About Fairwood Studios

We're a small little group of musicians, gamers, and engineers. We're a younger crew, with a number of college students. We take stuff seriously enough to do a good job while trying to stay kids at heart. We believe doing a good job is more important than making a ton of money. We believe in giving the little guy as much love as the big guy.

About Rock Band Network

Rock Band Network (RBN) is a new program launched for the Rock Band series of video games that lets anybody produce and sell their tracks for playing in the games. The bands can set their own price ($1 or $2), with 30% of each sale coming back as royalties. Players get a ton of new songs to try, bands get exposure and payment, everybody gets happy.

Q&A

Why should I even bother?

Heard of Bang Camaro? If you have, and you're not from Boston, it's because of the power of Rock Band. There's millions of copies out there, with over 60 million (and growing) paid downloads. Bands ranging from Mötley Crüe to The Mother Hips to Them Crooked Vultures have all made their showings, and the games have even debuted songs before their official album release. It's kind of a big deal.

How much does it cost?

Nothing, up front. We only work off a percent of royalties- this makes sure we do the best job we can both in charting and promoting your song. The amount we take per song is minimal, and varies based on the deal- if you sign for a ton of songs at once you'll certainly see a discount. However, we do make special arrangements with labels that require more control over their songs and want an up-front system.

How do we get paid?

Microsoft (which runs the background system that RBN is built on) pays quarterly. So, we pay quarterly- but you can see your songs' performance at any time on the band panel. Microsoft has a minimum- we don't. You get paid no matter how your song's selling.

How long does it take?

It can vary widely, based on our team's workload and your song's complexity. Generally, it takes us around a month from getting song stems to having something up for the public to playtest. However, we can never say for sure until we start working, but your band panel does include progress information so you can keep up with how it's coming along.

What about promotion?

Besides having some of our crew as active members in the Rock Band and video gaming community, we also produce videos for each of our tracks so people can know exactly what they're getting. But if you're worried about getting buried under a mountain of other bands, don't be- over 1,000 songs is insane for a video game, but it's peanuts compared to iTunes. Getting in early lets you beat the crowd and get even more exposure.

What exactly do you do?

We take the stems of your song that you provide and create MIDI tracks that Rock Band can understand. We then do it again for each of the game's difficulty modes, and again to set up the game's animation and camera work. It's all based on making the most accurate and fun track and making sure it fits your band's style and mood. Then we compile it, put it up for the community to review, and release it for sale.

Can't we just do that ourselves?

Of course! If you do your own mixing it's not that hard- but it can be time-consuming, and there's a bunch of things you need to get (an XBox360, a Creator's Club Membership, and a copy of the game) before you can produce any songs. We have all of that already, so you don't need to worry about up-front costs or losing any vital touring time. But if you feel like tackling it yourself, you can get started here.