What is the Rock Band Network (RBN)?
Maybe you should first ask, “What is Rock Band?” Rock Band 2 is one of the best selling rhythm games of all time. Within the game is the Rock Band Store which lets you buy extra tracks from well-known artists. Because the franchise has sold so well and so many people are buying extra tracks, every band in the world wants their music available in the store. Harmonix, the developers of Rock Band 2, decided that, because they couldn’t keep up with the demand, they’d release the tools required to create Rock Band tracks to anyone who wanted to try. Now we have the Rock Band Network, allowing bands to submit their own tracks to be sold in an updated store within the Rock Band 2 video game.
Why do I want to be in the RBN?
As of March 26th, 2009, the Rock Band franchise “surpassed $1 billion dollars in North American retail sales.” That figure was reached after just 15 months. In the same press release, it was also revealed that there had been “OVER 40 MILLION PAID INDIVIDUAL SONGS SOLD VIA DOWNLOAD TO DATE ON ROCK BAND® PLATFORM.” In case you weren’t sure, that is a crap-load of songs. Anyone who creates music for a living should want a piece of that pie.
How much will I make from the RBN?
Bands keep 30% of all the revenue generated from sales while the remaining 70% goes to Microsoft and Harmonix (developers of the game). That’s not our rule, that’s the standard contract that every band must agree to in order to do business in the RBN.
Generating sales is mainly up to you. Within the store there is a rating system similar to iTunes so if your track is highly rated, you’re likely to rise to the top of some search queries. Initially, however, you’ll need to promote these tracks with every fiber of your being!
Can I create my own tracks?
Absolutely you can. The only catch is, the cost of admission is relatively high and the authoring process is intense technical work. But that’s why we’re here. We take care of all that tedious, un-fun stuff so that you can sit back and make money while people across the country rock out to your songs.
What do you need from us?
Bands need to provide us with a few specific things. First and foremost, you MUST have the publishing rights to whatever songs you want to sell. If you’re signed with a record label or publishing company, you need to get permission from them before we can begin. This also means no cover songs!
Next, we’ll need you to send us an mp3 or AAC of the song (or songs) that you want us to author. That way we can check them out and determine whether or not they’re up to the RBN standards and it will help us determine our price. We’ll have an upload page soon but for now you can email us at creation@littlecowdog.com and we’ll instruct you on how to send us the file.
Once we’ve determined the price and are ready to begin, you’ll need to provide us with specific stems from your multi-track recording. If you don’t have multi-track recordings, that’s pretty much a deal-breaker. You can’t record a demo in your garage with one microphone and expect to get a playable Rock Band track. The preferred stem configuration is as follows (straight from the Rock Band Creators site):
- K – Kick Drum: Mono
- SN – Snare Drum: Stereo
- CYM – Kit Mix: Stereo (Usually Overhead Mics plus any direct Tom Mics)
- BASS – Playable Bass Part: Mono (Stereo if using any Stereo Phase or Heavy Chorus effects)
- GTR – Playable Guitar Part: Stereo
- VOX – Playable Vocals Part: Stereo
- TRKS – All Other Instruments and Backing Vocals: Stereo
The playable guitar part can be the trickiest stem to create because it requires compiling all of the most interesting guitar parts onto one single track. If you send us your mp3 we can recommend which parts to include in the playable track.
Of course, we’ll need the lyrics to your song typed out and emailed to us. And remember, no profanity of any kind! If you have a song with profanity in it that you REALLY want to get into Rock Band, you’ll have to edit the vocals to remove that stuff. Just keep in mind that if it requires too much editing, the vocal track in the game probably won’t be any fun to sing.
We’ll also need a hi-res JPEG of your album art. Don’t have album art? Make something up! Just don’t use any copyrighted material because that won’t make it in!
Is this going to be expensive?
That’s probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind and yet it’s the one most avoided by other Rock Band authoring groups. We’ll level with you: it’s certainly not free. The process is quite time-consuming and requires a good amount of technical knowledge and skill. We are, however, sensitive to the financial needs of musicians (we’re poor musicians ourselves!). We’ll work with you to determine an affordable and fair price. For more information on our pricing options, check out our Pricing page.
How long will it take until our songs are available?
Generally speaking, a single track can take anywhere from 3-5 days to complete depending on the length and complexity of the song. Once the track is completed by us, it has to be playtested by the Rock Band Network community. If any changes need to be made, we take care of it and re-upload the track for another round of playtesting. Once it’s deemed that the track works properly, it moves into Peer Review which is where the community decides if the track is fit to be sold. This entire process can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. Once approved by the community, it moves to the Harmonix developers for a couple of days so that they can check it out. Then it’ll be available in the store.
What if my song gets rejected? Do I still have to pay you?!
Good news…your song can’t get rejected! Well….let’s rephrase that. As long as your song adheres to the general guidelines (you own the rights, there’s no profanity, no samples of other peoples’ work, NO COVERS), it can’t get rejected. If your song is good and you have the tracks separated properly, you’re good to go! The only thing that will prevent a song from getting through is if the “game” side of it isn’t right…and that’s up to us. Even if something isn’t quite right, it can always be revised. So, in short, we’ll never take your money and not get you into the Rock Band Network!
If you have more questions, you can probably find answers at the Creator’s Club FAQ.