Simlish--The Future Language of Recorded Music?

I don't know about you, but I love the Sims. I've purchased every expansion pack from "Livin' Large" to "Hot Date" and have even invested in The Sims 2. In order to promote their new Sims 2 expansion pack, "Seasons", EA games has put a video up on YouTube featuring UK artist Lily Allen's rendition of her song "Smile" in Simlish. This video animates Allen's likeness as a Sim and includes the features of the new expansion pack--a very effective way of marketing, if you ask me. So far, this video has generated over 100,000 views on viral video sites like YouTube. Below you will find the finished product.



...And the original



In the sprit of this video (and promoting new software), EA games is holding a contest through online karaoke site SingShot that allows fans of the Sims 2 and Lily Allen alike to re-create the Simlish version of Smile. So far, 85 people have taken the time to re-record this song in Simlish (which is harder than you may think, trust me). The hosting site, SingShot, allows users to rate themselves and each other; ultimately the user with the highest rating is the winner. This is some pretty cool stuff.


But, Miss Lily Allen is not the first to re-record one of her hit-songs in Simlish. In order to promote the release of their new game "Urbz: Sims in the City", EA utilized the talents of the Black Eyed Peas to record one of the tracks from their multi-platinum album "Monkey Business" in Simlish. Additionally, artists like The Flaming Lips, Pussycat Dolls, Barenaked Ladies, and Depeche Mode have lent their talents for the promotion of Sims games. But this is not a one-sided deal--the artists are also recieving a great deal of promotion for themselves. Generally, these artists record their new singles in Simlish in order to also promote the release of their up-coming album, (i.e. Depeche Mode recorded a Simlish-language version of their latest single Suffer Well for the Open for Business expansion pack).




This is a very good idea. Sims games attract millions of users across the globe, spanning from the United States to Europe to Asia. When these artists are featured in such games it allows their music to reach a greater audience and, hopefully, promote an increase in record sales and digital downloads. It would be interesting to see if EA games ever releases a Sims soundtrack of all the hit-songs in Simlish. Electronic Arts may very well be able to do this now after starting their own publishing company.


After all of this, I pose a question; could this be the future of recorded music? More specifically, is the only way to increase record sales synching songs with popular media (i.e. video games, television) and then monetizing those songs in conjunction with the media? It seems to have worked in the past with shows like Grey's Anatomy and The OC...Maybe recording artists stand a chance with The Sims.