The Game Composer’s Blog

… or their last gasp?

Guitar Hero and Rock Band are two of the biggest games to come out in the last few years. Letting players pretend to be rock stars has really struck a chord (yes, a chord… ha!). And with that success, it seems the recording industry has finally accepted the fact that there’s more than one way to make money off their precious artists. How the RIAA hated the internet when it first gave us Napster. People want a quick and easy way to find and obtain any song they want? No! They will get their music the way we give it to them! That seems like so long ago. Now downloading songs is commonplace and the rock games, with their downloadable content, are a big part of that.

I hope the RIAA will learn the lesson someday. It seems like they are still being dragged, along with the motion picture studios, kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The internet is all about convenience. Piracy is still a big problem, even with iTunes and the like. The problem as I see it now is simply in pricing. Ninety cents to a dollar is still too expensive for single songs. Someone did a study once where they found the biggest profits could be made if each song was a nickel. I firmly believe that. I’ve bought exactly $20 of MP3 music online in my life. DRM was a big turn-off (man, they really didn’t get it) but it was mostly about the price. At a nickel per tune, I would imagine I’d spend a couple bucks a month easy.

And so would the pirates. Instead of dealing with torrents and the like, I think most of them would turn to the legit nickel-a-song online stores in a heartbeat. If they’re all spending a couple bucks a month, suddenly artists and the big corporations are raking in the dough. And maybe they could stop suing 12 year old file sharers. I still want a legit Napster… somewhere I can find every obscure tune I’d ever want. That was something special when Napster was at its height. The pirates today often are just going to the only place where they can find the tunes they want.

But I digress. With the rock games, the record companies have been given a golden opportunity to reinvent themselves and at least start to turn a very important corner. They can make money with the licensing fees for the tunes, which are probably nothing to sneeze at. And I’m sure at least a few CDs have been sold after a band has been discovered on Guitar Hero. BUT they could do so much more. Let indie bands put material in the game. If they provide the music and the note charts, why not? Have a 30 second demo of each song for players to check out. Have a ranking system. Then give the band at least half of the money from the downloads. Yeah, there may be some unlistenable junk submitted, so have a crew of 200 Rock Band or Guitar Hero devotees pass or not pass submissions. Or make the note chart creator cost $100. Then only the more serious artists will submit and have their chance at glory. Just a thought. That could all be a disaster. But that’s been the problem with the record companies… no thoughts outside what they already know.

Of course, my dream is to do away with the record companies. Even their name (record companies) is out of date. With the internet, there is no longer a need for some corporation to filter out the “bad” musical artists and tell us what the “good” ones are. Now, listeners can rate. And true quality will rise to the top and be discovered. Bands can record and produce themselves and go directly to the listeners, no middlemen. Unfortunately, with the insane copyright laws we now have, it looks like we’ll be stuck with record companies through the late 21st century at least. So we may be at the mercy of the RIAA on where and how we’ll get those Boston or Jimi Hendrix tunes.

Rock games and the internet are helping to force record companies into the 21st century. Unfortunately, they’re not coming willingly because they know what the 21st century holds for them… their demise. And it will be a good day when it finally comes.