The ask TAG anything podcast.

[Zemanator]

given the amount of questions regarding sales figures, or money in general, I wouldn't expect any to be answered very well, if at all. Also, bear in mind, as Askari pointed out, there are certain things we definitely wont discuss, one of them being how much money any individual made, or stuff like that.


BUT, as the title says, ask us anything (that you think we'd answer) it can be as farfetch'd as you want, we just want to have some fun with the community!

[TkDiamonD]

I know HMX isn't inclined to share this kind of information, maybe it's more relaxed with you guys?

Can you tell us some notable labels/artists you've approached who have straight up shot you down?

[Catch-22]

I know HMX isn't inclined to share this kind of information, maybe it's more relaxed with you guys?

Can you tell us some notable labels/artists you've approached who have straight up shot you down?

Probably, couple of labels nuked the bridge while we were standing on it. Not like there's a shot of anything happening there anyways.

[Erutaerc]

Yea, ask us anything means ANYTHING. Chances are stuff about sales/money/artist rejections will probably not be answered as it's not really public stuff.

However, if you ask us really bizarre personal stuff, we'll probably answer that. Annoyingly, the rest of the group know how to pronounce my name, else i'd get them all to try saying it

[MagicMurderBag7]

How successful was that Squier contest at generating some sales, and will there be any more contests in the near future?

[machetemonkey]

9) Do the people that work for tag have instruments that they only work on? Like do you have a guy that does guitar and another that does drums, or is it once you do one part you can pretty much do them all?

Normally I'd save every question for the podcast, but I feel like answering this one straightaway could open the doors for more questions. The answer is yes, people do specialize in instruments, but it's not a set in stone thing. We have some people who work on damn near everything, and some people (like myself) who really only specialize in an instrument or two. The reason I answer this is in case people want to ask questions specifically to guitar authors, or to drum authors, or to people who have all-around experience.

[NeilDiamond1974]

I'm going to ask a silly question about song selection and licensing.

Not everyone is a fan of obscure newer prog metal which seems to be 95% of RBN. (This is a party game after all.) Personally, I want to see more artists whose careers peaked in the 80s like Stan Bush (1986 Transformers soundtrack who is on RBN). I think this could make a fun pack (or two) and could sell really well. Most of these artists are very willing to help stuff like actually happen. Plus 80s stuff does really well for HMX. I think that's the other half of the Rock Band demographic and it gets largely ignored on RBN.

So if the artists are willing to work with you, what could make some deals like that work out? I work in the media, so I'd would even be very happy to help track some folks down for you if that helps. Seriously.

Thanks!

[Numskull]

Not everyone is a fan of obscure newer prog metal which seems to be 95% of RBN.

I don't know whether to laugh or do a facepalm.

[LuigiHann]

I don't know whether to laugh or do a facepalm.

Of all the points in that post, that's the one you highlighted? Of course I suppose if you highlighted every absurd point the whole post would end up yellow.

To state the obvious: Famous people are harder to get into RBN by virtue of being famous, Neil. They expect more money. They tend to be signed to record labels that expect even more money than RBN could possibly deliver. Obscure and indie bands are less likely to be signed to needy labels, and are more likely to be interested in the small publicity boost that RBN provides, and the joy of seeing their work in a real game.

If you think you can help out, the way to go is to get unsigned but recognizable artists, or to find smaller record labels with interesting artists and see if you can get them on board.

Sorry if that came across as snarky but I feel like it should be obvious that authors aren't choosing obscure bands over famous ones based on their own preference, you know? They reach out to everybody they can think of but they only get so many bites.

[NeilDiamond1974]

I feel bad if I was bashing anything. It was unintentional. I'm also not trying to say that it is bad for smaller artists to gain exposure from RNB.

I just don't think Stan Bush for instance = U2 or something like that. What I was getting at, were artists that were sorta successful at one point. I realize that promotion may not necessarily be as important to them.