Rock Band Network announced

Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), announced the Rock Band Network, a ground-breaking initiative that gives musicians and record labels the ability to author their own original recordings into gameplay files and sell their music as playable tracks through the newly-created Music Store. The introduction of the marks a fundamental shift in the exposure music games can give emerging and established artists through innovative technologies that will open new revenue streams and promotional avenues.

“Our goal with Rock Band has always been to go beyond making music games and create a true music platform,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix. “With the Rock Band Network, we’ve evolved the platform to its next logical step, giving players access to an incredible amount of new music by putting the professional tools we use in the hands of the artists themselves.”

“The Rock Band Network enables songwriters and musicians – at any stage of their careers – to create their own paths through the interactive music realm,” said Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President, Electronic Games and Music, MTV Networks Music Group. “Our download store has been an extraordinary success, and it’s exciting for us to provide access to our platform through this uniquely elegant solution.”

The Rock Band Network will launch as an open beta in late August 2009 in the U.S. and provide a sophisticated toolset, with detailed documentation on how bands can begin the process of authoring songs into Rock Band gameplay files. Authors will be able to submit tracks for playtesting and peer review via a specialized Web site, Creators.RockBand.com. Potential publishers will need a membership to Microsoft’s XNA Creators Club Online in order to test and publish game content. The service will only be available to those who purchase a premium membership to Microsoft’s XNA Creators Club Online, which can be purchased for four months at $49.99 or for a year at $99.99.

“The proven strength and stability of Microsoft’s game development tools, technologies and services allowed Harmonix to focus on making an easy-to-use experience for authors without needing to reinvent the wheel,” said Dave Mitchell, product unit manager, XNA publishing platform. “Rock Band Network is a model example of integration with XNA Creators Club Online.”

Once tracks are approved, they will be transferred to the Rock Band Network Store, an in-game music marketplace where millions of Rock Band fans will be able to demo samples of the songs for free before they purchase. Songs will debut exclusively on Xbox 360 for 30 days. Artists featured in the store will be able to choose from multiple pricing tiers for individual tracks and will be compensated via a simple payment system that provides automated accounting and regular royalty payments.

Tracks for the Rock Band Network will be made available later in the fall on the Xbox 360® video game entertainment system from Microsoft. Stand out tracks will follow on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™ console. Joining the more than 750 tracks available to date, the Rock Band Network Store will greatly increase the amount of music available through the Rock Band music platform and further confirm MTV Games and Harmonix’s position as the leading provider of downloadable content for music-based video games.

The website creators.rockband.com is currently up to serve as a “teaser site“, but it does illustrate the 5-point process for users to create their songs and publish them to XBox Live.  Speculation is that this will also reach the PlayStation Network eventually.

Step One: Author Your Track

You’ll be able to take the stems from any master recording* and create MIDI charts for each instrument using the Reaper Digital Audio Workstation equipped with our free authoring plugins. Audition the track on your Xbox 360 console to make sure it rocks properly. When it’s good to go, you’ll package everything up and share your track with the RBN community.

Step Two: Upload

When you’re satisfied with your track, upload it to this site so that your peers can evaluate it. Anyone in the Creators community will be able to download and audition the track on their own Xbox consoles, and they’ll give you valuable constructive feedback that will help you revise your work and make your track as fun and challenging as possible.

Step Three: Review

When you upload your song to the Creators site, it will be immediately available for any other Creator with a Premium Account* to download and audition. Your peers will post valuable, detailed feedback on your song. Once you and your peers agree that your song is ready for primetime, you’ll submit it for peer review. Once it passes peer review, your song is released into the world.

Step Four: Publish

All your hard work will have paid off, literally. Once your song is approved, it will go straight into publication, available for purchase to millions of Rock Band fans in the Rock Band store and on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. And you’ll get a cut of every sale.

Step Five: Promote

Getting your music into Rock Band is a huge deal—we’ll help you tell the world about it! Stay tuned for more information.