Movies made some video games then video games made many movies and now video games are making the next generation of rock stars.

Just take a look at the stats:

Avril Lavigne was first introduced to European audiences through "FIFA 2003". Fabolous was first introduced to America through "NBA Live", going on to sell over 2 million albums in the US. Jet got their American iPod commercial based on exposure in "Madden 2004".

The music for "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" and "Metal Gear Solid 4" has been composed by Harry Gregson Williams. The "NFS Series" soundtrack features several alternative rock bands.

Incubus has three tracks in the volume 1 album of "Halo 2". Michael Jackson has a song in "GTA: Vice City"; Sound Garden, RATM, Depeche Mode have tracks in "GTA: San Andreas". Metallica featured in "Rock-Band" while Junkie-XL is a regular in Electronic Arts (EA) games FIFA and NFS.

Not so famous artists have become famous after being featured on game soundtracks. It's a win-win for artists, game companies, and music labels.

Game companies, music labels, and music artists are increasingly coming together with gaming increasingly permeating the lives of teens and youngsters.

In an interview with Steve Schnur, worldwide executive (Music and Marketing) of EA (featured on "Gamecareerguide.com"), Schnur has made a couple of interesting revelations about this concept.

Schnur speaks about how the perception of music has changed. From the days of radio, through the seeing-is-believing MTV and music videos age, we've moved to the downloading-songs-over-the-Internet phase. For today's generation, songs are for real only after they are played in a game, Schnur says.

"Today, labels around the world are launching artists' entire careers around their inclusion in a top-selling title like Madden, FIFA, or Need for Speed. Radio is adding songs based on a band's inclusion in these games. Video channels are creating playlists based not on radio airplay, but on video game soundtracks. In less than seven years, video games have become the most effective -- and essential -- way of breaking new music in our world today," says Schnur in the course of his interview.

If you're curious about the interview, go to: http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/495/games_that_launched_the_.php