Harmonix Music Systems

Harmonix Music Systems

Type	Subsidiary
Founded	1995
Founder(s)	Alex Rigopulos, Eran Egozy
Headquarters	Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Industry	Software & Programming
Parent	MTV Networks
Website	http://www.harmonixmusic.com

Harmonix Music Systems (or simply Harmonix) is a video game development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States. It is known for its many music video games.

Harmonix is perhaps best known as being the developer of Rock Band, as well as being the original developer of the Guitar Hero series before development moved to Neversoft.

History

Harmonix was founded in 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy who met while attending MIT.^[1] Egozy was an electrical/computer engineer with an interest in music, while Rigopulos was a music composition major with an interest in programming; both met while working in the MIT Media Lab. After seeing a computer music generation system that could algorithmically create music on the fly, the two considered how one could use a joystick to control the system, and set up a demonstration of the unit for the Lab, which gain interest from others in the Lab. The two realized that after graduation they would not be able to construct such niche systems in the industry, and chose to start their own company.^[2] The company was built on the premise that the experience of performing music could become accessible to those who would otherwise have trouble learning a traditional instrument.^[2]

The company was funded with about $100,000, and for the first five years, had nearly zero revenue.^[2] The company's earliest product was The Axe: Titans of Classic Rock on PC CD-ROM. The Axe enabled consumers to easily perform unique instrumental solos by using a PC joystick. This product only sold about 300 copies, with Rigopulos and Egozy realizing that people, while initially entranced by the game, lost interest after 15 minutes of playing with it.^[2] Harmonix then designed "CamJam", which performed similar functions, this time using simple body gestures to trigger music sequences.^[1] CamJam was utilized at Disney theme parks.^[2][3] This led the two consider approaching entertainment businesses like Dave & Buster's to include their products, but they soon realized that this would be a year to a year-and-a-half effort, too long for their needs.^[2] They then considered the entertainment industry in Japan, where in 1997, was taking off with the introduction of karaoke bars and music video games such as PaRappa the Rapper, Beatmania, and Dance Dance Revolution. They attempted to sell their CamJam equipment to these entertainment centers but found little interest for it. They came to a realization that games like karaoke were popular not due through personal expression, but because they encouraged players to try to accurately recreate the songs through their actions.^[2] These games also focused on bringing musical experiences to gamers through simple, understandable interfaces commonly found in games.^[1] With this realization, the two returned to the United States and regrouped their company as a video game developer, though they had to let about 40% of their current staff go.^[2]

Harmonix' first major video game was FreQuency, with its development funded by Sony Computer Entertainment along with about $2 million in investments in the company. A key factor of Harmonix' contract with Sony was that it was allowed to keep its intellectual property, which allowed for Harmonix to build on the game for its future endevours.^[2] The game's development began in 1999,^[1][4] backed by a larger team at Harmonix, many of whom were musicians.^[4] Featuring songs by a number of underground electronica artists, FreQuency allowed players to perform and remix a variety of music. The game was backed by SCEA Vice President of Product Development, Shuhei Yoshida. Released in 2001 on the PlayStation 2, FreQuency was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards,^[5] though it failed to become a mainstream success. Harmonix developed a sequel to FreQuency, Amplitude, released in 2003. Several changes were made from its predecessor to broaden the game's appeal, from gameplay tweaks to a more mainstream soundtrack. And again, Amplitude achieved awards, critical praise,^[6] and a small cult following, but it was not a financial hit.^[1] The two attributed the poor response to the games due in part to the lack of a mainstream soundtrack and that the gameplay was difficult to connect to if one was not playing the game.^[2]

After Amplitude, Harmonix was approached by Konami to create the Karaoke Revolution franchise. Konami, known for their Bemani line of music games, wanted to distribute their games in the United States, and Harmonix was the only music game developer in the country at the time.^[2] Konami was responsible for publishing the Karaoke Revolution titles, of which Harmonix developed and released three "volumes" between 2003 and 2004. The series was much more successful due to its mainstream music and its marketability.^[2]

Also in 2004, Sony Computer Entertainment released the Harmonix project EyeToy: AntiGrav. A departure from music games, the title used the PlayStation 2 EyeToy camera peripheral to enable one's body to perform as a controller for a futuristic extreme sports game. However, the game was poorly received by critics, despite selling four times as many copies as FreQuency or Amplitude.^[2] These results left Rigopulos and Egozy depressed about the prospects for the company.^[2]

At this time, RedOctane, a peripheral manufacturing company and who had enjoyed Harmonix' previous games, approached Harmonix about developing the software for a game that would be based on a guitar-shaped controller, inspired by the GuitarFreaks which was popular in Japan. This relationship led to the creation of Guitar Hero, published by RedOctane in 2005.^[2] The game features similar gameplay elements to FreQuency and Amplitude. Guitar Hero uses a guitar-shaped controller designed uniquely for the game. Specifically, the Guitar Hero controller was designed with five color-coded "fret" buttons and a "strum bar". Guitar Hero became largely successful, both critically and commercially, resulting in the well-received 2006 sequel Guitar Hero II, also developed by Harmonix.^[7]

In the early part of 2006, Activision acquired RedOctane, causing several publishers to become interested in acquiring Harmonix.^[2] In September 2006, MTV Networks, a division of media conglomerate Viacom, announced that it was acquiring Harmonix on behalf of MTV for $175 million.^[8] Harmonix's last Guitar Hero game for RedOctane, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, was released in July 2007, thus fulfilling their contractual obligations with the publisher. Before they left the series, Harmonix had already envisioned expanding the gameplay of Guitar Hero to multiple instruments, a concept that would eventually lead to Rock Band that would develop under MTV.^[9] Shortly after the acquisition by MTV in December 2006, the initial discussion between Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, and MTV President Van Toffler occurred that would eventually lead to meetings between Harmonix and Apple Corps, Ltd., leading to the creation of The Beatles: Rock Band, though this was not publicly revealed until late 2008.^[2]

Harmonix released Rock Band in November 2007. As Harmonix's first game as a part of MTV, Rock Band expanded upon the design of Guitar Hero by incorporating three different peripherals: guitar/bass, microphone, and drums. Harmonix continued to support the game after its initial release by offering a variety of downloadable songs to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players on a weekly basis. As of December, 2008, over 500 songs have been made available as downloadable content, with over 28 million songs sold.^[10][11] Rock Band 2, released on the PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360 in 2008, features improved instrument peripherals and updated features while still being compatible with all original Rock Band peripherals and downloadable songs.^[11]

In October 2008, Harmonix, along with MTV Games, announced an exclusive agreement with Apple Corps, Ltd. to produce a standalone title based on the Rock Band premise and featuring the music of The Beatles, to be released late in 2009. The Beatles: Rock Band will feature a visual and musical history of the Beatles, and will include 45 songs from their 1962-69 tenure with EMI, using United Kingdom-released versions of their albums Please Please Me through Abbey Road.^[12] The developers have worked with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to gain input on the game, and are using Giles Martin, son of Sir George Martin who produced most of the Beatles albums, as music director for the game.^[13] Harmonix stated, despite building on the Rock Band gameplay, this will not be a Rock Band branded title, and that the songs will not be available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series.^[14] The agreement has been in discussion for more than 17 months.^[15]

In November 2008, Viacom paid Harmonix a $300 million bonus as part of the terms of the company's 2006 acquisition. The previous quarter's bonus was $150 million.^[16] In a 2009 survey of the best places to work in the Boston area, the Boston Globe ranked Harmonix as the 3rd best workplace overall, and the top mid-size business in its poll.^[17]

On December 10, 2009, Harmonix laid off 39 of its employees, primarily in the QA department.^[18]

Employee bands

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

Due to the nature of titles developed by Harmonix, a large percentage of staff members are well-known in the Boston and US music scene. These include:

• Sean Roche, member of the band Freezepop (also, Kasson Crooker is a former member).
• Jason Kendall, lead singer of the band The Amazing Crowns.
• Ben Carr, manager, and official bosstone of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
• Daniel Sussman, member of The Acro-Brats.
• Eric Brosius, Terri Brosius, former members of Tribe and current members of The Vivs.
• Greg LoPiccolo, former bass player/lyricist for Tribe.
• Bryn Bennett, co-founder and lead guitarist in Bang Camaro
• Keith Smith, singer/ guitarist for Anarchy Club, and former singer for C60.
• Dan Schmidt, vocalist and guitarist in Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives.
• Helen McWilliams, Elena Siegman and Leanne Williams, members of VAGIANT Boston.
• Izzy "Sparks" Maxwell, member of Count Zero, Anarchy Club and Death of the Cool.
• Naoko Takamoto, also known as Plural and a member of That Handsome Devil.
• Ryan Lesser, Jason Kendall, Brian Gibson and Paul Lyons, members of Megasus.
• Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt and Megasus.
• Phil Beaudreau and Johannes "Rash" Raasina, members of the band Shaimus.
• Ryan Lesser, Dare Matheson, Matt Gilpin, and Jason Warburg, members of The Gert Jonnys.
• Dan Teasdale, Chris Foster, Mike Verrette and Kelly Scott, members of Speck.
• Pete Maguire, is a member of inter:sect and Death of the Cool.
• Geoff Pitsch, Dan Brakeley, Devon Newsom, and John Eskew, members of Father Octopus.
• Scott Sinclair, member of the Model Sons.
• Aaron DeMuth, member of Libyans.
• Jeff Allen, part of Breaking Wheel (Artillery in Guitar Hero) and Death of the Cool
• Adam Arrigo, John Drake, Jon Carter, Matt Boch and Matthew Levitt, members of Blanks. and The Main Drag ^[19][20]
• Kurt Davis, frontman for The Konks
• Peter Moore, singer and guitarist of Count Zero
• Chris Lynch, member of Choo Choo la Rouge
• Dave Plante, member of Overboard
• Adam Cardoza, co-vocalist and drummer for DnA's Evolution
• Jason Arnone, former member of You Shriek
• Alex Navarro, former member of Suburban All-stars and ex-editor of Gamespot
• Mallika Sundaramurthy, vocalist of Abnormality
• Chris Lynch, David Plante, Jim Otermat, Joe Kelly, Bill Whitney, Steve Pardo, Greg Capolino, and Jonathan Rubinger, members of Bismüth.
• Kat Burke, member of Alchemilla ^[21]
• Jeremy Parker, member of Verse Verse Chorus ^[21]
• Damian Boyer, member of The Cold Goodnight ^[21]
• Steve Pardo and Jonathan Pardo, members of Hound Dog and The Steve and Lindley Band ^[21]
• Aaron Price, Caleb Wheeler, Daniel Chace, and Phillip Hunt, members of Giant Target
• Bill Whitney, guitar/trumpet for Milquetoast & Co, former bassist for Apathetiq and Debris.

Gameography

• Frequency (2001)
• Amplitude (2003)
• Karaoke Revolution (2003)
• Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2 (2004)
• Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3 (2004)
• EyeToy: AntiGrav (2004)
• Karaoke Revolution Party (2005)
• Guitar Hero (2005)
• CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country (2006)
• Guitar Hero II (2006)
• Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (2007)
• Phase (2007)
• Rock Band (2007)
• Rock Band 2 (2008)
• Rock Band Unplugged (2009)
• The Beatles: Rock Band (2009)
• Lego Rock Band (2009)
• Rock Band: Mobile (2009)
• Green Day: Rock Band (2010)
• Rock Band 3 (2010)

Patents portfolio

Harmonix has assembled a modest IP portfolio, which includes:

• Real-time music creation system
• Real-time music creation
• Method and apparatus for facilitating group musical interaction over a network
• Method and apparatus for facilitating group musical interaction over a network
• US Patent 6,429,863: Method and apparatus for displaying musical data in a three dimensional environment

References

External links

• Harmonix website
• Games people play, Harmonix profile by Camille Dodero, May 2005