Rock Band Network: Developer Quotes and Clarification

[Knucklesdude]

I think some bands prefer feeling the lash of inspiration that comes from covering a song versus the propelling leadership that is required to write original material.

^ Just a hypothesis.

[Mr. Tate]

It sort of boggles me how much emphasis/questioning is being put on cover songs given the immense feedback and lashback against them from the early days of Rock Band.

I mean, back in the day people were boycotting them, and blasting the idea at every turn.

Though I personally liked most of the covers, I think the issue is about covers made by other groups as opposed to covers done to emulate the original. A different take is one thing, a rough copy another.

[Coldplayer]

I have one question. Only artists from the US can submit songs to the RBN you say. Will artists from outside the US be able to submit songs someday as well, and if so, when will this be?

Oh, and also, is it possible for unsigned bands to submit songs?

[psivenn]

Thank you for compiling these clarifications. The wording of the original press release was... unfortunate but I am optimistic now for the PS3's part in this.

[cherokeesam]

It sort of boggles me how much emphasis/questioning is being put on cover songs given the immense feedback and lashback against them from the early days of Rock Band.

I mean, back in the day people were boycotting them, and blasting the idea at every turn.

I'd be willing to bet that the "thinking" (or, more accurately, LACK of thinking) behind all this talk about covers is that people were hoping that, if we can't get Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fill In The Blank Bandname etc in the game, they were wanting to see tribute bands, Wavegroup and the like just give us the one-off versions instead.

[HMXMister_Game]

I have one question. Only artists from the US can submit songs to the RBN you say. Will artists from outside the US be able to submit songs someday as well, and if so, when will this be?

Oh, and also, is it possible for unsigned bands to submit songs?

To be specific, to submit a song, you must be a resident of the U.S. Where the band is from has nothing to do with it.

Of course unsigned bands can submit songs! You have to own the rights to the material. Unsigned bands will probably have to do less work to make sure their material is in the clear.

[Coldplayer]

To be specific, to submit a song, you must be a resident of the U.S. Where the band is from has nothing to do with it.

Of course unsigned bands can submit songs! You have to own the rights to the material. Unsigned bands will probably have to do less work to make sure their material is in the clear.

Well ok, I'm not a resident of the U.S. So I could not submit songs from my band, right? So, will there ever be a possibility that people from Europe can submit songs as well?

BTW, thanks for all the answers!

[kingtonyx]

It sort of boggles me how much emphasis/questioning is being put on cover songs given the immense feedback and lashback against them from the early days of Rock Band.

I mean, back in the day people were boycotting them, and blasting the idea at every turn.

when I'm talking about covers

I mean like this

I'm still not entirely clear if A Day To Remember could get this song put up if they wanted to...

[Ilikemyname]

Okay if I own the rights to both the music and lyrics, but I'm not a US resident, however 2 out of 5 of my band members are... So is it just a US resident can submit a song?

So Can I get one of those two band members to come down on my behalf if we are in agreement, or even get a solicitor in the US to do it for us? Or does the copyright holder and not just the band have to be a US resident?

[cherokeesam]

Okay if I own the rights to both the music and lyrics, but I'm not a US resident, however 2 out of 5 of my band members are... So is it just a US resident can submit a song?

So Can I get one of those two band members to come down on my behalf if we are in agreement, or even get a solicitor in the US to do it for us? Or does the copyright holder and not just the band have to be a US resident?

^That's the idea.

The requirement that submissions come from the US has nothing to do with a band's actual nationality, but simply that HMX isn't authorized to accept uploads from other countries (yet). So bands from other countries can still submit all the songs they want --- they just have to send it by proxy through someone Stateside.