14 DAY TRIAL // Harmonix, the creator of both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, is no longer associated with MTV Games, having been bought by an investment firm earlier in the year, but the company says that this has not affected the quality of the music that is licensing for its upcoming games.
Harmonix itself worked hard to create solid relationships with music companies and agents in order to make sure that it can remain a force in the music game genre whatever its link to MTV Games.
John Drake, who is an executive working on Rock Band at Harmonix, has said, “We’ve had a lot of good relationships with publishers and record labels for a long time.”
This means that the company currently has no problems getting access to new music to add to its growing stable of downloadable content.
But the executive admitted that working with MTV was at one point crucial to getting access to the biggest music stars, adding, “Having MTV was huge for having access to people like The Beatles or any of those type of bands, but we’re very much a known entity in the music space. We’ve had releases from Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga, Ozzy, Red Hot Chilli Peppers.”
The developer also says that the company has prepared an incredible soundtrack for Dance Central 2, which will show the strong links it has with the music industry.
The track list for the game has not yet been released but Harmonix has said that it will feature: Bulletproof from, La Roux, DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love by Usher, Like a G6 from Far East Movement, Massive Attack from Nicki Minaj, Nothin' on You by B.o.B and Bruno Mars, Rude Boy by Rihanna, This Is How We Do It from Montell Jordan and Venus by Bananarama.
Dance Central 2 is Kinect powered and will be launched in late October.