Billboard: Rock Band to have 'as many as 5000' tracks available this year
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jan 28th 2009 at 9:00AM } 
Although we have no reason to doubt Harmonix's ability to provide content, the math dictates that an average of over 90 songs would need to release every week for the rest of 2009. Even if that figure is mitigated by special discs (like AC/DC) or Rock Band 3 (unlikely), the developer has its work cut out. We've contacted Harmonix to find out if its publisher is being realistic.
Update: Full Harmonix statement after the break.
[Via GameDaily]
Full Harmonix statement:
There has been a lot of discussion over a recent article that stated "MTV said it plans to increase the number of available songs this year to as many as 5,000."
In an effort to clarify and put some context around that number, please see the original quote on ArsTechnica.com from an interview with Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix, during this year's CES.
In that article, Alex stated:
"That said, one of the great promises of the (Rock Band) catalog moving forward, as the catalog expands from 500 songs to 5,000 songs or whatever in the coming years, is that we're going to be less constrained from a genre standpoint, and I think you will see us starting to branch out into... whether it's country or R&B and jazz or funk, or things of that sort. With the critical mass of the "rock" core covered, of course we'll keep expanding it, but the critical mass is covered, so now we can start to branch off in ways that haven't made sense in the past but will make sense moving forward."
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rocketboy @ Jan 28th 2009 9:06AM
Well, if you count all the songs 3 times (Wii, PS3, 360), maybe....
Fafhrdd @ Jan 28th 2009 10:28AM
I heard GH will have 20,000 songs out by Christmas this year. That's only 477 songs a week (or 69 songs a week).
Rick @ Jan 28th 2009 9:07AM
5000 is obviously not going to happen. 1000 would be pushing it, but is doable. Whoever at Billlboard is responsible for this clickbait story is full of crap.
silverwolf761 @ Jan 28th 2009 9:47AM
Yeah, and if anyone would know, it'd be you, right?
Rick @ Jan 28th 2009 9:51AM
Do the math, smartass. It's not possible to get out another 4450 tracks before the end of 2009, nor would it be a smart move on Harmonix's part. You can't flood your market like that and expect people to buy it (or keep up the quality of the tracks being released). It's either a misquote, blatant clickbait, or a pipe dream. My bet is on clickbait.
JerJer @ Jan 28th 2009 11:41AM
makes me wonder if harmonix doesnt have a sophisticated chart builder up their sleeve where they can now just feed in songs they like and release them? after overcoming development costs and licensing...
oh shit. licensing.
no way 5000. no way.
Bakkster @ Jan 28th 2009 11:49AM
@JerJer: Harmonix is pretty adamant about only using hand-made note charts. That's part of why they hire so many musicians, and also why the quality tends to be pretty high across the board.
Of course, it seems like the title is a mis-quote. I see "We'd like to have 5000 songs", but nothing about it being this year. I have no doubt that they will reach 5k eventually, but not so soon. Especially not in a recession.
Eh @ Jan 28th 2009 6:45PM
Even 1000 is impossible unless they use a program to auto generate notes, which would just end up being crap.
They are probably already churning them out about as fast as they can.
Psycho300x @ Jan 28th 2009 9:08AM
Damn....if this is true, theres likely going to be so many songs that I will like, that I will be quite broke from buying M$ points.......
KVN @ Jan 28th 2009 9:10AM
Sounds good does that mean i finally get play wolfmothers album.
Kyera @ Jan 28th 2009 9:14AM
There was some discussion about this a while back, where Alex (the CEO) mentioned 5,000 songs as some large figure. It seems to have been spun into "5,000 by end of year".
There was a post from one of the community guys on the RB forums (I can't load them right now to link it) that was neither confirming nor denying this but (iirc) giving the implication that they have absolutely no plans of stopping with DLC production.
Not to mention 90 songs a week just isn't going to happen with their current staffing. :p
Octantis @ Jan 28th 2009 11:03AM
They could always outsource some of the work. Let some other shops do the heavy lifting and then harmonix makes minor adjustments before the seal of approval.
Hafk @ Jan 28th 2009 12:28PM
It was a statement taken wrong, much like how we were "supposed" to have Texas Flood by the end of 2008, but Harmonix never said so. (They announced 500 songs and all of the albums at around the same time, so it got people confused)
Meh286 @ Jan 28th 2009 9:14AM
Yeah i don't see them getting 5000 songs out by the end of the year...
Kyera @ Jan 28th 2009 9:19AM
Of course I say that, and then the bloody page loads.
Quote from HMXHenry:
"Correct. 'As many as 5,000' is not a guarantee, but it sounds nice, doesn't it? It not totally outside the realm of possibility either. Remember when people said that we'd never see 500 tracks by the end of 2008?"
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118182&page=2
Haggard @ Jan 28th 2009 12:09PM
"Nobody believed me when I said I could run 10 miles in half an hour. So why doesn't anyone believe me when I say I can run 100 miles in half an hour?"
Smurfy @ Jan 28th 2009 2:25PM
You can run at 20mph?
Haggard @ Jan 28th 2009 2:58PM
Nope, 200mph!
dicknjane @ Jan 28th 2009 9:20AM
I would be a very happy man if this were true :P
Bob @ Jan 28th 2009 9:21AM
Let me know when they have over 9000.
Comet @ Jan 28th 2009 9:25AM
What 9000????
MowDownJoe @ Jan 28th 2009 9:36AM
What? Overused idiotic joke?!
Wiinterfang @ Jan 28th 2009 10:28AM
This Can't be RIGHT?
Haggard @ Jan 28th 2009 11:10AM
I was scrolling down to see if anyone else had already made that one. Curse you!
Troy Powers @ Jan 28th 2009 12:15PM
huh? (pause) OHHHHHHH!
That one took a second.
Oorang @ Jan 28th 2009 9:22AM
A track editor that lets you include your own mp3's? Non copyrighted material of course...i'd love to get my bands music onto rock band...
Nick8708 @ Jan 28th 2009 9:29AM
I doubt that they'd aim for so many in a single year unless, as RocketBoy pointed out, they counted each platform's version of a song individually. Not only would it be difficult to manage such a large amount, but they'd be cannibalizing their own sales since, more than likely, there will be more songs that appeal to players than they can afford in a single week, or some songs will be so much less popular than others that they won't be cost-effective.
Nick8708 @ Jan 28th 2009 9:34AM
What I think would be cool is if they held regular contests for unknown bands to get their songs featured in a weekly release. Perhaps bands can send their mp3s to the devs, the devs could pick their favorites then let the community vote on which ones they'd most like to be turned into tracks, then they get released to the music store.
Nick8708 @ Jan 28th 2009 9:35AM
Meant as a reply to Oorang.
Rask @ Jan 28th 2009 9:39AM
It really annoys me that whenever I go to the DLC section of the NXE, all I get is a flood of Rock Band and Guitar Hero Track Packs.
Seriously, I had to flip through almost 25 tiles last night to get to the Fallout 3 Operation Anchorage stuff.
Microsoft - Group all the Rock Band and Guitar Hero DLC under 1 section!
Rick @ Jan 28th 2009 9:44AM
The Fallout 3 DLC was prominently featured as the first item on the Spotlight channel (which happens to be the channel that comes up first when you turn on your Xbox). Did you not see that?
John Z @ Jan 28th 2009 9:46AM
It's much easier if you hit Y when you're on the "Play 'Game X'" panel under My Xbox. You'll get the "Install to Hard Drive" options, but to the right there will be a "Featured Download" panel. From there, the bottom option should read "All Downloads", and will take you to the game-specific content list.
Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 28th 2009 9:52AM
Woah... you're downloading content using the NXE interface? They totally added the ability to do it via the XBL website now - check it out:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/nxe/dd-marketplace.htm
There's nothing better then to get home, power on the 360, and then have dinner, etc. When you are all ready to play... voila! Your content is downloaded. There's no need to navigate the menus on the 360 anymore.
Rask @ Jan 28th 2009 10:07AM
If I remember correctly, Anchorage wasn't featured prominantly in Canada.
The first few items in spotlight yesterday if I remember correctly were Skare2, RE5 Demo and then the rest are a bit of a blur.
I do go through the NXE marketplace regularly to see what's up on the Community Games and the Demos but the DLC section rarely has anything else as prominant as RockBand and GH content.
vidGuy @ Jan 28th 2009 10:07AM
hehe Rask is silly
Blue_Falcon @ Jan 28th 2009 9:40AM
I'd rather see them just work on getting good songs and albums as opposed to just throwing music in. Their current rate is fine.
John Z @ Jan 28th 2009 9:43AM
Agreed. They've got a reputation for good music and well-tested notecharts with the DLC. Sacrificing quality for quantity isn't Harmonix's way.
You can fill in your own stab at Guitar Hero here.
Dman @ Jan 28th 2009 10:57AM
I remember a couple of the horrible songs in World Tour. I bought the game to play music in my language, not some horrible tie in tracks that they probably got from that group that released the horrible spanish track pack on GH3, and yet I get a handful of foreign tracks (mostly spanish and i think 1 french).....
Thanks Activision for doing to GH what you did to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's series of epic fails....
slycooper_rocker [psn:slycooper_rocker] @ Jan 28th 2009 5:36PM
i just can't wait until ten by pearl jam comes out...
nakedatthecomp @ Jan 28th 2009 10:00AM
MORE BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME! :D
vidGuy @ Jan 28th 2009 10:06AM
It seems the RB crew has DLC down to a science. Obviously that 5000 number is unrealistic but I could definitely see them reach 1500, or about 30 tracks a week, with the rate they are cranking out entire albums now.
DBoyFlex @ Jan 28th 2009 10:26AM
As many as means to me at most, but not at least
Dr. Strangepork @ Jan 28th 2009 10:55AM
For those that think that 5,000 is too much in that it would "canabilize sales," or "who can rally afford to get all those song each week" I say read "The Long Tail" and you'll understand why it make sense.
ScottG13 @ Jan 28th 2009 11:24AM
Wow. That's alot. Way to go guys!
todd @ Jan 28th 2009 11:26AM
I just want Jane's Addiction already!
Basay469 @ Jan 28th 2009 11:31AM
dude i mean seriously, 5000 by years end, who in the hell could afford all that i mean paying for that much DLC i would expect stock in EA & HMX... its bad enough i have every song thats out right now.... but 5000 come on...
The Alex @ Jan 28th 2009 11:32AM
Well, I think that the amount of songs they release could be significantly more than last year if they release more albums.
I'd also love to see (more) songs from Saliva, Offspring, Green Day, and Papa Roach.
Plus, more Canadian rock would be great! Hawksley Workman all the way!
EdgeOne @ Jan 28th 2009 11:46AM
I'll take 100 decent ones first.
How about some Christian Rock? There's a whole untapped market of churches, youth groups, Christian schools & colleges that would play praise music and in far greater numbers than some those that want to play some of the obscure songs they have out now.
Rocketboy @ Jan 28th 2009 12:37PM
I'm sure they will put that on the list along with Jewish Music, Islamic Music, and Tibetan Chants.
Kyera @ Jan 28th 2009 1:06PM
100 decent ones?
Black Sabbath Pack (2) - N.I.B., War Pigs
Boston Pack (6) - Hitch a Ride, More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Rock & Roll Band, Smokin', Something About You
The Cars - The Cars (2): Don't Cha Stop, Moving in Stereo
David Bowie Pack (2): Moonage Daydream, Queen Bitch
Dead Kennedys Pack (2): California Uber Alles, Holiday in Cambodia
Foo Fighters - The Colour and The Shape (3): Monkey Wrench, My Hero, New Way Home
Grateful Dead Packs (5): China Cat Sunflower, Doin' That Rag, Fire on the Mountain, Franklin's Tower, Hell in a Bucket
Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance (4) - The Hellion/Electric Eye, Riding on the Wind, Screaming for Vengeance, You Got Another Thing Comin'
The Killers Pack (2): Mr. Brightside, Spaceman
Lenny Kravitz Pack (1): Are You Gonna Go My Way
Locksley Pack (2): Don't Make Me Wait, She Does
Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood (4): Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), Dr. Feelgood, Kickstart My Heart, Same Ol' Situation
Nirvana Pack (3): Breed, On a Plain, Stay Away
No Doubt Pack (6): Don't Speak, Excuse Me Mr., It's My Life, Just a Girl, Spiderwebs, Sunday Morning
The Offspring Pack (2): Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), Self Esteem
The Pixies - Doolittle (2): Crackity Jones, Gouge Away
The Police Pack (2): Roxanne, Synchronicity II
Queens of the Stone Age Pack (1): 3s & 7s
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (3): Breaking the Girl, Suck My Kiss, Under the Bridge
Roy Orbison Pack (3): In Dreams, Oh, Pretty Woman, You Got It
Rush - Moving Pictures (4): Limelight (Original Version), Red Barchetta, Tom Sawyer (Original Version), YYZ
Steve Miller Band Pack (2): The Joker, Take the Money and Run
The Who - Best of The Who (3): Baby O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, Who Are You
Oasis Pack (3): Don't Look Back in Anger, Live Forever, Wonderwall
Others (31): The All American Rejects - Move Along, Bad Religion - Sorrow, Black Tide - Shockwave, Blondie - Call Me, The Clash - I Fought the Law, Dixie Chicks - Sin Wagon, Deep Purple - Space Truckin', Duran Duran - Rio, Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race, Foreigner - Juke Box Hero, Free - All Right Now, Garbage - Why Do You Love Me?, Harvey Danger - Cream & Bastards Rise, The Hives - Die, All Right!, Jonathan Coulton - Skullcrusher Mountain, Kasabian - Shoot the Runner, The Knack - My Sharona, Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Three Steps, The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville, Motley Crue - Saints of Los Angeles, Muse - Hysteria, The Offspring - Hammerhead, Paramore - Crushcrushcrush, The Police - Message in a Bottle, Rush - Closer to the Heart, Rush - Working Man (also the Vault Edition), The Smashing Pumpkins - Siva, Soundgarden - Jesus Christ Pose, Stone Roses - Love Spreads, Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song, Sweet - Action, Weezer - Buddy Holly
Disclaimer: This list is compiled based on choosings songs of at least 'decent' quality, which I'm classifying as fun on at least two instruments (even if not particularly challenging) of reasonable familarity (or surprising fun factor). It's not a list of my 100 favourite songs, and doesn't include any disc-based releases or songs obtained as a result thereof (the 20 'free' DLC). It also doesn't include stuff coming up.