by Ryan

Hello fellow Indabans - I trust all is well.  There are some really exciting developments occurring over at Harmonix and MTV Games!  The Rock Band Network is preparing to come out of beta.  You're probably wondering what exactly the 'Rock Band Network' is - well its a revolutionary system that enables bands, studios, and record labels to create and sell playable game content from their master recordings using the same professional tools used by the Rock Band developers. What this means to you is that your tunes could be in Rock Band alongside the likes of The Beetles, Led Zeppelin and many many more! The service is slated to launch sometime this year, but Harmonix has put up a preview site that explains how it will work. We've given you a summary here, so that you guys will have a heads up when the service goes live:

Step One:  Author Your Track

First off you take the stems from any master recording (that you own) and create MIDI charts.  The  MIDI charts are translated into the ever flowing fret-boards in the game that enable you to view and play notes and chords.  You convert your tracks via the Reaper Digital Audio Workstation from RBN, which contains their free authoring plugins.  You can then easily audition the track to make sure it works properly.  When you are have converted it to the best of your abilities you simply package it up and share it with the RBN community. 

Step Two:  Upload

When you're finally satisfied with the virtual interpretation of your track you can upload it to RBN so that your peers can evaluate it.  Once uploaded you can receive praise, constructive criticism, and helpful tips.  This will play a big role in the development of your song as a vitual track.  Your peers will help you to make it as fun and challenging as possible!

Step Three:  Review

Once you've uploaded a track it becomes instantly available for any other song creator (with a premium account) to download and audition.  After you've taken all the feedback you can handle and polished your track so its ready for action, you'll have to submit it for a peer review to get it released into the world.

Step Four:  Publish

All your hard work will literally pay off once your song is approved.  After the review it will be instantly published and made available for purchase to the millions of Rock Band fans in both the Rock Band Store and the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.  You will receive 30% of the royalties from all sales of your track!  That's a really large audience and a really solid demographic for musicians of any genre.

Step Five:  Promote

Getting your music into Rock Band is a pretty big deal - and you can believe that Harmonix and MTV games will be letting everyone know that this new opportunity exhists, which basically boils down to tons of free promotion for you.  Make sure to tell all your fans and friends that they can now shred your riffs, and sing your melodies.  You can also decide what you want to charge for your song from 50 cent to 3 dollars.  So get ready to haqve your own songs in one of the biggest video games of all time, and make sure to start collaborating here so you'll be ready when this drops this August!