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Your Song On Rock Band


Get your music into the Rock Band Network

Any TuneCore artist can have songs distributed into Rock Band's online store where it can be bought for Rock Band game play. As always, TuneCore will take no back end profits from the sale of the music.

How it works

To have your song distributed to Rock Band it must be authored and mastered in the specific and exclusive format required by Rock Band.

My Song has been authored specifically for Rock Band and I'm ready to go!
Great! For a one time fee of $75, your authored song will be distributed into the Rock Band Network and made available for gamers to play.

My Song has NOT been authored for Rock Band yet.
No problem, we can help. TuneCore has partnered with The Authority, a leading game authoring firm, to get your music authored. For a flat fee of $2,500 the Authority will take on the complex process of mixing, mastering, authoring and transcribing your song into the Rock Band format. Once your song is in the Rock Band format, you can have TuneCore distribute it to the Rock Band Network.

Rock Band Network
Distribution only   $ 75 Add to Cart
Authoring only   $ 2,500 Add to Cart

More about authoring songs for Rock Band

To have your song ”authored” for Rock Band, Audio Stems from your song are required. An Audio Stem is an audio file of a specific instrument within the song’s format. A total of nine Audio Stems are required for the Authoring process.

Those nine Audio Stems are:

  1. KICK - Kick Drum: Mono.
  2. SNARE - Snare Drum: Stereo with any effects.
  3. TOMS - Stereo: For reference when authoring.
  4. DRUMS - Kit Mix: Stereo, cymbals, rooms etc. (including Tom tracks).
  5. BASS - Playable Bass Part: Stereo.
  6. GTR - Playable Guitar Part: Stereo.
  7. VOX - Playable Vocals Part: Stereo with effects.
  8. TRACK - Any music not already part of a stem, (incl. background vocals): Stereo.
  9. Reference Dry Vox: Mono 16k (Lead Vocal File with no effects). This file is used for a vocal reference, not for playback.

All files should be:

We also require:

About The Authority

The Authority are situated a stone’s throw from Harmonix headquarters in Cambridge MA, and the two companies maintain close ties. The three Authority founders, having prepared The Slip’s “Even Rats” for Guitar Hero 1 (considered an early Guitar Hero classic) were invited to take part in the closed beta testing for the Rock Band Network (RBN). After extensive training with Harmonix, and subsequently Authoring many songs for the initial release of RBN, The Authority were included on Harmonix’ exclusive Recommended Authors List, a group of fewer than twenty-five people worldwide.

The Authority Authors are all accomplished gamers and musicians, highly trained in the Authoring process to surpass the standards set by Harmonix. Their motto, “Made By Musicians, For Musicians” highlights their dedication to provide accurate, lifelike, and extremely enjoyable game play, focusing on the nuances of real human performance, for every level of game-play from nervous beginner to seasoned pro.

How it is done

After The Authority receive the Stems, they convert them to the Rock Band playable format. Here's how they describe their two-stage process:

1. The Music:

"This includes taking the stems and creating the parts used in game-play -Drums, Bass, Guitar and Vocals. We make sure that each part is playable at every difficulty level within the game, from easy to expert. We will make sure that every level is authored accurately so that any player can play the game no matter how complex the original drum or guitar part may be. By the time we are done we have visited every note or beat in the song several times. Through this intimacy with your material we will intend to create the most authentic, lifelike and accurate feel for your song possible, whilst not forgetting it should be an enjoyable experience for the gamer."

2. The Visuals:

"We also control and program on-screen player animation. Thus we can make the characters act like they are performing the song. We control and sequence all the lighting cues that accompany the song in the venue itself. Lighting displays can be customized per song. We also direct the camera angles and cuts to maximize the visual excitement of the song.

After these 2 stages are completed we play-test the tune internally to make sure the Authoring conforms to our rigorous standards. Nothing will leave until we are totally satisfied. This is the first level of quality control.

We then submit your song to the Rock Band Creators Club for Peer Review. Here it is play tested by the Creators community. Fellow Creators give us feedback on game-play. This is the second level of quality control.

Once a track receives the required amount of positive peer reviews, it will be ready to be placed in the Rock Band Network store, and available for download worldwide."

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get into the RBN store?

The time required to author a track and upload it into the store depends on:

a) The song’s musical complexity. The more complex the arrangement and musical parts, the longer it will take to Author.

b) The length of the song. A 3-minute pop tune will take less time to author than a 7- minute Prog-Rock epic!

c) The Peer review process. Through rigorous internal play testing we will ensure that the Peer review process is as rapid as possible. Once it has completed the Peer review process and gained Microsoft certification, it should be available, in store, within 72 hours.

Being a completely new format and process, the actual timeline is currently difficult to determine. As the Rock Band Network develops and evolves, we will provide a more accurate timeline. Our current estimate is for the entire process to take up to 6-8 weeks.

How do I get paid?

Every time your song is bought the Rock Band will pay 30% of the download fee, and as always TuneCore will pass 100% of this back to you. The maximum RBN fee is $3 per song. So, for example, from a $2 download fee you receive 60¢.

What if this is not a song I wrote and I am covering someone else's or I do not control the rights to the master recordings?

You cannot have you song distributed to Rock Band if you did not write it, or you do not control the masters. Yes, that means no cover songs!

How often will I Get Paid For Sales Of My Song

Harmonix reports download sales every quarter (four times a year.)

Can I Do This Myself?

Sure. To have your songs distributed to the Rock Band Network you will have to:

More Questions?

Contact us at rockband@tunecore.com