Harmonix Music Systems

Company name	Harmonix-SBE Holdings LLC
Company logo
Company type	Limited liability company
Foundation	1995
Founder	Alex Rigopulos, Eran Egozy
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Industry	Software & Programming
Parent	Columbus Nova
Homepage	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 and Vicarious Visions.

History

Formation

Harmonix was founded in 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy who met while attending MIT. 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 gained 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. 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. 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. backed by a larger team at Harmonix, many of whom were musicians. 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, and a small cult following, but it was not a financial hit.

Purchase by Viacom

In the early part of 2006, Activision acquired RedOctane, causing several publishers to become interested in acquiring Harmonix. Harmonix's last Guitar Hero game for RedOctane, , 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. 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 , though this was not publicly revealed until late 2008. 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. 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. 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. The agreement had been in discussion for more than 17 months before the announcement.

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. 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.

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

Sale by Viacom

On November 11, 2010, Viacom stated that it was in talks with potential buyers for Harmonix, having already marked the unit as a discontinued operation to write off a $299 million loss for its 2010 third-quarter earnings statement. Such talks had been in place since September 2010, before the release of either Rock Band 3 or Dance Central. Viacom president and CEO, Philippe Dauman, stated the reason they were selling the company was to refocus Viacom as an entertainment creator, and that "the console games business requires expertise [Viacom doesn't] have". Viacom also recognized that without dedicated resources to support video game development, the company suffers from inefficiencies that video game publishers do not have. Martin Peers of the Wall Street Journal noted that Viacom lacked the physical distribution channels that other entertainment companies like Time Warner have, and instead were forced to rely on Electronic Arts to distribute the game and cut into their potential profits. Industry analyst Michael Pachter suggested that while Rock Band 3 and Dance Central would generate significant revenue in 2010 holiday sales, Viacom likely made the move to sell Harmonix while the developers were doing well and in the news. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, commenting on the potential purchase of Harmonix by his company, called Harmonix a "falling knife" in regards to the diminishing size of the rhythm game market since 2009, and stated that "more people have been cut trying to catch falling knives than have benefited from getting the timing exactly right". John Drake of Harmonix affirmed that Viacom will continue to support Harmonix until the sale is complete, and the developer will still continue their normal operations for their games which is unaffected by the sale.

In late December, Viacom announced that it had sold Harmonix to Harmonix-SBE Holdings LLC, an affiliate of investment firm Columbus Nova, LLC; the terms of the sale were undisclosed, though estimated at $200 million. This sale to shareholders of Harmonix, backed by the investment firm, returned Harmonix to an independent developer. The resulting sale will not affect current and future support plans for Harmonix' games; the sales includes the intellectual property rights for Rock Band and Dance Central, letting Harmonix Music Systems to continue to develop these series. According to Peter Kafka of the Wall Street Journal, the sale of Harmonix to Columbus Nova was heavily discounted, possibly as low as fifty dollars, the equivalent of a fire sale and allowing Viacom to claim certain tax benefits; meanwhile, Columbus Nova would assume all ongoing liability for Harmonix' projects, including music licensing fees and unsold inventory.

While Viacom sought a buyer for Harmonix, shareholders of Harmonix, including founders Rigopulos and Egozy, filed a lawsuit against Viacom, alleging misconduct in providing performance payouts in line with the terms of the purchase of Harmonix by Viacom. Harmonix' suit contests that while Viacom had paid Harmonix $150 million for success of the Rock Band series in 2007, the shareholders are due a substantially larger sum for continued success in 2008, as determined by their proxy, Walter Winshall. Viacom countered the claims, stating that Winshall rejected various offers made by Viacom for the payout. The lawsuit also contends that Viacom has withheld $13 million in payouts from 2007, which Viacom had claimed at the time were to cover potential losses in patent lawsuits that were initiated against Harmonix by Activision and Gibson which have since been settled out of court.

Employee bands

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 Tijuana Sweetheart.

Izzy "Sparks" Maxwell, member of Count Zero 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 and Death of the Cool.

Dan Brakeley, Mike Fitzgerald, and John Eskew, members of Father Octopus.

Geoff Pitsch, member of Death of the Cool and 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

Emeen Zarookian, frontman for Spirit Kid and former bassist in The Sterns

Kurt Davis, frontman for The Konks

Peter Moore, singer and guitarist of Count Zero

Chris Lynch, member of Choo Choo la Rouge

Adam Cardoza, co-vocalist and drummer for DnA's Evolution

Jason Arnone, former member of You Shriek

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

Jeremy Parker, member of Verse Verse Chorus

Damian Boyar, member of The Cold Goodnight

Steve Pardo and Jonathan Pardo, members of Hound Dog, Hello Ghost, and The Steve and Lindley Band

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.

Games

Frequency (2001)

Amplitude (2003)

Karaoke Revolution (2003)

Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2 (2004)

Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3 (2004)

(2004)

Karaoke Revolution Party (2005)

Guitar Hero (2005)

CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country (2006)

Guitar Hero II (2006)

(2007)

Phase (2007)

Rock Band (2007)

Rock Band 2 (2008)

''Rock Band Unplugged (2009)

(2009)

''Lego Rock Band (2009)

'' (2009)

'' (2010)

''Rock Band 3 (2010)

''Dance Central (2010)

''Untitled Nintendo 3DS project (TBA)

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

Category:Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts Category:Companies established in 1995 Category:International Game Developers Association members Category:MTV Networks Category:Video game companies of the United States Category:Video game developers