Soundtracks
Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3 featured soundtracks containing 58, 84, and 83 songs, respectively, spanning many genres of rock music from the 1960s to 2000s, and including licensed music from both well-known artists, as well as independent groups. The majority of songs for Rock Band are master recordings, with a handful of cover versions (mainly used in Rock Band's early stages), while all of Rock Band 2's songs are master recordings.
Rock Band also supports migration of content across games. This enables players to access music that was featured in other Rock Band titles within a single game. Rock Band 2 currently supports content imported from the original Rock Band, Lego Rock Band, and Green Day: Rock Band. Rock Band 3 allows players to not only access these songs but content exported from Rock Band 2 as well. While Lego Rock Band and Green Day: Rock Band allow players to export the full soundtrack from each game, Rock Band loses three songs from its soundtrack (four in the European version) during the export process due to licensing restrictions. Rock Band 2, likewise, will not allow players to export fourteen of the eighty-four songs offered on the disc (however nine of these missing songs were offered as a free download following the release of Rock Band 3). Two additional songs from the original Rock Band export were previously unavailable within Rock Band 3, however they have since been returned to availability through a patch. Two further songs which were released on-disc in the European version are unavailable in Rock Band 3, regardless of whether the songs were obtained through a disc export or through purchase as DLC (for the North American region). Due to the licensing agreement with Apple Corps, The Beatles: Rock Band does not allow any exporting of its content whatsoever. Rock Band Blitz shipped with twenty-five songs on its soundtrack (twenty-three of which are new, two of which were offered in Rock Band 2 but not exportable to 3) and all twenty-five songs are be cross-compatible with Rock Band 3. Blitz itself is also able to use the full range of content offered on the Rock Band downloadable content catalog (including future content, previous imports, and RBN songs), integrating the existing charts into its own gameplay system.
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