Making money with Rock Band (Part II)
Here’s the continuation of my series on making REAL money with virtual games. The second part on Rock Band Network. 1st caveat: Right now it’s only for Xbox 360, though PS3 promised soon. More after the jump….
Story: Rock Band Network, Live, and out of beta. (From RockBandAide)
A community download leaderboard for DLC(not Rock Band Network): Now if only Harmonix/Activision would do an officially sanctioned list…
A “best guess” download list for Rock Band Network (from Joystiq) referencing RockBand Aide
From Escapist Magazine a list of the software you’ll need and approximate time to upload(Cheat sheet – 20-40 hours)
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Official Story: Rock Band Network Open (From Rockband.com)
Interview with a developer for the process of getting content uploaded. (Gamespot)
My commentary: still early. They (Activision/Harmonix) are not being overly greedy with the cut, but it’s still hefty. It’s still not about the cut, it’s the start-up costs (see my previous post on third-party developers). But if you get in early, as is mentioned, it is MUCH MORE LIKELY someone would randomly like your band than on myspace, itunes, or any of the monolithic sites out there. It’s just the numbers.
PHOTO ATTRIBUTION: http://www.flickr.com/photos/royblumenthal/2574363959/ (Displayed via http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons, Attribution license)
Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.
Tags: Harmonix, Rock Band, Rock Band Network
Hmm interesting.
Do the bands retain the IP?
jaymoffitt Reply:
April 11th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Good question. Let me quote the “Agreement” from Rock Band Network directly.
““This is a synch download, so if a record label owns the masters (if they paid for the recordings), you would need their permission to use the songs in Rock Band. The Download Royalty income would be split between the label and the copyright owner/publisher. Usually the label splits their cut with the artist. The specifics however depend on your deal with the record label, so you would need to check your recording contract. If you (the Artist) own your own masters – you will make more money”[Commenter's Note: the cut is 70% Harmonix to 30% artist/publisher]
Short answer, then; if you/your band own the IP, you get 100% of the cut, if you split the proceeds with the record company via your record contract, your band gets 50%. I could read your question another way, though; and answer, no, you’re not giving away the IP to Rock Band Network to exploit totally, but Harmonix DOES OWN the platform (i.e. lighting cues, lip-sync technologies, database of RBN songs, right of publicity, etc.). In other words, what Harmonix brings extra (animations, easy/medium/difficult settings, graphics) they own. In an earlier post I linked to their total agreement, so it does give them extensive rights to use the IP to further their Rock Band Network and yes, they’re not going to have to ask your permission for, well, very little.
The link to my full earlier post about the copyright implication is http://gamersrightslawyer.com/2010/03/02/rock-band-network-a-new-kind-of-music-law/
Thanks for the link to your earlier analysis. I’ll mention it to my musician friend and see if he’s interested.
Thanks for the mention!! Much appreciated.
Long Answer version: I think guitar games are both an exciting new genre introducing people to music; and also a threat to the making of music by young people. BOTH. Hope your friend gets some good info out of what I’ve posted; and remember Harmonix puts a WEEKLY post about getting the most out of their game and associated software. (Sorry about not putting a link to the earlier material, maybe I’m too modest but seems a little self-serving to link an older post on every article).