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Rock Band Network: get your music in the game
Find out what it is and how it works
Ben Rogerson, Mon 24 May 2010, 9:20 am UTC
WaveGroup is a San Francisco-based audio production company that's been heavily involved in producing music for both the Guitar Hero and Rock band franchises.
Recently, it's been working with games developer Harmonix on the Rock Band Network, a new distribution platform that enables you to get your songs into Rock Band - and into the hands of anyone who plays it.
We spoke to Will Littlejohn, President/CEO of WaveGroup, and he explained what Rock Band Network is, what you need to do to get involved and what kind of impact it might have on the wider music business.
Can you explain, in a nutshell, what the Rock Band Network is and does?
WL: "Basically, The Rock Band Network is an avenue for artists and independent labels to distribute their music as playable Rock Band tracks in the form of downloadable content. For the first time, anyone has the ability to make their music playable in Rock Band."
What was your involvement in the creation of the Rock Band Network, and how are you contributing to it now?
WL: "WaveGroup was a part of the original beta team, so we were involved in the early stages of the tools and website development. Harmonix approached us and thought we were a natural fit for the program because of our history in music game development.
"We've worked with Harmonix on many music titles over the years, and this seemed like a very exciting opportunity for us. Over the course of the closed and open beta period, we worked with the Harmonix crew as well as other beta teams in fleshing out the whole process of moving a song through development and into the RBN store."
"Currently we're very active in bringing all types of artists and their music into the Rock Band Network, acting as the licensing agent and production arm for those who choose not to do it themselves. There are currently around 30 songs authored by WaveGroup which are in the RBN store."
What hardware and software is required for people to get their own music onto Rock Band Network, and how much does it cost?
WL: "One of the really great things about this whole program is the surprisingly low cost to do this work in terms of hardware and software. You really just need an Xbox, a computer, an Xbox Live Gold account, a Microsoft XNA creators account, some inexpensive digital audio workstation software, and some free plug-ins.
"The Xbox Live and XNA accounts cost around $150 a year, and the audio software, Reaper is available for $60. The free plug-ins are available on the RBN Creators Club website.
