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Rockstar Games co-founds new CircoLoco Records music label

Rockstar Games has dealt in music long enough that it's opted to help co-found its own record label.

Ozzie Mejia

May 24, 2021 2:15 PM

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The Grand Theft Auto series has become a gaming phenomenon over the years for many reasons. One of those reasons has been its music. The GTA radio stations have been a major component of the open-world games for a long time. As long as Rockstar is out here curating music and has the millions and millions of GTA Online dollars to spend, why not work on a new record label? Rockstar has teamed with global party conglomerate CircoLoco to put out a brand new label called CircoLoco Records.

"CircoLoco Records is a partnership between CircoLoco, one of the most influential brands in global club culture and Rockstar Games, creators of some of the world’s most popular and critically acclaimed video games, with a view to supporting underground dance music culture worldwide in the physical and digital worlds," reads the CircoLoco Records website. "Representing house and techno for over 20 years through its parties at Ibiza’s DC10 and around the world, CircoLoco's dancefloor has become a principal intersection between underground dance music and elements of fashion, art and wider culture. The launch of CircoLoco Records reinforces CircoLoco’s commitment to championing forward-thinking dance music artists beyond the club."

CircoLoco Records' first release will be a compilation album called Monday Dreamin'. It will feature tracks from artists like Lost Souls of Saturn, Dixon, Carl Craig, and many more. The EP's first single, Lumartes by Seth Troxler, can be heard right now on Spotify, Apple Music, Beatport, and Bandcamp. The full digital album will release on July 9 and is available for pre-order now on Bandcamp and iTunes. A vinyl version is coming soon.

For CircoLoco, the founding of a new record label represents an opportunity to expand its brand and reach farther into dance music culture. For Rockstar, it's a chance to craft future gaming soundtracks almost entirely in-house. It might potentially help anybody who wishes to stream Rockstar's games on Twitch, especially in the wake of increased DMCA cases. If Rockstar dives into music and becomes the music copyright holders themselves, it might change the DMCA game from their end.

Rockstar's sidestep into co-founding a record label is potentially exciting news for its future. How much of a presence will CircoLoco Records have on future Rockstar Games releases? Keep it on Shacknews as we follow this story.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?