Led Zeppelin Not Coming to Guitar Hero or Rock Band

There's little doubt that the artist line-up for Rock Band 2 is shaping up nicely. Guitar Hero is getting some nice exclusives as well. With Journey, Boston, Metallica, The Who and other top tier acts lending their tunes to the dominant rhythm games, there aren't many superstars left to cross off the list.

Despite the success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, you won't see Led Zeppelin's iconic tunes pop up in either game any time soon, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The band, specifically Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, is not comfortable giving gaming companies access to the group's master recordings -- a necessary step in adding the band to any game.

While it's depressing that we won't see "Stairway" in any of our virtual set lists any time soon, I'd definitely prefer no Zeppelin to horrendously-covered Zeppelin. Activision and Harmonix's efforts to gain access to the band's master tapes at least demonstrate that the companies have finally stopped relying on terrible covers when they're unable to get the original tune.

But some bands have resisted the call of the new medium. Led Zeppelin's thundering riffs are among the most sought after by music game makers, but the group's guitarist, Jimmy Page, and his bandmates have repeatedly turned down offers from both Activision and MTV, says Peter Mensch, a partner at Q Prime Management, which manages Mr. Page, along with Metallica and other acts.

The sticking point: The band isn't comfortable with the prospect of granting outsiders access to its master tapes, a necessary step in creating the games. "It ain't about the money," Mr. Mensch says.

MTV, for its part, has started making a bigger push to capitalize on the public awareness of new music releases by making downloadable Rock Band versions of songs available on the same day the traditional versions are released on CDs and iTunes. Since Rock Band came out in November, MTV says it has sold more than 15 million downloadable songs for about $2 each.