd's and vinyl antiquated but greenlit this over a physical games release. The physical game would make astronomical more amounts of money than a physical music album for the game.

@Toilet_Goat Are you a fan of Katatonia? Not that all of their music is prog, but they have enough that is. Probably my all time favorite "metal" band.

@WhatTheFrog It's not as simple as that.

Have you seen the mark up on Vinyl? Go to a HMV and have a look and you'll see how the niché collectors market is getting stung. Have fun paying £50 for an album!

So if you want a £130 PS5 version or a £150 Xbox version (more discs required), you have fun with that.

@Drago201 Exactly.

@dodgykebaab Sure, vinyl is expensive and overpriced. But rockstar is releasing this as a standard cd as well. Basically the equivalent of a standard physical game and a collectors edition.
And if Rockstar are so terrified of losing precious profit to third party retailers, do like Larian did with BG3 and sell the physical version yourselves.

@Oxy Releasing a CD is not like releasing a triple layer bluray at all.

That's like saying Shower glass is the same as Car window glass.

@dodgykebaab i only made an observation that releasing a standard version and an overpriced collectors edition of the soundtrack is exactly how physical games work. When you said a “vinyl version” of GTA 6 would cost £130 I hardly assumed you thought releasing vinyl and blu ray were the same thing…

But sure, pressing a triple layer blu ray vs an audio cd costs around a dollar more per disc (so $2-3 more depending on the number of discs needed for GTA 6).
I’m sure that cost would be happily absorbed by the consumer, seeing how rockstar has no problem squeezing twenty bucks from buyers wanting some digital extras. Or full price for a box containing zero discs…

@dodgykebaab I rarely shop at hmv and support local creators and record stores buying good used cd’s and have a good understanding where to buy them. If I have to pay more to have physical object I would happily. At least that way no one can steal it from me later when a license runs out.

Why would anyone pre-order it with that sheet-tastic list of 6 songs? All of them are trash. I'd at least wait for the full track list.

@WhatTheFrog Name one game that stopped working because the licence ran out (not online servers shutting).

As far as I see it, its a non argument; its no different to "I wont buy disc games in case they break."

@Oxy No, it's not the same at all.

CD creation is not the same as bluray creation.

They both might be shiny discs, but they require different machinery and materials. This is without even factoring the fact that More CD presses exsist than bluray presses, so demand for press runs affects prices.

And I never wrote: “vinyl version” of GTA 6 would cost £130", I have no idea where you got that.

Seriously, they could put the GTA VI logo on toilet paper and it'd sell a ton.

@dodgykebaab do you even read before you answer? In my first reply I never wrote that releasing a cd and a blu ray were the same thing. I only made the observation that the soundtrack is also releasing on cd, a much cheaper format.
And you were the one complaining about overpriced vinyl and then writing “So if you want a £130 PS5 version….”. Instead of having to quote long blocks of text before, I shortened your expensive version of GTA VI to “vinyl version”. It wasn’t a quote it was just an abbreviation.

Then you started dragging the manufacturing process into it…

Yes, a cd and a blu ray require different materials. I shouldn’t even have to mention this. What matters in the end is cost and for an order of a million discs a cd costs around $0.50 and a triple layer blu ray around $1.50. Do I have to mention that the blu ray is more expensive because it requires different materials and machinery…

And this is GTA VI we’re talking about. I hardly think they’ll have a problem with price increases because of a lack of pressing plants since they’re collaborating with Sony.

@Oxy You wrote:

"Sure, vinyl is expensive and overpriced. But rockstar is releasing this as a standard cd as well. Basically the equivalent of a standard physical game and a collectors edition."

So for you to then say:

"I never wrote that releasing a cd and a blu ray were the same thing."

Tells me you need to word your answer a lot better.

@dodgykebaab if I didn’t know any better I would say you have a vested interest in defending big companies that I’m not sure why. Name one game that has stopped working because of licensing you say? I can name hundreds of movies that Sony stole from customers due to licensing or are you going to defend non comprehensive tos to say that’s it’s ok they are allowed to do that.

You think that will stop with movies when the stranglehold is fully in effect? There are already a few examples of games you can’t even purchase anymore because of licensing and the only way to play them is emulation which is morally acceptable by the way.

@WhatTheFrog
" I can name hundreds of movies that Sony stole from customers due to licensing"

Games are not movies, paramount can't takes games away because games are not licensed in the way same as movies.

This shows your total lack of understanding as all PSN games are licensed on a permanent basis.

"There are already a few examples of games you can’t even purchase anymore because of licensing"

This has nothing to do with digital games, this happened with cartridges too as press runs were told to stop after liecencing rights ran out.

@dodgykebaab nothing is licensed on a permanent basis. Having a physical thing that is fully complete means you own it and can access it whenever you want to like a full on disc movie or game. As soon as something requires an Internet connection to function it’s pretty much a ticking time bomb and can be taken from you at anytime for any reason because you clicked some arbitrary tos that isn’t even fully binding anyway.

Look at a cd for example, you can back it up and make copies of it for yourself and move it to any storage device you see fit, same with movies and games that are fully intact on disc. If you give that all up you’re giving away any right to anything you buy. These companies have billion dollar law firms to access and squash the average consumer anytime they see fit.

Also I didn’t say anywhere that paramount can take away games nor did I even mention them by name. As I said before you seem to have a vested interest in backing the company over the customer. Why? I’ll never know or even care to know and this can just go back and forward ad infinitum so I’m stopping there. Take that as me running away or capping or whatever they say nowadays.

@WhatTheFrog
"nothing is licensed on a permanent basis."

The fact you couldn't name a single digital game on Sony or Nintendo, that is not available to people that bought it, even though digital games are 20 years old now should tell you something about what you think.