Rock Band Network Music Store is ready for sifting

by: Tina - posted: 3/5/2010 11:20:00 AM

Harmonix and MTV Games’ plans for opening Rock Band gameplay to a wider spread of the public (aka musicians, record labels, etc.) have been officially launched today. The Rock Band Network Music Store allows said privileged members of the public to turn their recordings into gameplay files playable on Rock Band titles.

An Artist-of-the-Month feature will begin in April in conjunction with T-Mobile to select the most talented artists featuring their music in the Rock Band Network.

The beta has seen over 4,300 registered users as either authors or peer reviewers, and there are already over 100 songs available for download.

Read on for the details, including a list of the songs that are live in the Rock Band Network Music Store.

The Rock Band Network Music Store Goes Live
More than 100 songs available from artists ranging from The Hold Steady to The Shins
More than 4,000 New Authors and Peer Reviewers Registered Since Open Beta Launch in January

CAMBRIDGE, MA and NEW YORK, NY – March 4, 2010 - Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), today announced that the Rock Band Network Music Storeopens to the public today,giving Rock Band fans and music lovers a new avenue to discover music and providing musicians and labels the opportunity to produce and promote tracks for the Rock Band platform. The Rock Band Network, announced in July,is aground-breaking initiative that gives musicians, publishers and record labels the ability to author their original recordings into gameplay files to promote and sell their music as playable Rock Band tracks through the Rock Band Network Music Store (RBN Store).

In addition, it was announced today that T-Mobile has signed on as launch partner of the Rock Band Network to develop an “Artist-of-the-Month” feature beginning in April 2010 to help fans identify and connect with new talent in the Rock Band Network.

“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.

*see below list for full day one track listings!

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 http://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.
How to get started:

* Wondering How to Submit a Song? http://creators.rockband.com/docs/Website Scroll down to “Adding a song to the pipeline."
* Want to Become a Peer Reviewer? http://creators.rockband.com/docs/Playtest_Process


Songs Now Available in the Rock Band Network Music Store

Song / Band

A Drug Against War / KMFDM

Angel Lust / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!

Another California Song / Zack Wilson

Arigato / Gandhi

Australia / The Shins

Backyard Buildyard / Steve and Lindley Band

Battles and Brotherhood / 3 Inches of Blood

Buried Cold / Rose of Jericho

Burn it Down / Five Finger Death Punch

California / The Kimberly Trip

Can I Stay / Stephanie Hatfield and Hot Mess

Cease and Desist / The Main Drag

Children of December / The Slip

Creepy Doll / Jonathan Coulton

Crushed Beyond Dust / Skeletonwitch

Day of Mourning / Despised Icon

Disengage / Suicide Silence

Don't Let Me Down (Slowly) / The Main Drag

Dove Nets / The Main Drag

Drunken Lullabies (Live) / Flogging Molly

End Quote / Full-Source

Even Rats / The Slip

Fade Away / Of Last Resort

Far Away from Heaven / Free Spirit

Fight Back / Ron Wasserman

For the Love of God (Live) / Steve Vai

Fortune / Kristin Hersh

Get the Hell Out of Here / Steve Vai

Give / The Cold Goodnight

Goth Girls / MC Frontalot

Grumpytown / Speck

He Sleeps in a Grove / Amberian Dawn

Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse / of Montreal

Homosuperior / The Main Drag

Horses in Heaven / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!

How We'd Look On Paper / The Main Drag

Hyperbole / Glass Hammer

Icarus' Song / Furly

If Not Now When / Color Theory

If Trucks Drank Beer / Error 404 feat. CJ Watson

Ikea / Jonathan Coulton

In Memories / Giant Target

Inside Out / Nick Gallant

It's Good / The Humans

It's Not You, It's Everyone / Full-Source

Juke Joint Jezebel / KMFDM

Kick Some Ass '09 / Stroke 9

Lady in a Blue Dress / Senses Fail

Lemon Juice / Scratching The Itch

Lilith in Libra / You Shriek

Limousine / Stars of Boulevard

Liquid Smog (StompBox Remix) / WaveGroup Feat. Becca Neun

Little Black Backpack '09 / Stroke 9

Liverpool Judies / The Fisticuffs

Love During Wartime / The Main Drag

Mechanical Love / In This Moment

Megatron / The Main Drag

Mississippi Kite / Kristin Hersh

Moonboy / The Dirty Love Band

Nancy Drew / Pink Flag

No Direction / Longwave

No Heroes / You Shriek

Not My Fault / Ultra Saturday

Ox / Zack Wilson

Paper Valentines / James William Roy

Parhelia / Heaven Ablaze

Persistence of Vision / Matter in the Medium

Race The Hourglass / Audio Fiction

Red Sky At Morn / Full-Source

Requiem for a Dying Song / Flogging Molly

Rip'er / Lead the Dead

River of Tuoni / Amberian Dawn

Running for the Razors / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!

Rx / Wounded Soul

Sequestered in Memphis / The Hold Steady

Sestri Levante / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!

Sick / Bif Naked

Signs / Giant Target

Sissyfuss / Surprise Me Mr. Davis

Sleep On / Glass Hammer

Stand for Something / Skindred

Still There / Bojibian

Superhero! / Ultra Saturday

Survive / Lacuna Coil

Tadpole Search and Rescue / Chaunce DeLeon and The Fountain of Choof

Talk About / Dear and the Headlights

Talk Them Down / The Main Drag

Teeth, Face, Outerspace / The Main Drag

The Attitude Song / Steve Vai

The Buddy Disease / Scratching The Itch

The Complexity of Light / Children of Nova

The Future Soon / Jonathan Coulton

The Heist / DnA's Evolution

Tongue Twister Typo / Blackmarket

Top Back / Alias Unknown

Tricky Girl / The Main Drag

Trippolette / Andrew Buch

Turn Yourself Around / Nick Gallant

VP of Booty Reports / Speck

Watch It All Go Down / Foreword

We Are the Best / C&O

Whatever Is Wrong With You / Marillion

What's Your Favorite Dinosaur? / The Main Drag

You Got That / The Everybody

You're My Everything / Scratching The Itch