It's nothing unusual for a developer to release a toolset for users to make new levels or an SDK (software developer's kit). But when it happens for music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it can go a couple of different ways. One option is that you end up with a bunch of public domain junk no one wants, such as you'll find on Guitar Hero: World Tour's much ballyhooed GH Tunes service (confession: I was one of the guys who ballyhooed it). The game shipped with a rudimentary music studio, a two-minute time limit, no meaningful quality control, and a promise to aggressively police away any copyrighted material.

Another option is that you can instead release a more robust set of tools and encourage their use among the people who actually make the music. And how are you doing to encourage them? Simple. Money.

This is the thinking behind Rock Band Network, just announced by MTV and Rock Band developer Harmonix. The press release describes it as:

...a ground-breaking initiative that gives musicians and record labels the ability to author their own original recordings into gameplay files and sell their music as playable Rock Band tracks through the newly-created Rock Band Network Music Store.

Here are the details:

The Rock Band Network will launch as an open beta in late August 2009 in the U.S. and provide a sophisticated toolset, with detailed documentation on how bands can begin the process of authoring songs into Rock Band gameplay files. Authors will be able to submit tracks for playtesting and peer review via a specialized Web site, Creators.RockBand.com. Potential publishers will need a membership to Microsoft's XNA Creators Club Online in order to test and publish game content...Once tracks are approved, they will be transferred to the Rock Band Network Store, an in-game music marketplace where millions of Rock Band fans will be able to demo samples of the songs for free before they purchase...Artists featured in the store will be able to choose from multiple pricing tiers for individual tracks and will be compensated via a simple payment system that provides automated accounting and regular royalty payments.

I'm reluctant to ballyhoo this too much considering my track record with GH Tunes, but strikes me as worthy of ballyhooing. It reminds me of the "you do it" approach taken by the iPhone App Store. And I'm pretty sure that's doing well for iPhone owners and software developers.

Also, there's a curious snub of Playstation 3 and Wii Rock Banders in this deal. Songs will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360 for 30 days, and after that, only a select few will make their way to other platforms.

Billboard has an article here with more details about pricing of songs, the actual software, and some potential risks.