Rock Band Network open beta begins @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on January 20, 2010

News: Are all you rock stars ready to become Rock Band Stars?

Harmonix has officially launched the open beta for the Rock Band Network. This new section of the Rock Band Music Store will allow developing acts and established artists to bring their own songs to the Rock Band community. Provided they have the right video game programming skills to turn one of their songs into a Rock Band track, of course.

?We are excited to democratize the Rock Band platform and expand the music discovery experience to the greater music community with the Rock Band Network,? said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix. ?We believe this will be great for fans, music lovers, bands and the music industry as a whole.?

To compete for possible inclusion in the Rock Band Network Store, tracks must first be evaluated at Creators.RockBand.com. After submission, they must go through two stages, Playtest and Peer Review. Songs that pass the test will then be added to the Rock Band Network Store on the Xbox 360 with "standout tracks" being made available to PlayStation 3 and Wii users after 30 days.

Harmonix has created a website listing all of the information bands need to know before submitting one of their songs to the Rock Band Network. And Kotaku has an in-depth look at "very naughty words" that won't be allowed in Rock Band Network submissions including the obvious (fuck, shit, penis) and the not so obvious (God).

Harmonix has yet to announce when the first tracks from the Rock Band Network Store will be made available to the general public.

We'll have more soon.