The Rock Band Network Music Store Goes Live
Money. I Wanna be Rich. Money for Nothing. Funky Dollar Bill. Mo' Money Mo' Problems. Take the Money and Run.
Published: March 4, 2010
Yep, if there is one thing those folks in the music-game genre industry know, it's you sure can milk a cow until nothing but skim milk comes out, and then you can keep going and you'll get blood out of there, and after that maybe even some bile or spinal fluid if you keep pumping. Sorry. that sounds a little cynical....
Truth is, we ARE somewhat excited to see the launch of the Rock Band Music Store, since it will give millions of budding Wyld Stallions-like bands the chance to get their music heard by any Xbox 360 user who feels like paying out $100 for an XNA subscription! and if THEY like it, well then the artists can set a price for their song and have it added to the store! They even get to keep 30% of the sales (which is actually pretty fair). This service ha already been taken advantage of by a number of bands and labels, and truly is an open opportunity for anyone to at least attempt to get more exposure for their musical ventures. Of course it also adds potentially exponentially more content to the Rock Band franchise, which can be both a boon and a bane.
“The Rock Band Network Music Store gives artists at any level the opportunity to reach new fans through our deeply engaging interactive platform,” said Paul DeGooyer, senior vice president of Electronic Games and Music for MTV Networks Music Group. “This new pathway for discovery is a huge win for passionate music fans, as well as an opportunity for artists to promote themselves while positively impacting their bottom line.”
Artists who submit songs for the Rock Band Network Music Store are able to choose from multiple pricing tiers for individual tracks and receive a royalty of 30 percent of the retail selling price (excluding tax) for every track purchased through the RBN Store. There are currently more than 100 songs available for purchase in the Rock Band Network Music Store from artists including The Shins, The Hold Steady, The Main Drag, Bang Camaro, of Montreal, Jonathan Coulton, Skeleton Witch, 3 Inches of Blood, Lacuna Coil, Stroke 9, and Steve Vai*. There are more than 300 artists in the RBN pipeline, with additional tracks already on the way from Flight of the Conchords, The Smashing Pumpkins, Twin Atlantic, All That Remains, Clutch, Prong, The Gaslight Anthem and many more coming soon.
With more than 1,100 tracks available to date in the original Rock Band platform, the Rock Band Network Music Store will immediately boost the number of available songs, further securing MTV Games and Harmonix’s position as the leading provider of downloadable content for music-based video games.
“The response to and interest in the Rock Band Network has been even greater than we originally expected,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems. “We’re very excited about the number of bands and labels who have geared up to participate in the Rock Band Network, as well as the number of enthusiasts who have signed up to participate in the Peer Review and Playtest processes.”
Since launching the Rock Band Network open beta in January, more than 4,300 new users have registered as authors and peer reviewers on Creators.RockBand.com, the site where songs are submitted before they are approved to be sold. Authors create Rock Band song packages and submit them to the site to go through two processes: Playtest, where the community delivers feedback on a work in progress track, and Peer Review, where revised and final drafts are vetted and approved for sale. During Peer Review, songs are tested for playability, adherence to the authoring standards of Rock Band and checked to check for violations of XNA Creators Club Online community standards (vulgarity, adult content, original content, etc.).
Peer reviewers have the unique opportunity to play Rock Band Network content for free, well in advance of a track’s commercial release. These fans can help shape the track’s final versions, providing crucial feedback and flagging issues throughout Playtest and Peer Review that ensures songs are up to the high standards set by Harmonix. Any music fan with Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and an internet connected PC can join the Playtest and Peer Review processes by purchasing an XNA Creators Club Online Premium membership through http://creators.xna.com/membership.
Once tracks are approved, they are transferred to the Rock Band Network Music Store, an in-game music marketplace where the millions of Rock Band fans will be able to explore this constantly growing set of new content. In an exciting turn of events, for the first time in the Rock Band franchise, users will be able to download sample gameplay of each track to try before they buy! Songs will debut exclusively on Xbox 360 for 30 days. A selection of standout tracks will then be made available on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system from Sony Computer Entertainment America and the Wii™ home videogame console from Nintendo.
Thanks for letting those 360 users weed out the crappy stuff, Harmonix!
How to get started:
· Wondering How to Submit a Song?
Scroll down to “Adding a song to the pipeline."
· Want to Become a Peer Reviewer?
Get to it TPS'ers! I want to rock out with my cock out to your garage band goodness!
Truth is, we ARE somewhat excited to see the launch of the Rock Band Music Store, since it will give millions of budding Wyld Stallions-like bands the chance to get their music heard by any Xbox 360 user who feels like paying out $100 for an XNA subscription! and if THEY like it, well then the artists can set a price for their song and have it added to the store! They even get to keep 30% of the sales (which is actually pretty fair). This service ha already been taken advantage of by a number of bands and labels, and truly is an open opportunity for anyone to at least attempt to get more exposure for their musical ventures. Of course it also adds potentially exponentially more content to the Rock Band franchise, which can be both a boon and a bane.
“The Rock Band Network Music Store gives artists at any level the opportunity to reach new fans through our deeply engaging interactive platform,” said Paul DeGooyer, senior vice president of Electronic Games and Music for MTV Networks Music Group. “This new pathway for discovery is a huge win for passionate music fans, as well as an opportunity for artists to promote themselves while positively impacting their bottom line.”
Artists who submit songs for the Rock Band Network Music Store are able to choose from multiple pricing tiers for individual tracks and receive a royalty of 30 percent of the retail selling price (excluding tax) for every track purchased through the RBN Store. There are currently more than 100 songs available for purchase in the Rock Band Network Music Store from artists including The Shins, The Hold Steady, The Main Drag, Bang Camaro, of Montreal, Jonathan Coulton, Skeleton Witch, 3 Inches of Blood, Lacuna Coil, Stroke 9, and Steve Vai*. There are more than 300 artists in the RBN pipeline, with additional tracks already on the way from Flight of the Conchords, The Smashing Pumpkins, Twin Atlantic, All That Remains, Clutch, Prong, The Gaslight Anthem and many more coming soon.
With more than 1,100 tracks available to date in the original Rock Band platform, the Rock Band Network Music Store will immediately boost the number of available songs, further securing MTV Games and Harmonix’s position as the leading provider of downloadable content for music-based video games.
“The response to and interest in the Rock Band Network has been even greater than we originally expected,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems. “We’re very excited about the number of bands and labels who have geared up to participate in the Rock Band Network, as well as the number of enthusiasts who have signed up to participate in the Peer Review and Playtest processes.”
Since launching the Rock Band Network open beta in January, more than 4,300 new users have registered as authors and peer reviewers on Creators.RockBand.com, the site where songs are submitted before they are approved to be sold. Authors create Rock Band song packages and submit them to the site to go through two processes: Playtest, where the community delivers feedback on a work in progress track, and Peer Review, where revised and final drafts are vetted and approved for sale. During Peer Review, songs are tested for playability, adherence to the authoring standards of Rock Band and checked to check for violations of XNA Creators Club Online community standards (vulgarity, adult content, original content, etc.).
Peer reviewers have the unique opportunity to play Rock Band Network content for free, well in advance of a track’s commercial release. These fans can help shape the track’s final versions, providing crucial feedback and flagging issues throughout Playtest and Peer Review that ensures songs are up to the high standards set by Harmonix. Any music fan with Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and an internet connected PC can join the Playtest and Peer Review processes by purchasing an XNA Creators Club Online Premium membership through http://creators.xna.com/membership.
Once tracks are approved, they are transferred to the Rock Band Network Music Store, an in-game music marketplace where the millions of Rock Band fans will be able to explore this constantly growing set of new content. In an exciting turn of events, for the first time in the Rock Band franchise, users will be able to download sample gameplay of each track to try before they buy! Songs will debut exclusively on Xbox 360 for 30 days. A selection of standout tracks will then be made available on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system from Sony Computer Entertainment America and the Wii™ home videogame console from Nintendo.
Thanks for letting those 360 users weed out the crappy stuff, Harmonix!
How to get started:
· Wondering How to Submit a Song?
Scroll down to “Adding a song to the pipeline."
· Want to Become a Peer Reviewer?
Get to it TPS'ers! I want to rock out with my cock out to your garage band goodness!
