Over at MTVNews.com I have an interview with Ivan Pavlovich the main guy at Rockstar Games responsible for “Grand Theft Auto IV“’s 214-song soundtrack.
When I met with him last week he was able to tell me things such as:
- How and when Rockstar assembles a “GTA” soundtrack
- Why rap music is the most difficult to include
- What 50 Cent thought of being asked to have his music in the game
- How Pavlovich felt when soundtrack details leaked (”My heart died”)
- The obvious and not-so-obvious ways “GTA IV” presents and mixes music differently than its predecessors
But he dodged telling me:
- Whether Rockstar would include new radio stations with the exclusive upcoming Xbox 360 downloadable content
- How many songs are in the game (I counted them in the instruction manual instead.)
You can learn plenty more about the musical makings of “GTA IV” in my article.
There is, however, one thing you won’t learn:
- Why doesn’t Niko Bellic have an iPod or a Walkman or any portable music device?
According to Pavlovich, a feature like that was considered, but he didn’t have the information about why it didn’t make the cut.

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