Rock Band: A New Opportunity for Indie Music Exposure

Monday, 20 July 2009, 0 Comments

A very exciting announcement was made within the past few days. In the coming months, indie artists will be able to create their own Rock Band note-charts and then sell their songs through the game. This 'music' video-game phenomenon may be insulting to some musicians who find it to be dumbed down. While I tend to agree with them that it is turning music into a novelty as opposed to showing children, well people of all ages really, that music is more than just hitting 4 (or 5) color coded buttons, I do think this is a new marketplace opportunity for musicians to expose themselves to a larger audience then they could have typically done before. Think of this as just another type of social media....

Independent artists will be able to use the XNA Creator's Club to produce the Rock Band note-charts for their music and sell them in game later this year. Bands will use their original song masters and generate a MIDI file that produces the game 'gems' to which players can follow along. Tracks must pass a review process with other XNA members, and then a final approval from MTV Games. Songs will be sold for between 50 cents and $3, with the artist getting a 30% cut after MTV and Microsoft take their cut. The best tracks will also make their way to the Wii and PS3 after a 30-day exclusive period.

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