Rock Band library swells to 1000 songs

By Robert Purchese Published 26 November, 2009

Plus: create-and-share Network in 2010.

There are now over 1000 songs to download for Rock Band, thanks to the updates offered weekly since the series launched in late 2006.

In the summer of 2007 the promise of new songs was frequently newsworthy. This is the 105th week-and-counting of this rigorous schedule.

In all that time over 60 million songs have been downloaded. Tracks cost a quid individually or £2.50 for a typical pack of three.

Harmonix and MTV are not content, however, and will launch another pioneering venture called the Rock Band Network that will allow players to share and sell music of their own.

The latest estimate (reported by Kotaku) puts the Network's launch next year, with a public beta to air - MTV hopes - before the end of 2009.

Today, the Rock Band series counts two core instalments plus numerous spin-offs such as The Beatles: Rock Band and LEGO: Rock Band.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • andywilkie35 #1 2 years ago

    Fantastic service from Harmonix - makes those fuckpigs over at Activision look amateur in comparison

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #2 2 years ago

    Activision could do with taking a leaf out of Harmonix's book - I must have spent a small fortune downloading some great tracks, great choice too

  • cianchristopher #3 2 years ago

    As Activision says: why bother with DLC when you can just release a million full-price Guitar Hero games on disc each year instead!

    It's all about "monetising" and "annualising" and "revenueising" with those fuckers!

    Hope they go the way of Atari in '83!

  • XdarXideX #4 2 years ago

    1000?? Really?? That's impressive, but I'm still not convinced I should buy Rock Band and it gets frustrating to see the Rock Band (and to a much lesser extent Guitar Hero) song packs listed in the "New releases" part of the Game Marketplace as I thought they made a music game section for just this reason.

    I'll admit I've owned many a Guitar Hero but I only really liked the game, not the soundtrack. Well the majority at least.. there were a few songs I liked. I don't consider myself a fanboy about it but Rock Band just doesn't feel right to me and I dislike the visual cues for the notes.

  • varsas #5 2 years ago

    @XdarXideX: If you don't like the GH soundtracks then RB would be a good option since you can download the songs you like assuming you enjoyed the gameplay. I've only recently moved over to RB after TBRB and RB2 were released on the Wii and I definitely prefer the gameplay in these games. The on screen display is also better configured imho.

  • beastmaster #6 2 years ago

    Still only 1 Stone Roses track. They've just remastered the original album. Do it! Do it now!

  • PlugMonkey #7 2 years ago

    cianchris: Yeah, but Band Hero looks to have largely tanked, and 60m downloads at a quid a piece is quite a lot of "monetising".

    I think Activision may have missed the boat by now. Like MaFlippin, my Rock Band DLC library is so vast I'm pretty much tied to that franchise forever. I'm not really sure what Guitar Hero could do to get me back at this stage.

  • xentar #8 2 years ago

    unfortunately here in Czech rep its impossible to buy tracks for RB over PSN while GH content is available... makes me wanna cry

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #9 2 years ago

    Guitar Hero 2 was my first, didn't bother with 3 and then picked up world tour. I thought they we're both brilliant but I kept hearing about songs I love being released via DLC through RB that weren't available on the GH series, therefore thought I'd pick up a copy of RB. It felt a little strange at first but shortly afterwards I realised it was so much more fun playing songs I really liked and wanted to play as opposed to playing songs that I felt were mediocre. If it wasn't for the RB DLC, then either franchise would do for me.

  • Sonic_D #10 2 years ago

    RB DLC is brilliant. GH DLC has mostly been sh1te (with some notable exceptions I admit). This is why I have spent loads on RB DLC and hardly any on GH.

  • LR100 #11 2 years ago

    I prefer Guitar Heros style, gameplay etc, but the track listings are usually very poor and the DLC is rubbish, 3 tracks a week (if you're lucky) and they are almost always rubbish, unheard-of trash that no one could possibly want to play. The Neversoft thank-you pack they gave away for free was utter garbage! I can't even say "They're saving the good stuff for paid downloads, not free giveaways", but the stuff you have to pay for is terrible.

    Rock band has a much better setlist and DLC to rock out too and bring out loads of tracks each week. That is where my gamerpoints have been going lately. Buck your ideas up Activision! You're missing out on all that money you love so much!

  • bobmar360 #12 2 years ago

    Are all tracks backward compatible? It seems with GH you can't do that and can only download content for each years release, but I'd buy rockband if u can just have one version and keep downloading whatever new tracks they release!

  • XdarXideX #13 2 years ago

    -1'd by Rock Band fans. Awesome.

    @varsas

    Again... I don't like Rock Bands visual interface... as in the stupid little coloured lines instead of Guitar Hero's circles. The songs can be more enjoyable and there are some hidden metal/hardcore tunes there that I like, but overall I have more fun playing Guitar Hero.

  • melch #14 2 years ago

    id been a guitar hero player since gh2 and always brought the latest version (GH3, greatest hits, metallica, WT, I know im an activision whore) but was massively disappointed by gh5 normally there are a good number of tracks i enjoy playing but the setlist just seemed poor compared to previous games, although i normally always hold on to my gh games i traded 5 in after 2 weeks.

    In comparison RB & RB2 allows you to build the setlist up for the game that you want by giving you a good starting point and a load of DLC, im completely converted to RB and wont be going back anytime soon.

  • paulf #15 2 years ago

    Rock Band is so much better than Guitar Hero, better tracks better note charts great dlc, beatles and lego, oh and tenacious d 'tribute' :)

  • kangarootoo #16 2 years ago

    @melch

    I agree. I thought the tracklist in GH5 was easily the worst of the series. There are a few great tracks in there, but in quickplay I just find myself scrolling all the time hunting for something that appeals. I imported GHWT tracks into it quick smart.

  • giant_frying_pan #17 2 years ago

    and it gets frustrating to see the Rock Band (and to a much lesser extent Guitar Hero) song packs listed in the "New releases" part of the Game Marketplace as I thought they made a music game section for just this reason.

    I think they've just added a separate Music Add-Ons section so that they don't clutter up new releases.

  • lippy1001 #18 2 years ago

    Please put some muse on the store! That would make Harmonix perfect!

  • brommers #19 2 years ago

    Good news to here the network will be up and running soon-ish. They said november but my track still aint finished so a little more time to fine tune is welcome. Anyone else creating any music for the network?