Karaoke Revelation: Subscription Music in Games
Over at new-to-GSW blog Microscopiq, they have an interesting discussion on music, karaoke, and gaming which points out, thanks to insight gained from a Korean karaoke bar in New York, that having timed subscription access to massive amounts of songs might actually be more fun that individually grabbing Guitar Hero 2 mini-song packs, for example.
The blog notes: "Recently, for instance, Karaoke Revolution creators Harmonix started selling song packs for Guitar Hero 2. You buy it, you own it, but only 3 songs at a time and you can’t pick and choose. While it’s a cool idea (and one I’ve been dying for since Frequency), this is one place where subscription could do better."
Why so? "That’s because on karaoke night having bunches of songs at your fingertips for an evening beats the shit out of owning a few songs forever. Variety bests longevity. Of course, licensing fees, bandwidth, and content creation cost are issues here. Still, I’d pay a nice sum to get a few hours with a library of downloadable songs for a Karaoke Revolution party, or even a monthly fee to have that access always. Would you?"
Heck, I'd probably pay $10 a month for a multi-hundred song Guitar Hero 2 library that included all kinds of randomness. But I suspect it makes much less financial sense to the companies involved, sadly. Yet Microscopiq notes: "While Steve Jobs clearly has a point that people want to own their music (85% market share can’t be wrong), the same may not hold true in gaming." It's debatable!
Comments
i think i'd rather go with the model being proposed for singstar PS3 - individual tracks. i'm quite picky about music however. also, the costs would have to be weighed.
Posted by: ferricide | May 25, 2007 2:43 PM
Nowadays, as far as music goes, I'm actually subscribed to both a subscription service (Yahoo! Music) and a download service (Emusic).
And since I also partake of GameTap and XBLA, I guess the same is true for games.
So seems like I don't have a strong preference either way, if both are offered - both have advantages and disadvantages. Boy, this is turning into a vague reply.
Posted by: simonc | May 25, 2007 3:00 PM
i am forced to admit that i have never used a subscription service online, for any medium, ever. so i guess i'm not fully equipped to answer definitively. however, that's because i tend to be so choosy. i've been attracted by the likes of rhapsody and i might even like them if i give 'em a shot, but somehow, it never quite happens... probably because i'm typically already inundated with music anyway. same would go for gametap: i have plenty of games to play already thanks! =)
Posted by: ferricide | May 25, 2007 3:10 PM
That's a very cool idea, and I admit I love the selection in karaoke rooms in Japan. (For those who don't know, you rent out a small room for like US$8-$15 an hour and then hang out with friends getting loaded and singing karaoke from a selection of 50,000 songs while a monitor feeds you lyrics and shows you silly generic video in the background. Most of them are kinda icky MIDI arrangements, but you can't beat the selection, especially at Joysound.)
However, I also like the idea of buying content and owning it forever, and I think Guitar Hero is more suited to this model simply because for most songs you need the freedom to be able to practice over and over for days. If it was easily sight-readable (without being boring), I can see how the karaoke model might be more appropriate -- get a bunch of friends over, rent out a vast Guitar Hero library for an evening, and plow through a bunch of fun songs you've never played before. I dunno -- am I on crack? Would that actually work?
Yeah, I guess I am on crack. You can have a lot of fun sight-reading Guitar Hero as long as you know your difficulty threshold. I do think it would be an annoying model if you wanted to just concentrate on a few particular songs, though.
Posted by: Shih Tzu | May 25, 2007 7:16 PM