Rock Band Ushering in the 3rd Generation of Beatlemania

Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman yesterday while speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference said that $250 limited edition bundles for The Beatles: Rock Band would be sold out by November and that 25% of their overall The Beatles: Rock Band inventory sold through in the first 5 days after release. This comes coupled with the news that The Beatles remastered album catalog sold 2.5million+ units in the same time period. With strong sales numbers like these and an increase in mainstream coverage, it appears that Rock Band is helping to usher in the 3rd Generation of Beatlemania.

Macy's new "Come Together" advertisement is a perfect example that the 3rd coming of Beatlemania is not only affecting the video game and music industries but has also seeped into the mainstream of pop culture. Conan as well as members of FOX's NFL Sunday broadcast have been seen playing the game on their shows, Beatles songs have been receiving more airplay on the radio and TV, and search traffic for the band has jumped more than 300% since the September 9th release of The Beatles: Rock Band and the remastered album catalog.

For those that doubted the pop culture impact of The Beatles: Rock Band they've been stating that "variety" would win out in the end and consumers would therefore pick Guitar Hero 5's cast of 80+ artists over Rock Band's cast of one. While NPD data for September will not be out for a few weeks, early sales indicators such as VGChartz.com are showing that The Beatles: Rock Band outsold Guitar Hero 5 in first week sales and sources I've spoken to at GameStop confirm this. This should not come as a surprise though as Beatlemania has shown itself over time to be multi-generational.

One only need look at the release of The Beatles Anthology in the mid 90's as a reference point to the cultural relevance the band still carries. Anthology 1 sold 450,000+ copies on it's first day, shattering the previous first day record, the albums became staples in many a CD players and teenagers and young adults alike began to embrace many of the fashions of the 60's. All together the Anthology series would go on to sell over 7million copies in the 90's alone.

So not only does that time period give an insight to the retail and cultural staying power of The Beatles brand but also it gives you a great customer base for the new Beatles products. Those that lived through the 2nd coming of Beatlemania are now in their 20's and 30's and are in the prime age demographic for video gamers. And as we head into the holiday season, when parents are faced with the task of "which do I buy for my child, Guitar Hero or The Beatles", it's easy to see the majority of parents choosing John, Paul, George and Ringo over the likes of The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop and Nirvana.