Who do you think is going to put more music on the RBN?

[harveyglobetrot]

Definitely indie bands or underground/garage bands. I can't see the majors getting too heavily involved in this. Unless the cut is much larger off the RBN sale than a normal DLC sale, I just don't see them investing much time in it. Maybe for some of their newly signed, smaller bands, or the odd promo single from a more established act, but anyone expecting reams of DLC from huge names to come through the RBN is just setting themselves up for disappointment.

[mcs08]

I think a few things have to happen for a major label to start doing their own tracks. They have to do some sort of research of the profitability of this kind of endeavor. Then they have to do some market research on how long they think the popularity of rock band is going to be strong. Once they know that they can look into starting a new department of people that just make tracks for rock band using their collection of music.

Once that is done I would think we would have greater access to their bands discography. This will probably be independent for each label, so you may see some labels joining at different times.

What this is going to make happen is mostly garage and indie bands being first on the network with their music. This is going to give them a great platform for getting their music into people's hands as well as gain popularity. But later the bigger labels are going to show up, but it should take a while. The bigger labels still have another outlet for releasing their music, I'm sure they look forward to a week when HMX publishes a song on RB. Why wouldn't they just put some of their own stuff out instead of begging HMX or patiently waiting for it to come around.

The whole process doesn't seem to be much of a barrier to entry and neither is the upfront cost to do it. The only limitation that exists that will slow the streamline of music is the ownership rights.

[Lady Siara]

Dont we get a solid amount of obscure stuff now. I mean, we get a large mix of genres (not all mainstream for me) and music from the Mayhem Pack to Pearl Jam. Maybe it is just me, but I would love to see more mainstream stuff instead of the lesser known music.

That's what the regularly scheduled dlc is for, for the most part. :\

[kingtonyx]

Like I said in the official discussion, I'm willing to guess that we'll be seeing a massive amount of content from Nine Inch Nails.

I'm talking new original songs, rarities, live, etc.

The Slip rehearsals anyone?

[KozmicRiff]

I think that it will mostly be underground, Indie and beginning garage bands.

I could see some of the Older bands that were big but not huge and who are having a hard time getting songs on the platform utilizing this to get their songs out to a younger crowd. Or maybe they can only get HMX to release a single song but this way they can get whole song packs or albums out in the market. This would seem perfect for bands like W.A.S.P., White Lion, Anthrax, King Crimson, all the 80s hair bands,,,, etc.

[KozmicRiff]

I could also see the big modern bands releasing new singles this way in addition to i tunes, cds and the radio.... Why turn down another outlet for music sales?

This may also open up the pop door. I could see Lady Gaga, Kayne West, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, etc.... all salivating over this oppertunity....

[cherokeesam]

I could also see the big modern bands releasing new singles this way in addition to i tunes, cds and the radio.... Why turn down another outlet for music sales?

This may also open up the pop door. I could see Lady Gaga, Kayne West, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, etc.... all salivating over this oppertunity....

The thing about the big names is not that they aren't interested in getting into RB, it's merely an issue of taking the do-it-yourself route versus letting HMX *pay* you to handle it themselves, professionally. The big labels and big bands are 99.99% likely to favor the latter route --- let HMX do the grunt work of charting, etc, and put your stuff out there the traditional way.

That's not to say that there *aren't* big names out there who won't test out the RBN waters. For one thing, there's plenty of artists who just like to stay on top of the latest trends in music and tech, and I could definitely see bands with a proven track record with HMX (like NIN, Foo Fighters, RHCP, even Rush and The Who) who'd just have a blast coming up with a new song or two exclusively for RBN just to get a chance to piddle with the technology.

[Felldoh_The_Squirrel]

I honestly think Indie or Underground bands will take more advantage of this, but who knows?

[ShadowChaosControl]

i actually think it'll be flooded by both varying-quality big-name, and indie bands, i don't want either, i think of this as a place for indie bands to get their name out, if it is filled with big name, then everybody will swarm to them, and not even look at the indie/underground music

[KozmicRiff]

The thing about the big names is not that they aren't interested in getting into RB, it's merely an issue of taking the do-it-yourself route versus letting HMX *pay* you to handle it themselves, professionally. The big labels and big bands are 99.99% likely to favor the latter route --- let HMX do the grunt work of charting, etc, and put your stuff out there the traditional way.

That's not to say that there *aren't* big names out there who won't test out the RBN waters. For one thing, there's plenty of artists who just like to stay on top of the latest trends in music and tech, and I could definitely see bands with a proven track record with HMX (like NIN, Foo Fighters, RHCP, even Rush and The Who) who'd just have a blast coming up with a new song or two exclusively for RBN just to get a chance to piddle with the technology.

I kinda of assumed that the Big Names would have their Labels/Management appoint someone in the label to organize and make these tracks. I do not see Jon Bon Jovi or Dave Matthews sitting around making video games, they are too busy writing the actual songs and touring and such.

Now I could see Jon Bon Jovi's management team saying hey lets get the new Bon Jovi Album on rock band as a way to reach the younger audience just to have negotiations with HMX end with a three song pack of the new stuff to come out in 3-6 months followed by a greatest hits to be released 6 months later.

Why not have someone in the organization/label do it themselves? That way they can get all the songs on that they want and have a little more creative control.

That said it probably depends on the profit cut also. If doing it the traditional way nets Bon Jovi 25% of the sales plus a licensing bonus vs a straight 10% of the sales by doing it themselves.... they will probably opt to go the traditional route and just get on what they can with HMX.....