If you’ve played Grand Theft Auto 5, made by Rockstar Games, you’ll no doubt be aware of the ability to switch between the three protagonists in the game. Whenever you make the switch, various scenes will play depicting what that character has just been doing – ranging from the mad to the mundane.

The switch scenes for protagonist Trevor Philips are by far the most varied. One in particular shows him outside a nightclub – it’s left unclear whether Philips left of his own volition or was ejected from the premises – shouting at the bouncer that “He ain’t a real DJ anyway. F***ing CDs? Come on!”.

Philips will therefore no doubt approve of Rockstar Games’s latest venture – releasing vinyl. The collection of five 12″ records sells for €150 and is a collaboration with Ibiza superclub Circoloco. Tracks come from Jamie Jones, Melodymann, Carl Craig and space-loving Kerri Chandler – at the equivalent of €7.50 per track, someone’s earning a lot out of this…

Now, forgive us for spoiling this apparent love-in, but the question must surely be posed. Why the collaboration between Circoloco and Rockstar Games? The attraction of such a tie-up is no mystery for Circoloco – Rockstar Games is part of Take Two Interactive, a massive company which made at least £2.5billion in 2021.

But what was in it for Rockstar? Not so much, on the face of it – so we contacted our anonymous industry insider for his take. He said “It’s access to a young audience. The way music is consumed has changed. That’s why everyone wants to get their music onto the Grand Theft Auto radio stations. The vinyl thing taps further into that – and having the buying power of the likes of Rockstar will no doubt have made the bumpy process of getting it onto vinyl a little smoother.”.

This isn’t much comfort to Grand Theft Auto fans, however. A number of GTA games were unhappy recently with the botched remasters of a number of older games, such as San Andreas and Vice City. Part of the reason for this was much of the original music no longer being included due to expired licenses. It seems a company with a multi-billion pound income couldn’t be bothered to acquire new ones…