IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Rock Band, Guitar Hero Make People Less Interested in Learning Music, says Former Rolling Stones Star

Posted September 8, 2009 by James Brightman

The music video game genre has exploded over the last few years thanks to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The category is slumping somewhat in 2009, but with The Beatles Rock Band shipping this week and Guitar Hero 5 having launched last week, there should be some decent uptick in sales for the fall/holiday period. But will these games actually spur people on to learn how to play real instruments?

That's something that's still up for debate, but instrument distributor Guitar Center has said in the past that it's seen a spike in sales of guitars thanks in part to the music game phenomenon. Speaking to the BBC, former Rolling Stones star Bill Wyman said he's convinced that music gamers are less inclined to play real instruments."It encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think [it's] a pity so I'm not really keen on that kind of stuff," he said.

Pink Floyd star Nick Mason offered similar sentiments. He called the music games "interesting new developments," but added, "It irritates me having watched my kids do it - if they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they'd be damn good by now."

Despite Mason's disdain for the games, he's fully aware of the changing business model in the music space and that video games have opened up new avenues for musicians. So he's not ruling out Pink Floyd getting into the game. "I think we'd consider it," he told the BBC. "I think everyone's looking at new ways of selling the music because the business of selling records has almost disappeared. I'm of the old guard who are really sad about that, because I always liked the concept of the album - rather than just cherry-picking tracks - and also the business of the art work that went with it."

Wyman and Mason certainly aren't the first musicians to speak up against the music game phenomenon. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and The White Stripes frontman Jack White called the trend "depressing" earlier this year.

Needless to say, Harmonix, which created the original Guitar Hero and subsequently Rock Band, came to the defense of the music games. "Most people try to learn an instrument at some point in their lives, and almost all of them quit after a few months or a year or two. This, I think, is because the earliest years of learning an instrument are the least gratifying. When people play Rock Band, however, they very quickly get a glimpse of the rewards that lie on the other side of the wall," said Harmonix boss Alex Rigopulos. "We're constantly hearing from fans who were inspired by Rock Band to start studying a real instrument."

IndustryGamers is inclined to agree with Rigopulos, but we do understand where Wyman is coming from. After all, if you're lazy and want instant music gratification, you can get that from Rock Band. We certainly got that gratification over the Labor Day weekend, spending much time with The Beatles Rock Band (which is brilliant!), but what you can't get from Rock Band is your own music interpretation - you're simply playing along to a pre-recorded track. Rock Band is tons of fun, but it certainly can't replace creating real music with real instruments, and most gamers realize that.

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.