Rock Band news stories on Newser

Green Day Goes Rock Band

Nick McMaster — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:07:02 CST

Green Day is going digital. Harmonix is releasing a version of the Rock Band virtual guitar-playing video game next year featuring the band's music. Some songs from the band's latest album, 21st Century Breakdown , were playable on Rock Band as add-on songs, but frontman Billy Joe Armstrong tells MTV he's...

Rock Band Hits the iPhone

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:01:49 CDT

Rock Band has arrived on the iPhone, complete with a Bluetooth multi-player mode that allows four people to jam together. The $9.99 app, also available on the iPod Touch, includes 20 tracks, among them the Pixies' "Debaser" and two Foo Fighters songs; of course, more can be purchased via...

How to Save the Music Biz

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:55:00 CDT

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....

Pepsi Buys Branding Rights to MTV Award

Harry Kimball — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:38:31 CDT

This Sunday, MTV will bestow its first Video Music Award on a non-professional. It also happens to be the first time the network has sold naming rights to an award, reports Advertising Age . Hence, the prestigious “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video Award.” The winner will be chosen...

Stones Legend Bashes Guitar Hero

Rob Quinn — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:54:50 CDT

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...

Rock Band Matures With Beatles Edition

Nick McMaster — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:06:45 CDT

The Beatles: Rock Band successfully brings the winning music-game formula to one of rock’s biggest names, writes Elizabeth Landau for CNN. Designed to be played by as many as six, the game "does make for a great time and will probably be a hit at parties." Meanwhile, spectators "can watch...

Bathroom Is for Texting, Not Talking: Pitt

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:33:01 CDT

The times, they are a-changin’—and that calls for new rules of etiquette. To help out, Brad Pitt addresses issues ranging from inter-Rock Band dynamics to texting in the bathroom for Wired : Problem: Your Rock Band bassist sucks. Solution: “Fire his ass. Bonus: It'll put the others on notice.” Problem:...

Beatles Catalogue Gets Digital Facelift

Harry Kimball — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:05:39 CDT

The Beatles are getting a long-awaited makeover. The group's entire music collection, including all 12 studio albums released in stereo, is being digitally remastered for release in September, the UK Times reports. It will be the first time the first four Beatles albums will be available in their entirety on...

Wii Music Offers Cute Fun and Some Lessons

Jim O'Neill — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:17:01 CST

You might not rock out with Nintendo’s new Wii Music the way your teen would with Guitar Hero , but that won’t stop the family from having a ball with the game, Katherine Boehret writes in the Wall Street Journal . The game stays true to the Wii tradition of “cute,” offering...