The Missing Use Of Music Games

Harmonix are magicians – seriously, they really are. There I was playing Rock Band 2 with a friend last night, admittedly a little drunk, and suddenly a fiver went missing from my account, just like that. Not only that, but I swear this has happened before, several times. I just don’t know what happens; I’m searching through the music store and I watch as my money disappears as new songs download onto my black beast. How do they do this?

With Rock Band, Guitar Hero and SingStar; Harmonix, Activision and Sony respectively have created a consistent stream of revenue. Something that will provide a weekly surge of cash for a relatively inexpensive addition; it’s just acquiring the licence, creating and testing the songs and shoving it out onto the network. Okay, maybe not that simple, but if they haven’t set up an easy input method for creating new songs I would be greatly surprised. The point that I am laboriously trying to make is that if it wasn’t profitable for them to churn out the remarkable amount of DLC that they do, then they probably wouldn’t.

So I ask, why is it still so limited? Don’t get me wrong, I love getting the chance to spend my cash on the latest releases and rock out to a bit of Iron Maiden one week before easing back into some Maroon 5, but it does start to eat up a lot of funds over the weeks. Surely a lower priced option would be a perfect route to take with such an established system now. I am going to single out Harmonix here as Rock Band is most suitable and updated store of the three; imagine being able to purchase songs at just 29p or a pack of 4 for a quid, how could they do this? Well, it seems quite obvious to me; use smaller bands. I personally love hearing new music, playing songs on Rock Band that I haven’t heard before and either loving or hating them, why not do more of it? Keep on releasing all of the big named tracks, but get smaller or even unheard of bands and groups on board. Surely it’s a win-win; Harmonix should be able to get the licenses for such songs at a lower rate than the more well-known bands, and it provides huge exposure and publicity for the bands in question.

Tracks at a lower price become impulse buys for customers; Apple have proven that low-cost will often mean big sales with its App-store. The release of the usual weekly DLC could continue to roll out like always, but with another wad of songs as a cheaper alternative of musical talent.

Why stop there though? My brain got thinking and I knew that there would be a better way, a more effective way of doing it, and there is. The big phenomenon at the moment is user-input, allowing users to rate things, favourite things, create things, anything that engages a user into a system. The Rock Band Music Zone, or something along those lines; where local, unsigned and lesser-known bands can have their tracks converted for Rock Band. Users can then purchase songs here, rate them, create playlists of their favourite songs, recommend songs to other users, bands can sign up for their tracks to be considered, there can be weekly charts of best rated and most download, I think you get the picture.

What do you think? Would you use a service like this? What price point would the tracks have to be for you to use it?

Share and Enjoy:

20 Comments

radiobridge (537 TSA Points)
Member since: May 2009
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 19:34

Very good point,for unsigned bands it would help get their music noticed. For example if your songs converted for a free play and if you like you buy.We the rock god guitarists can also rate the song etc for others hence a weekly chart. Wouldn’t surprise me if some of the bigger bands haven’t thought of away to really push their songs on all these games,with the likes of Radiohead and NIN finding new ways to release music how about brand new material just for these games.pay what you want scheme would be nice!
rht992 (1948 TSA Points)
Member since: Apr 2009
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 21:02

dude you like maroon 5? thats bad like really bad but a least your ideas cool
- LiquescentShadow (1354 TSA Points)
  Member since: Dec 2008
  Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:07
  
  What’s wrong with Maroon 5?
  - kevatron400 (1360 TSA Points)
    Member since: Dec 2008
    Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 03:01
    
    I’m going to pretend I didn’t read that so we can carry on on speaking terms.
- djhsecondnature (Staff)
  Member since: Forever
  Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:19
  
  I am a man of many tastes.
  - Gamoc (Content Manager)
    Member since: Forever
    Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 10:48
    
    Me too!
    
    It’s ok, you’re not alone, I like them too.
LiquescentShadow (1354 TSA Points)
Member since: Dec 2008
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:06

Sounds like something that would really catch on. I’d definitely use a service like this.
Manorhowze (1672 TSA Points)
Member since: Dec 2008
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:09

I like your line of thought with this. It would encourage more sales and promote lesser known bands or artists.
xdarkmagician (334 TSA Points)
Member since: May 2009
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:33

It’s a good idea, but you’re not addressing the true issue, why do we get bored with these songs so quickly? If the makers would only include something more then a game of musical simon says maybe we wouldn’t have to fill the empty void with new DLC every week. Lets face it, a game that requires fresh weekly content is broken. Why not add in depth RPG elements, or randomized color/button selection,or something. Because millions of songs get downloaded every week at 2$ a pop that’s why, and that adds up to one of the most profitable game franchise to date, as long as they’re making money they’re going to give us the same games with the same DLC options, and like addicts we’ll buy them, whatever the song for whatever the price. They even offer DLC on the original games release date, because they know we’ll buy it. If they make the songs cheaper we’ll only buy more, if they’re free we’ll download till our hard drive is full. It’s a good idea to further a broken system.
- djhsecondnature (Staff)
  Member since: Forever
  Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:40
  
  I disagree completely. Guitar Hero I and II were fantastic and had no DLC available to them. I don’t get bored of the content that is provided any more than I do playing with this seasons squads in Fifa. If they will give me the option to expand my library then by all means I intend to do so if I think the price is right. The reason why Rock Band and Guitar Hero are loved so much is for their simplicity; people don’t want RPG elements or things to over complicate a simple fun time. The Guitar Hero Music Creator is fantastic but has fallen quite flat as it is so hard to use and the end result is not fantastic.
- colmshan1990 (825 TSA Points)
  Member since: Apr 2009
  Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 23:01
  
  I think xdarkmagician stumbled upon an interesting point. Games like this offer DLC on release day. Why is there not the same level of fuss raised about this as there is for things like Resident Evil 5’s versus mode, which many claimed should be included on disc?
  - LivedeviL (255 TSA Points)
    Member since: Dec 2008
    Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 09:33
    
    I’d probably hazard at the price. And you have to bare in mind peoples tastes with music vary but with RE5 wasn’t it arguably extra of the same but multiplayer (I don’t have RE5 so not sure)
DarthSharkey (1020 TSA Points)
Member since: Feb 2009
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:55

I would be all for new and upcoming bands spreading their music to us via dlc for games. It would benefit us (the users) of these games as we would have extra songs and as you said, we would impulse buy.
This would help unsigned / just signed bands enormously, just look at the Artic Monkeys, found on youtube and snapped up.
Snebjnr (1484 TSA Points)
Member since: Feb 2009
Posted on: 27/06/2009 at 22:56

Hey this here is a good point! lol
the companies should be doing more to bring more bands into the games
Every week I check GH and see that nothing decent has been added, I look at RB, there is lots a great stuff (Kinda makes me wish I got Rock Band..but anyway)

More lesser bands need to be promoted aswell
Good one DJ
jonny_bolton (1616 TSA Points)
Member since: Oct 2008
Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 02:15

I think the pricing is all wrong with these games. I’m going mainly on Singstar here but the £1 a song pricing certainly isn’t the cheapest. And it becomes more annoying when you buy it when you’re drunk on an impuseknowing full well you’ll rarely sing it. Even at just half the price Sony would be more likely to generate more than double the sales.
Or how about having it work like the highstreet? Have sales, make songs that have been on the store for ages available at cheaper prices? Or better yet, rather than just restricting the user to only discounts on packs, have so that when 5 songs are in the basket there is the same discount as with ordinary packs?
- LivedeviL (255 TSA Points)
  Member since: Dec 2008
  Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 09:38
  
  Singstar does have video with it too though, I’m guessing the licence costs more for that. Totally agree with the discount point I would def be buying more if that happened
taisan1time (69 TSA Points)
Member since: Feb 2009
Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 09:57

Whatever happened to the “music” franchise? I remember when i couldn’t afford software like cubase or protools I used music 2000 to make tunes.

That was on ps1/ps2 and it worked pretty well. _ would think with the power of the ps3 and the usb connectivity you could create an interface to record live instruments through something like line 6’s pods.

any musician will tell you the price of equipement is huge and if harmonix created an interface like that, that was (relatively) affordable i think a lot of potential artists would snap it up.

I know i would anyway
theshockwave (1364 TSA Points)
Member since: Nov 2008
Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 10:37

As you said in the article this would be a win-win-win situation. More cash for developers, less expensive for buyers and huge publicity for bands. Wahey!
wedgehog (452 TSA Points)
Member since: Mar 2009
Posted on: 29/06/2009 at 23:58

This is sort of what Mark one of the co-founders of Media Molecule originally imagined they would make.
colmshan1990 (825 TSA Points)
Member since: Apr 2009
Posted on: 28/06/2009 at 14:20

I admit, I have their Songs About Jane album!

20 Comments

Featured Stories

Subscribe to TheSixthAxis

Recent