Rock Video Games Compete for Top Acts

(NEWSER) - The album is dead. Touring is on the fade. File-sharing is killing download profits. Adieu, music biz? Not so fast, reports The Wrap, which offers five fixes:

• Drop the price. Ninety-nine cents for a song? Try 10. "Lower the price point, and you undercut the very foundation of illegal downloading."

Real instruments gathering moss, Wyman complains

(NEWSER) - The growth of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band means fewer real guitar heros in the future, complains former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. Playing the games "encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument," he tells the Guardian. "I think it's a pity." More»

November sales dip aside, titles remain popular with gamers

(NEWSER) - With many Americans singing the recession blues this holiday season, they may not be willing to shell out $200 to groove to Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Some analysts say the dueling, popular video game franchises are beginning to peak, MarketWatch reports. “The music game genre is getting a little long in the tooth,” one analyst said. More»

Fab Four reps in talks with Guitar Hero and Rock Band makers

(NEWSER) - Representatives of the Beatles' companies are meeting with video-game outfits to hash out the rights for possible Beatles-themed games. The reps are holding discussions with the makers of Guitar Hero and of Rock Band, the Financial Times reports. Analysts say that a deal might lead to more licensing of Beatles songs in other digital media. More»

Video game may spell end of bad cover acts

(NEWSER) - The hugely popular "Rock Band" is more than just a video game—it's a musical revolution, Brett McCallon writes in More Intelligent Life. The game, which expands "Guitar Hero" to two axes, a drum kit and a singer, finally realizes “the democratizing dreams of the punk movement.” McCallon should know, because his "Rock Band" band plays live—and has amateur musicians grousing. More»