Rockstar's CircoLoco Records could be a major GTA 6 clue
Rockstar Games now has a record label. Will its music appear in-game?
It’s quite fitting that music has always been important to video games made by a developer named “Rockstar Games.”
The studio’s hit Grand Theft Auto series has always featured a wide selection of music to listen to on the in-game radio while you’re cruising around in various stolen vehicles. Even games like Red Dead Redemption 2 have memorable songs like “Unshaken” that stick with you long after beating the game. Now, they are taking things one step further by creating a new record label with the party brand CircoLoco called CircoLoco Records.
As we continue to wonder what comes next from Rockstar, one can’t help but question what this means for the future of music in Rockstar games like Grand Theft Auto 6, which is reportedly in development.
What happened? Rockstar announced CircoLoco Records on May 24, 2021. This record label is a joint operation between Rockstar and CircoLoco, a party and dance music brand, to create new EPs and albums that “support and elevate dance music culture during one of the most fraught periods ever experienced for clubs.”
So far, CircoLoco Records has announced its first album Monday Dreamin’, which will be released on July 9, 2021. The compilation album will feature new music from DJ Moodymann, Dixon, Carl Craig, Luciano, Seth Troxler, Rampa, Sama Abdulhadi, Lost Souls of Saturn, TOKiMONSTA, Red Axes, and more unannounced artists.
While the full album isn’t coming until July, CircoLoco Records will release the Monday Dreamin’ Blue EP on June 4, Green EP on June 11, Violet EP on June 18, and Black EP on June 25 for those that want an early taste of what the album will have to offer.
What does this mean for GTA Online and GTA 6? Currently, this new record label and the album do not seem to have much of an impact on Rockstar’s video games. Some artists featured in Monday Dreamin’ have also been featured in GTA Online previously, but it’s currently unknown if the partnership will also work the other way around and create music to be used in future Rockstar titles.
That said, it could very well open up a lot of opportunities in the future. In the past, Rockstar’s titles have always struggled with music licensing. Because its games feature so much licensed music, contracts expiring have caused GTA 4 to be delisted digitally in the past.
Presumably, Rockstar will be able to use music from Monday Dreamin’ in GTA Online and even GTA 6 when the time comes. Through CircoLoco Records, Rockstar could try owning a majority of the music within its games to minimize licensing issues with future GTA titles.
That’s just speculation for now, though, as CircoLoco Records appears to be disconnected from any other projects that Rockstar has in development for the time being. We reached out to Rockstar for comment on the label and its relation to their video games but did not hear back in time for publication.
GTA 6 is reportedly in development.
