With all the hoopla surrounding the recent experiments with online distribution by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, the videogame Rock Band’s store expansion may represent a less heralded future venue. In contrast with the aforementioned big names which can trade on years of old-industry promotion, the Rock Band store has already provided a way to break new artists such as Paramore. Individual songs featured in the related title Guitar Hero 3 also showed sales spikes after the game’s release, similar to the Apple halo effect provided to Feist and Yael Naim after featuring their tracks in commercials. The game’s very name and history under the Guitar Hero franchise may suggest that the potential is limited to strictly rock acts, yet prior GH games have already highlighted alternative, electronic, indie, and pop artists including unsigned bands offered as unlockables.

The question remains, however - how exactly does a band get a song programmed for the game and loaded into the Rock Band store, and who are the gatekeepers? 

Rock Band meets iTunes, opens built-in music store