Commentary

Occasionally, distantly-related advancements in technology allow us to see into the future. When the train was invented around the same time city-dwellers began using steel in everyday construction, many in society could see the benefits of a possible public transit system that was still long to come. In the eighties, when computer programming and telecommunications became central industries in America, many folks in-the-know could foresee a World Wide Web, you know, like this one. Right now I feel like we might be seeing hints of a similar shake-up in the music business. And it starts in a funny place: video games.

As we speak, a war is on between two leading game producers for control of the music-game market. On one side is Activision’s Guitar Hero and its offshoots, games that (until very soon), feature the playing of a plastic guitar along with recorded music, a la the old bouncing-ball routine. On the other side is Harmonix’s Rock Band, where players can play guitar, bass, drums, and even sing along to the original artists featured on the game or songs bought separately.

The Guitar Hero franchise is taking it one step further in their next installment. Guitar Hero: World Tour will feature the full band and instruments of Rock Band, but also contain a music-writing mode where the player can fully compose and record his/her own songs and then share them on the web.

Over the last twenty years, music production programs and synthesizers have become so powerful and compact, that a fully-functional studio could fit in your brother’s bedroom, between those lousy girl-and-hotrod posters and the pile of dirty laundry.

In just the last ten years, the Internet has changed the way we listen to music. We are exposed to more diversity, as well as more history, at a younger age. In an afternoon, your little sister could learn everything it took years for a Rolling Stone editor to know about good—and bad—music. At the same time, new bands can now self-promote with the help of social networking sites and mass-email marketing.

Soon, as these things rise and converge, I think it is a natural step that music-gaming takes a serious stab at music-making. Guitar Hero fans already have their first rock star, a kid named Chris Chike who is apparently the greatest game-guitarist, like, ever. Who’s to say this type of prodigious talent, coupled with a quick musical education, can’t bring us the next generation of popular music?

1 Comment »