Report Reference: 0171_Licensed_Music_Catalogue Series: 02 Development Date: 14 May 2026 Citation Style: Harvard Language: British English
Few elements of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise are as culturally defining as its licensed music catalogues. Since the original 1997 title, Rockstar Games has used in-game radio as a world-building instrument, layering its open environments with curated soundtracks that evoke specific eras, regions and subcultures. With Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA VI) scheduled to launch on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S (Rockstar Games, 2026), expectations for its licensed music catalogue are unprecedented. The return to Vice City β a fictionalised, contemporary Miami within the state of Leonida β invites a soundtrack that mirrors the city's multicultural identity, particularly its strong Latin, Caribbean, hip-hop, rock and country traditions. This report examines Rockstar's heritage of licensed music curation, drawing on the precedent set by Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), and projects the likely scope, genre balance and curatorial direction of GTA VI's catalogue.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has, over its history, transformed the in-game radio from a passing novelty into a defining commercial and artistic component. By GTA V (2013), the soundtrack had reached an industry-leading scale: 16 stations of curated music, two talk-radio channels, and a final selection of 241 licensed tracks, refined down from an initial pool of more than 900 candidate songs (Wikipedia, 2024a). Music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich described the selection process as one of building atmosphere β the music had to "reflect the environment in which the game is set" β and he emphasised that GTA V's California setting required a sharper curatorial discernment than its New York-inflected predecessor (Wikipedia, 2024a).
The stations spanned reggae, hip-hop, hardcore punk, pop, classic rock, country, funk, electronic and Latin alternative music, each fronted by a thematically appropriate DJ β Kenny Loggins for Los Santos Rock Radio, Flying Lotus for FlyLo FM, and DJ Pooh for West Coast Classics, among others. Some artists, such as Flying Lotus, composed original work specifically for the in-game station, a practice Rockstar has since expanded with bespoke EPs from Dr. Dre, The Alchemist, Oh No, Moodymann and DΔM-FunK in subsequent updates (Wikipedia, 2024a). This commissioning model is now an entrenched part of the franchise's musical identity.
Given the trajectory established by GTA IV (which featured approximately 200 tracks) and GTA V (241 tracks), it is reasonable to anticipate that GTA VI will significantly exceed both β particularly in light of a development budget reported at over US$1β2 billion (Wikipedia, 2026). Industry analysts at DFC Intelligence have projected the game will generate US$3.2 billion in first-year revenues (Wikipedia, 2026), and the marketing for the title has already leveraged music as a central tool: Tom Petty's "Love Is a Long Road" featured in the first trailer triggered a near-37,000 per cent surge in Spotify streams, while the second trailer's use of The Pointer Sisters' "Hot Together", Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight", Tammy Wynette's "Talkin' to Myself Again" and the Haitian compas band Zenglen's "Child Support" signalled a deliberately eclectic, period-spanning palette (Wikipedia, 2026).
Industry observers expect a track count in the range of 300 to 500 licensed songs distributed across 18 to 25 radio stations, alongside two or three talk-radio channels in the GTA tradition. Self Radio β the player-customisable station introduced on PC for GTA V β is also widely expected to return.
Vice City's Miami-inspired setting and Leonida's Florida-derived geography dictate a soundtrack heavily weighted towards genres associated with the region's cultural fabric.
Vice City's demographics β heavily Cuban, Haitian, Dominican and broader Latin American β make Latin music indispensable. Expected sub-genres include reggaeton (Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin), Latin trap (Anuel AA, Eladio CarriΓ³n), salsa and Cuban son (Celia Cruz reissues, Buena Vista Social Club), Miami bass and freestyle, and Haitian compas β the inclusion of Zenglen in trailer two strongly signals a dedicated Haitian/Caribbean station (Wikipedia, 2026).
Florida and the South have produced some of hip-hop's most distinctive regional sounds. Anticipated representation includes Miami bass pioneers (2 Live Crew, Trick Daddy, Trina), contemporary Florida rap (Kodak Black, Rick Ross, Denzel Curry, City Girls), Southern trap (Future, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane), and a likely Rockstar-commissioned station tied to the in-game label "Only Raw Records" run by characters Boobie Ike and Dre'Quan Priest (Rockstar Games, 2026).
Following the lineage of Los Santos Rock Radio, GTA VI is expected to feature a classic-rock station drawing on artists such as Tom Petty (already foregrounded in trailer one), Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top and The Allman Brothers β a regionally appropriate Southern-rock catalogue. An alternative or indie-rock counterpart, akin to Radio Mirror Park, is also probable.
The first GTA V country station, Rebel Radio, was a critical success; GTA VI will almost certainly continue the tradition with both classic country (Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette β confirmed in trailer two) and contemporary alt-country and Americana (Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall).
Expected additional formats include electronic/dance (a probable Miami-house station referencing the city's club legacy), pop (a Non-Stop-Pop FM successor), reggae and dancehall, jazz/funk, and at least one bespoke commissioned station similar to GTA V's "The Lab".
The licensed music catalogue for Grand Theft Auto VI is poised to become the most ambitious soundtrack ever assembled for an interactive entertainment product. Building on Rockstar's mature curatorial methodology, refined across two decades and culminating in GTA V's 241-track, 16-station catalogue, GTA VI's Vice City setting demands an expanded and genre-diverse selection emphasising Latin, Caribbean, hip-hop, country and rock traditions. Trailer evidence already confirms a wide tonal range, from classic country to Haitian compas, and the franchise's established practice of commissioning original work from major artists suggests that GTA VI's catalogue will not merely license existing material but actively shape the contemporary music landscape, much as its predecessors have done.
Rockstar Games (2026) Grand Theft Auto VI. Available at: https://www.rockstargames.com/VI (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Wikipedia (2024a) Music of Grand Theft Auto V. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Grand_Theft_Auto_V (Accessed: 14 May 2026).
Wikipedia (2026) Grand Theft Auto VI. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_VI (Accessed: 14 May 2026).