Elderly Classic Rock Musicians Don't Like Music Video Games

from the hey-kids,-get-off-my-lawn! dept

I guess once you get old, all that "new stuff" is suddenly "bad" -- even if you used to be a rebellious rocker. With the recent launch of "The Beatles" version of Rockband, it seems that all sorts of other classic rock musicians have had to step up and talk about how awful such video games are. Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones, Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin have all come out as being against these games for one reason or another:

"It encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble.... It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think is a pity so I'm not really keen on that kind of stuff." -- Bill Wyman, The Rolling Stones

"It irritates me having watched my kids do it - if they spent as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they'd be damn good by now." -- Nick Mason, Pink Floyd

After first saying there was no way that Led Zeppelin would ever put out a similar version of Rock Band: "Obviously, there have been overtures made to Led Zeppelin, but if you start with the first track on the first album, 'Good Times Bad Times,' and you think of the drum part that John Bonham did there, how many drummers in the world can actually play that, let alone dabble on a Christmas morning?" -- Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin

This sort of strikes me as the old rockers' equivalent of "hey you kids, get off my lawn." I'm sure when these guys were first growing up, learning their instruments and playing with their guitars and drums, that elderly musicians from a bygone era were complaining that what they were doing wasn't music and wasn't the sort of things kids should be mixed up in, because it didn't encourage them to play a symphony or something. Time to get with the times.

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Rock Band Opening Up (Slightly) For Indie Musicians

from the it's-a-step... dept

While some record labels and groups like ASCAP are telling musicians they should hold their music back from video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero without larger upfront payments, most smart musicians recognize that getting their music out on these popular platforms is a great way to build up a much bigger (and more loyal) following. But, of course, the process to get into these games has been pretty difficult. So it's neat to see an effort from Harmonix and MTV Games to make it easier for independent artists to get their music into the games, if in a somewhat limited fashion. It still involves something of a hassle, but opening up the platform further is a good idea. You would think that one of these games would one day go fully open and trump the other by having a much wider selection of content -- with plenty of bands focusing on that provider, rather than the more limited one.

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Nebraska Officials Upset That Librarian Used Funds To Make The Library Cool For Kids

from the how-dare-they! dept

GamePolitics alerts us to the rather ridiculous situation in Nebraska, where state officials were investigating some librarians for buying a PlayStation 2 and Rock Band set for use in the library. Considering all of the questions over the past few years about keeping libraries relevant in an age of computers and the internet, attracting kids with a fun game seems like a pretty good idea... but not to Nebaska's state auditor. In fact, the very point that it was fun for kids was seen as a bad thing:

The purchase of gaming equipment is a questionable use of public funds. It is common knowledge that children enjoy games and toys, so there appears to have been little need to purchase the games.

Instead, public funds should apparently only be used on things that kids hate and that won't get them interested in coming to the library at all!

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MTV Supposedly Boycotting Warner Music Artists In Rock Band

from the nice-work,-Warner! dept

A bunch of folks have sent in an article from the latest issue of Wired Magazine about Warner Music's fight with the publishers of music video games, Rock Band and Guitar Hero. To be honest, the article doesn't cover much more ground than stories from last year, when Warner Music's Edgar Bronfman Jr. first demanded more money from the game publishers. But, it does include one juicy tidbit. After reposting Bronfman's silly quote demanding more money:

"In response, Rock Band publisher MTV Games is now boycotting Warner artists, according to a source close to the negotiations."

This is yet another example (in an increasingly long line) of how Warner Music's recent actions have done plenty to harm its artists. You may recall that a similarly ridiculous whine from Warner Music execs that YouTube wasn't paying enough money resulted in YouTube pulling all Warner Music videos from the site, pissing off many Warner Music artists. Other reports have noted that if musicians were blocked from getting their music in these video games, they might look to move to other labels as well.

And, of course, Warner Music's fight with the video game publishers is doubly stupid. Reports have shown that having your music in one of those games greatly increases sales of the music itself. So... the end result? Pissed off musicians who get less people hearing and interacting with and buying the music. It's amazing that Warner stays in business at all, with management foresight like that.

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Innovation And Invention In Virtual Rock Band Video Games

from the timing-matters dept

Reader David Kopp writes in to point us to a story in the Boston Globe that yet again highlights the difference between innovation and invention -- this time in the virtual musician video game space. While we've already seen that Konami has sued over the video game Rock Band, claiming that it had patented the concept of virtual musician games, the Globe story highlights a Massachusetts startup that appears to have come up with a similar idea much earlier. The game was slightly different, but had many of the same elements -- including a virtual guitar (that had actual strings in this case) and involved playing along with music on the screen. The band Aerosmith played a big part in the game, predating all the bands suddenly jumping on the Guitar Hero and Rock Band bandwagons of today.

The game was moderately successful, but was clearly ahead of its time in a variety of ways. The game was way too expensive, first of all, as the virtual guitar added an extra $100 to the $50 game price. The company also had trouble figuring out how to properly market the game, especially with the extra guitar. Also, since it was a PC game, it was less convenient than today's console games, which are mostly played around a big television. These were all issues that were later worked out, but not in time for the folks at Virtual Music Entertainment, who had already sold out for a decent, but not enormous, payout in 2000. Still, it's nice to see they're not bitter or threatening to sue:

"Whether they stole it or not, it was a good idea. They were at the right place at the right time, and they executed it really well."

And that's exactly the point. Executing and getting it right is difficult, but that's what the market is designed to reward, and that's what really drives innovation.

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Yes, Being In Rock Band Or Guitar Hero Helps Bands Sell More Music

from the among-other-things dept

Last week, we mentioned that it was silly for musicians (and labels) to complain about their music being in the video games Guitar Hero or Rock Band -- which some folks challenged in the comments. Yet, just in time, the Associated Press comes out with an article detailing how being in any of those games significantly increases sales of music, sometimes more than triple what they were prior to their inclusion in the games. Some musicians are also making a lot more due to image and likeness deals, but on the whole being in those games is a boost to traditional sales.

The article does note that the labels are upset that they don't think they're getting enough, because the labels, in their typical short-sighted view, only focus on how much they get directly from the game makers, whining that it's less than they would get from selling a bunch of albums. Well, duh. But, they conveniently leave out that being in the games increases sales of the albums too. It also notes that Edgar Bronfman's earlier whining is a bunch of meaningless fluff -- because if Bronfman ever stopped allowing Warner Music songs in those video games, a significant number of musicians would look to switch labels, since they actually recognize how valuable the games are. Bronfman's mistake is to think that it's the music that's valuable, but basically everyone else realizes he's got the equation backwards.

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Music Games Drive Kids' Interest In Real Instruments

from the school-of-rock dept

A report from the UK says that 20 percent of the kids there that have played music video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have picked up real instruments because of the games. The author of the report says it shows that when music is presented to kids in new and compelling ways, it can get them interested in creating their own music. We'll note it's nice to see that kids getting excited by video games can have some positive effects and not only translate into violence, as one recent study said. It's also interesting to note that Gibson says it's getting a sales bump from the games, particularly for its iconic Les Paul guitar, after which one of the plastic axes in Guitar Hero is modeled. This is a little ironic, after Gibson wanted to extract some money from Activision by waving an unrelated patent in its face and trying to get the company to license it. This further illustrates to record companies how these games can add value to their content and serve to promote it, but sadly, you know that somehow that lesson will still be lost on the labels.

Carlo Longino is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Carlo Longino and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

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Rock Band Video Game Selling T-Shirts Of Fake Bands

from the lotttttts-of-t-shirts dept

When critics of our analysis of the economics of infinite and scarce goods want to mock our ideas or make fun of us, they often fall back on the false claim that the business model we advocate is "give away everything and make it up by selling t-shirts." Or, rather, if they're really in a mocking mood, they usually write "llllllloooooooooooooooooootttts of t-shirts." It's quite amusing, though, of course, it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what we mean by scarce goods.

That said, t-shirts can make up one part of the scarce goods that someone sells, though, it will almost always be a small part of it. And, there's no reason to mock the contribution that selling t-shirts can make as part of a larger business model. Reader Aaron de Oliveira points us to the interesting news that the super popular video game Rock Band is now letting players who have uploaded their own fake rock band logo order t-shirts, keychains and other merchandise from their fake band. As de Oliveira correctly notes, not only does this make some money, but it also makes the gaming experience better, connects fans more closely to the game and their own fake rock band in the game:

The company realizes it's not in the music business or in the t-shirt business. Its business model is the custom experience and it uses music (fun & free or cheap) and t-shirts to improve that experience in such a way that people are willing to pay for it.

Bingo. So go buy llllllooooooooottts of t-shirts to make it work.

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Activision CEO Suggests Record Labels Should Be Paying To Get In Video Games

from the this-ought-to-be-fun dept

Remember a couple months ago, when Warner Music's Edgar Bronfman complained that the makers of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band should be paying more for the music they used? He claimed, incorrectly, that the games were "entirely dependent" on the record labels' content. That was wrong, and totally downplayed the fact that the video games were actually adding value to the music. Now it appears that the maker of Guitar Hero, Activision, is hitting back. The company's CEO is pointing out how much being in those games has helped bands, suggesting that its really the record labels that are getting too good of a deal:

"When you look at the impact [the game] can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it's really significant -- so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse. The bulk of our consumers will tell you they're not purchasing the products based on the songs that are included, they're purchasing based on how fun the songs are to play when they're playing them."

He's exactly right. The content industry always seem to over estimate how much "value" the content provides and almost totally ignore the value provided by anyone else in the value chain. It's going to be interesting to see what happens over the next few months, but I would bet that the video game companies have the stronger hand here, and despite Bronfman's statements, the record labels really understand that.

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Warner Music Complains That Rock Band And Guitar Hero Need To Pay More For Music

from the are-they-serious? dept

And here they go again. Despite the fact that the games Guitar Hero and Rock Band have breathed new life into various musical acts and helped pump up sales of certain artists, the recording industry is starting to complain. It seems unable to recognize how something that promotes its music or makes that music more valuable is beneficial -- instead freaking out that it's somehow being ripped off. Proving, once again, that they overvalue content and undervalue the service that makes that content valuable, Warner Music's Edgar Bronfman is bitching and complaining that Rock Band and Guitar Hero aren't paying enough for music:

"The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small."

Fine. This is the point at which both of those video games should stop using any Warner Music content, and see how Bronfman feels when everyone else is jamming to content from his competitors, increasing the attention and sales that they get -- while Warner musicians are left out in the cold. Once again, we're seeing how Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s supposed epiphany about the digital age of music was no such thing.

The industry simply assumes that, if something makes use of their content, all of the value is in the content. That's incorrect. Yes, the content is a part of the value, but it's the game that's making that content valuable. This is the same thing that's been true of so many other services that the industry has freaked out about -- from Napster to YouTube to Seeqpod and many others. Until the recording industry recognizes that this isn't a zero sum game, and someone out there promoting your content is helping to make it more valuable, the industry is never going to figure out how to really adapt.

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Konami Claims Rock Band Violates Its Patents

from the losers-litigate dept

Just a few months ago guitar maker Gibson sued just about everyone for patent infringement over a patent it held on "virtual concerts." It looks like that lawsuit may have woken up others who happen to hold "virtual concert" patents. Video game maker Konami, which had some virtual concert games years ago, also happened to get some patents on the concept and have now sued Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band. Once again, this looks like a "losers litigate" strategy. Harmonix has created a hugely successful product in the space -- Konami has not. Yet, Konami wants a cut of Harmonix's profits. That's not the sort of incentives that should be encouraged.

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Rock Band Drumming Up New Revenue For The Music Industry

from the rocking-out-on-the-xbox dept

Hit video game, Rock Band, is proving to be a lucrative new revenue stream for the music industry. The game comes with 58 playable songs, but through the XBOX Live Marketplace, gamers can download new songs for around $2 per track. In the eight weeks since the game has been on sale, 2.5 million songs have been downloaded. Indeed, this is a welcome new revenue stream for the music industry, and yet another example of how embracing technology can open up new markets. In the original version of the similar game Guitar Hero, most of the tracks were actually done by a cover band, since the original bands made it prohibitively expensive to use the "real" version (and in some cases, the covered version was considered too close to the original). Now, more bands are finally realizing the benefit of being included in the game, and are now lining up to get their tracks included. That said, only about three new tracks are released each week. So, what is the hold up? If it's a technological issue, it's one thing, but really, there's no good reason to be artificially limiting the number of tracks available to Rock Band players. Having more available tracks increases the fun of the game for all, and for the bands, it's a fantastic promotional opportunity.

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