Economics of Rock Band are improving

The owner of MTV and developer Harmonix has stated that the financial outlook for its Rock Band series is rosier than it once was – though Viacom does admit that progress has been slower than it might have hoped.

The economics of our Rock Band franchise are improving, though not as quickly as we’d like,” Viacom CEO Philippe Daumann stated in an investor conference call.

We had a great launch of The Beatles product but obviously at this time of year we await the holiday season to begin as the month of November unfolds. We will start putting in more marketing dollars together with our retail partners behind that product.

We just have to be cautious given that we are entering, over the next several weeks, a retail season that will depend on how consumers spend their money generally. Meanwhile we continue to manage that business with a close eye on inventory levels and with a greater focus on software.”

Big questions have been asked about the music genre in recent times, with the boom experienced upon the rise in popularity of Guitar Hero having been offset by falling sales as customers think harder about paying out big money for expensive peripherals.

Nonetheless, Viacom has previously described sales of The Beatles: Rock Band as ‘terrific’ – despite its resounding defeat at the hands of Guitar Hero 5 in the charts.