How to Save Rock Band (And Maybe Even Rock Itself)
With the reportedly lackluster sales of the latest Guitar Hero game and the impending sale of Rock Band makers Harmonix to one of four bidding companies, gaming journalists seem to be overflowing with eagerness to trumpet the death of the music game genre. I’ve yet to understand this mentality within gaming circles, as if there are still people with the “go play a real instrument, dork” mindset as they try and concentrate on their real space marine fantasy soap opera.
But that’s not what I want to focus on today. My beef is with the music industry, specifically record companies who are always bemoaning the loss of revenue due to piracy and other digital means. Quite frankly, the music industry is doomed if they allow this video game genre to crash and burn. And yet the fact that they haven’t embraced it as wholeheartedly as they should just proves their level of cluelessness. If they want to increase revenue, especially from product collecting dust in their vaults, the solution is right here and they’re going to let it die?
I know it’s unrealistic, but in a perfect world where businesses want to make money, all the record companies need to join forces and create a shell corporation which then purchases Harmonix. Give Harmonix carte blanche to license music, and then PROMOTE ALL YOUR ARTISTS’ MUSIC WITHIN THE GAME. Appropriate new releases should have album/Rock Band bundle downloads. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to buy a new album in stores and get three tracks from it in Rock Band with purchase.
Even if a company not related to the record industry manages to purchase Harmonix, licensing a track to Rock Band (or Guitar Hero) is simply win-win. The record company gets paid for the license, and it’s the only existing digital file of a song that’s both piracy-proof and useless anywhere else. You can’t burn tracks from RB/GH to a CD or import them into an iPod, which means if the consumer ever wants to hear the song elsewhere, it has to be purchased. Again. For an industry that is constantly crying over lost revenue due to piracy, this should be a revelation. It’s the very definition of new media. As gamers we’re buying a song which could potentially lead to buying the song again. That’s pure genius, and yet, record execs don’t seem to be grasping it.
I like music, I do… but I don’t “follow” it. Unless you seek it out, there’s no way of really staying on top of what’s released each week. It’s not like movies where even if you don’t go to the movies you know what’s playing thanks to online and TV advertising. I’m a busy guy. I don’t subscribe to Spin or Rolling Stone, so my knowledge of music these days essentially comes from Satellite Radio for about 15 minutes per day as I’m driving to and from work, and whoever the musical guest is on Saturday Night Live.
Now here are some of this week’s new album releases:
Alter Bridge (Myles Kennedy & Creed members) | AB III
Susan Boyle | The Gift
Julie Christmas | The Bad Wife
The Concretes | WYWH
Reba McEntire | All The Woman I Am
Aaron Neville | I Know I’ve Been Changed
Violens | Amoral
Weekend | Sports
Gary Wilson | Electric Endicott
Of those, I know who Sarah Boyle, Reba McEntire and Aaron Neville are. And Creed (shudder). But the rest? No effing clue. Yet they’re all listed as Pop/Rock, a genre I obviously enjoy. Why not promote them within a game tailored toward people who like pop and/or rock?
Now, last week’s Bon Jovi DLC release in Rock Band? Right on. I get to play songs I like, and it made me aware of an album release that I didn’t know was coming. That’s the way to do it. MORE LABELS SHOULD DO THIS.
Also out this week is Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010:
| Often credited as being one of the all-time greatest guitarists, and known amongst his peers as one of the all-time greatest collaborators. The ultimate Clapton collaboration took place on June 26, 2010 at Chicago’s Toyota Park. For one day only, Clapton gathered the past, present, and future of guitar music onto one stage for an incredible all-day musical event in front of a crowd of over 27,000. The third Crossroads Guitar Festival was a sold out, 11-hour tour de force with all profits benefiting The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a treatment and education facility founded by Clapton for chemically dependent persons. Includes performances by Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, Steve Winwood, BB King, Jeff Beck, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy and many others |
Now, you can’t tell me that’s not a perfect match for Rock Band. If you included some tracks in the game, it then makes me aware of both the album to go purchase and the charity to support. How is this not abundantly clear to the people in charge? Even just one track, ONE, would generate awareness. It’s for charity, for pete’s sake.
I don’t know which companies are interested in Harmonix, but I would hope one of them is Apple. It would seem that if anyone can make this work, they could. Integrate Rock Band with iTunes? Makes perfect sense to me.
This idea makes far too much sense to ever be considered here, in the real world, where record executives live and make decisions.