The Rock Band Network, announced in July,is aground-breaking initiative that gives musicians, publishers and record labels the ability to author their original recordings into gameplay files to promote and sell their music as playable Rock Band tracks through the Rock Band Network Music Store (RBN Store).

In addition, it was announced today that T-Mobile has signed on as launch partner of the Rock Band Network to develop an “Artist-of-the-Month” feature beginning in April 2010 to help fans identify and connect with new talent in the Rock Band Network.

“The Rock Band Network Music Store gives artists at any level the opportunity to reach new fans through our deeply engaging interactive platform,” said Paul DeGooyer, senior vice president of Electronic Games and Music for MTV Networks Music Group. “This new pathway for discovery is a huge win for passionate music fans, as well as an opportunity for artists to promote themselves while positively impacting their bottom line.”

Artists who submit songs for the Rock Band Network Music Store are able to choose from multiple pricing tiers for individual tracks and receive a royalty of 30 percent of the retail selling price (excluding tax) for every track purchased through the RBN Store. There are currently more than 100 songs available for purchase in the Rock Band Network Music Store from artists including The Shins, The Hold Steady, The Main Drag, Bang Camaro, of Montreal, Jonathan Coulton, Skeleton Witch, 3 Inches of Blood, Lacuna Coil, Stroke 9, and Steve Vai*. There are more than 300 artists in the RBN pipeline, with additional tracks already on the way from Flight of the Conchords, The Smashing Pumpkins, Twin Atlantic, All That Remains, Clutch, Prong, The Gaslight Anthem and many more coming soon.

With more than 1,100 tracks available to date in the original Rock Band platform, the Rock Band Network Music Store will immediately boost the number of available songs, further securing MTV Games and Harmonix’s position as the leading provider of downloadable content for music-based video games.

“The response to and interest in the Rock Band Network has been even greater than we originally expected,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems. “We’re very excited about the number of bands and labels who have geared up to participate in the Rock Band Network, as well as the number of enthusiasts who have signed up to participate in the Peer Review and Playtest processes.”

Since launching the Rock Band Network open beta in January, more than 4,300 new users have registered as authors and peer reviewers on http://Creators.RockBand.com, the site where songs are submitted before they are approved to be sold. Authors create Rock Band song packages and submit them to the site to go through two processes: Playtest, where the community delivers feedback on a work in progress track, and Peer Review, where revised and final drafts are vetted and approved for sale. During Peer Review, songs are tested for playability, adherence to the authoring standards of Rock Band and checked to check for violations of XNA Creators Club Online community standards (vulgarity, adult content, original content, etc.).

Peer reviewers have the unique opportunity to play Rock Band Network content for free, well in advance of a track’s commercial release. These fans can help shape the track’s final versions, providing crucial feedback and flagging issues throughout Playtest and Peer Review that ensures songs are up to the high standards set by Harmonix. Any music fan with Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and an internet connected PC can join the Playtest and Peer Review processes by purchasing an XNA Creators Club Online Premium membership through http://creators.xna.com/membership.

Once tracks are approved, they are transferred to the Rock Band Network Music Store, an in-game music marketplace where the millions of Rock Band fans will be able to explore this constantly growing set of new content. In an exciting turn of events, for the first time in the Rock Band franchise, users will be able to download sample gameplay of each track to try before they buy! Songs will debut exclusively on Xbox 360 for 30 days. A selection of standout tracks will then be made available on the PS3 and the Wii.

Songs Now Available in the Rock Band Network Music Store

• A Drug Against War / KMFDM
• Angel Lust / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!
• Another California Song / Zack Wilson
• Arigato / Gandhi
• Australia / The Shins
• Backyard Buildyard / Steve and Lindley Band
• Battles and Brotherhood / 3 Inches of Blood
• Buried Cold / Rose of Jericho
• Burn it Down / Five Finger Death Punch
• California / The Kimberly Trip
• Can I Stay / Stephanie Hatfield and Hot Mess
• Cease and Desist / The Main Drag
• Children of December / The Slip
• Creepy Doll / Jonathan Coulton
• Crushed Beyond Dust / Skeletonwitch
• Day of Mourning / Despised Icon
• Disengage / Suicide Silence
• Don't Let Me Down (Slowly) / The Main Drag
• Dove Nets / The Main Drag
• Drunken Lullabies (Live) / Flogging Molly
• End Quote / Full-Source
• Even Rats / The Slip
• Fade Away / Of Last Resort
• Far Away from Heaven / Free Spirit
• Fight Back / Ron Wasserman
• For the Love of God (Live) / Steve Vai
• Fortune / Kristin Hersh
• Get the Hell Out of Here / Steve Vai
• Give / The Cold Goodnight
• Goth Girls / MC Frontalot
• Grumpytown / Speck
• He Sleeps in a Grove / Amberian Dawn
• Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse / of Montreal
• Homosuperior / The Main Drag
• Horses in Heaven / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!
• How We'd Look On Paper / The Main Drag
• Hyperbole / Glass Hammer
• Icarus' Song / Furly
• If Not Now When / Color Theory
• If Trucks Drank Beer / Error 404 feat. CJ Watson
• Ikea / Jonathan Coulton
• In Memories / Giant Target
• Inside Out / Nick Gallant
• It's Good / The Humans
• It's Not You, It's Everyone / Full-Source
• Juke Joint Jezebel / KMFDM
• Kick Some Ass '09 / Stroke 9
• Lady in a Blue Dress / Senses Fail
• Lemon Juice / Scratching The Itch
• Lilith in Libra / You Shriek
• Limousine / Stars of Boulevard
• Liquid Smog (StompBox Remix) / WaveGroup Feat. Becca Neun
• Little Black Backpack '09 / Stroke 9
• Liverpool Judies / The Fisticuffs
• Love During Wartime / The Main Drag
• Mechanical Love / In This Moment
• Megatron / The Main Drag
• Mississippi Kite / Kristin Hersh
• Moonboy / The Dirty Love Band
• Nancy Drew / Pink Flag
• No Direction / Longwave
• No Heroes / You Shriek
• Not My Fault / Ultra Saturday
• Ox / Zack Wilson
• Paper Valentines / James William Roy
• Parhelia / Heaven Ablaze
• Persistence of Vision / Matter in the Medium
• Race The Hourglass / Audio Fiction
• Red Sky At Morn / Full-Source
• Requiem for a Dying Song / Flogging Molly
• Rip'er / Lead the Dead
• River of Tuoni / Amberian Dawn
• Running for the Razors / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!
• Rx / Wounded Soul
• Sequestered in Memphis / The Hold Steady
• Sestri Levante / Fake Shark-Real Zombie!
• Sick / Bif Naked
• Signs / Giant Target
• Sissyfuss / Surprise Me Mr. Davis
• Sleep On / Glass Hammer
• Stand for Something / Skindred
• Still There / Bojibian
• Superhero! / Ultra Saturday
• Survive / Lacuna Coil
• Tadpole Search and Rescue / Chaunce DeLeon and The Fountain of Choof
• Talk About / Dear and the Headlights
• Talk Them Down / The Main Drag
• Teeth, Face, Outerspace / The Main Drag
• The Attitude Song / Steve Vai
• The Buddy Disease / Scratching The Itch
• The Complexity of Light / Children of Nova
• The Future Soon / Jonathan Coulton
• The Heist / DnA's Evolution
• Tongue Twister Typo / Blackmarket
• Top Back / Alias Unknown
• Tricky Girl / The Main Drag
• Trippolette / Andrew Buch
• Turn Yourself Around / Nick Gallant
• VP of Booty Reports / Speck
• Watch It All Go Down / Foreword
• We Are the Best / C&O
• Whatever Is Wrong With You / Marillion
• What's Your Favorite Dinosaur? / The Main Drag
• You Got That / The Everybody
• You're My Everything / Scratching The Itch