Rock Band Uploads Turn Players into Stars
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New music platform allows users to upload their own music onto Rock Band.
Harmonix has made a bold but brilliant move forward this week by creating a platform that allows anyone and everyone to upload playable versions of their music onto Rock Band for Xbox 360 download.
The pioneering Rock Band Network gives users the tools to transpose their songs into the familiar time-synched button mashing on the replica guitar which has made Rock Band a billion-dollar franchise. Once the song has been created, members of the Rock Band Creators community will review the song giving constructive criticism and feedback.
Users will be able to make adjustments to their tracks in order to make them more playable within the Rock Band system on guitar, drums and vocals. Once the song passes a final peer review, it will be uploaded onto the Xbox LIVE Marketplace where Rock Band players will be able to download the track and play it on their system.
Currently in Alpha testing, the Rock Band Network will is expected to move into Beta by August with the first user generated content being available to download hopefully by mid-September. The concept of giving the power of Rock Band over to consumers is something that has been touted since November 2007.
In an interview with the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM), Rock Band CEO Alex Rigopulos expounded the idea of supporting small groups through Rock Band who might not otherwise get a break in the music industry. “You can go after niche artists that have an intensely passionate niche audience that aren’t big enough artists to justify a presence on a retail disc soundtrack but there’s definitely a passionate audience for and the economics work out that you can support those artists on the downloadable content medium.”
For an initial outlay of $500, the future of Rock Band lies in users being able to sell their music through Xbox LIVE for between 50 cents and $3. Given the enormous download market, which was clocked at 30 million downloaded tracks as of December last year, the potential for profit sharing through the medium is huge.
Watch out Metallica, the next Rock sensation could be hitting the virtual airwaves in matter of months.
