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On September 9, 2009, the popular video game console Rock Band will release its third major release The Beatles: Rock Band. Initially started as a means of entertainment, Rock Band, and its similar console Guitar Hero, has become primary sources of marketing and income for several established bands, resulting in a modern form of commerce.
Upon surfacing in the mid 2000s, Rock Band and Guitar Hero have helped artists of past and present get their music out to an audience that would not have had the opportunity to do otherwise. Such as the situation was with music videos beginning in the late 1970s, the gaming units have given the performing and recording ensemble another platform in which to sell their music, with The Beatles being the latest artist with said opportunity.
With the release of their Guitar Hero themed console in 2008, the rock band Aerosmith stated that they made more money on the units of their video game being sold than on any single record they have made. A stunning exclamation since the band has experienced worldwide acclaim with the eight million copies sold on their 1975 release Toys in the Attic and the seven million copies sold of their 1993 albumGet a Grip, just to name two.
With The Beatles now getting the same treatment, what new forms of expression can artists possibly express through this new medium? I applaud the idea that a ten-year-old kid may receive the opportunity to hear The Beatles for the first time by playing the game, but should the manufacturers of Guitar Hero product try to incorporate a different form of music here or there in order to broaden the horizons of popular music?
In this month’s issue of JazzTimes Magazine, contributor Nate Chinen sheds light on the subject by telling the story of a time when he saw jazz guitarist John Scofield at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City. Chinen describes in detail Scofield’s performance, with the skilled guitarist’s masterful and impressive musicianship being the focal point. He goes on to say that Scofield would be an appropriate subject for Guitar Hero.
Chinen brings up a good point on not only the nature of which Guitar Hero and Rock Band bring music to the masses but how it could be used to educate the buying public on music. If a medium could help a type of music gain more prominence, then why keep it in the sometimes-insular sphere of popular music? I wholly understand that jazz is the least selling of all genres, but the audience for it exists and might play Guitar Hero. Or further yet, the audience has no idea that they like jazz, but could enjoy it through playing Guitar Hero.
This brings me back to The Beatles, a band that at the very least young people have heard of. If Guitar Hero can ensure that their music can translate to a new audience, then so be it. But more can be done with the modern marketing of music and as it pertains to the listening public.
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