Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews has taken a closer look at the U.S. retail numbers for the music genre and finds that it has gone from generating $1.6 billion in 2008 to a mere $400 million or so in 2010. Perhaps the future lies in digital downloads and motion controlled dance titles such as Just Dance and Dance Central, but one thing is clear - we're not buying as many plastic guitars and drums at shops these days.
Viacom's decision to sell music game masters Harmonix was probably largely due to this decline, and it remains to be seen what a new owner decides to do with them and what plans Activision has for the Guitar Hero franchise.