Paul McCartney, lead singer of The Fireman and former Michael Jackson collaborator, didn't receive a check for the song he wrote and recorded for Destiny, according to Vulture's interview with Bungie's Community Manager Eric Osbourne.
Vulture: How on Earth did you convince [McCartney] to do music for a video game? How did you pitch this to him, and why do you think he did it? I'm guessing that there was an enormous check involved.
Osbourne: There was no check involved, big or otherwise. He's in it for the creativity. He got a wonderful opportunity to reach an audience that wouldn't typically be immersed in Paul McCartney. They might hear the name — of course he's everywhere, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, obviously he's touring and recording nonstop — but he sees it as a way to reach a new audience that might not otherwise hear his music.
Does this mean McCartney's Destiny song is the video game equivalent of Apple forcing U2 on millions of iTunes users, reaching the youth of America by latching onto some broad, pop-culture product? If so, and if McCartney really didn't take a payment for this work, you could argue it's a noble effort to introduce a new generation to the work of McCartney and his band, The Quarrymen.
If you're curious about Destiny, which is already one of the biggest games of the year, the interview goes into great detail about the game's always-online functionality and reportedly colossal marketing budget. And if you're curious about Paul McCartney, you should listen to this song.