Mashable: Rock Band to Get its Own Music Marketplace

by Jennifer Van Grove

Put the Rock Band Network on your radar right now. Whether you’re a music maker or Rock Band groupie, this brand new MTV initiative is about to change the hit game for the better so that everyone can get a piece of the pie.

Rock Band Network, currently in closed beta, should launch to the public in August (with in-game sales later in the year), and allow for any wanne-be or tried-and-true beat master, music mixer, or soulful singer to add their music to the Rock Band catalogue for user purchase and game play.

MTV has infused Rock Band Network with professional utilities to enable a community of music makers to get their work to the masses and profit by it. Paul DeGooyer, a senior VP with MTV games, tells Billboard that “We’re talking about a set of serious professional tools to allow people on the front line of writing and recording songs to completely control their destiny with respect to interactive products and then giving them direct access to the download store.”

Now that’s huge. Here’s how the process will work. Artists, labels, and unsigned types will submit their musical machinations via upload to the new site. Songs will be subject to review, and then Rock Band-ified by Harmonix freelancers/developers, eventually getting added to a distinct in-game Xbox Live store. Songs will be priced by creators — anywhere between 50 cents and $3 — who will earn 30% of all sales.

Essentially it’s as if MTV replicated the Apple App Store model and applied it their hit Harmonix product, Rock Band. The model is proven, the idea is sound, and the interest will be huge. You can expect this to not only revolutionize the Rock Band experience, but to create a new ecosystem and community around music making for Rock Band.

www.mashable.com

Posted by Ted • Friday, July 17, 2009 .

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