South by Southwest (SXSW) starts this coming weekend in Austin, Texas, and with the Rock Band Network going live less than a week ago, you can bet that the folks from MTV and Harmonix will be showing it off.  In addition to highlighting the RBN, they will also be participating in three different panels, including “Playing the Soundtrack,” which brings gamers and musicians together to discuss the world of music in gaming, “Reaching Your Audience on Their Terms,” which will discuss MTV’s response to the changing music environment, and “CrowdControl: Changing The Face of Media or Hype” which focuses on the global impact of social media.

Check out a list of  spots after the break of where to catch some killer Rock Band action.  If you are going, make sure to stop by and say hi to the folks at MTV and Harmonix!

RBN Demos:

ScreenBurn Arcade

• Friday, March 12, 2-6 p.m.
• Saturday, March 13, 12-6 p.m.
• Sunday, March 14, 12-6 p.m.

Spin & MySpace Loft (Harmonix-sponsored event)

• Thursday, March 18, 12-6 p.m.
• Friday, March 19, 12-2 p.m.
• Saturday, March 20: 12-6 p.m.

Spin at Stubb’s (Harmonix-sponsored event)

• Friday, March 19th, 12-6 p.m.

Panels:

“Playing the Soundtrack,” Wednesday, March 17, 12:30 p.m. in Room 12AB

Description: More bands are getting discovered by fans through video games, and musicians are admitting to being gamers themselves. So how do you get your music in the game? This panel will bring together gamers and musicians to discuss the world of music in gaming.

Participants: Moderator – Whitney Pastorek, Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly, Dean Hudson, Director of Technology, SubPop, Cheryl Gehbauer, Director, Harmonix/MTVG, Alex Hackford, A&R Music Product Development Group, Sony PlayStation

“Reaching Your Audience on Their Terms,” Saturday, March 20, 3:30 p.m. in Room 19A

Description: MTV Music & Talent executives will discuss the changing music climate and the more personalized approach the company takes with artists. Unifying every possible screen creates the best music experience for MTV’s audience, the artists they love, and the music industry as a whole.

Participants: Amy Doyle, Executive Vice President of Music & Talent at MTV, Joe Cuello, Vice President of Creative Music Integration at MTV

“CrowdControl: Changing the Face of Media or Hype?” Sunday, March 14, 12:30 p.m. in Room 12AB

Description: A discussion about the new media democracy, citizen journalism and the wisdom of the crowd. Readers and consumers of media have exerted a new level control around how news and entertainment is created, shared and consumed. For example, Iranian citizens used social media to report on post-election activity in June 2009…

Participants: Jason Rzepka, Vice President, Public Affairs, MTV Lila King, Senior Producer, CNN.com, Randi Zuckerberg, Head of Creative & Buzz Marketing, Politics, and Social Change, Facebook Inc., Pete Cashmore, CEO and Founder, Mashable.com, Joe Kingsbury, Head of Social Media, Text 100 Public Relations

Event:

Win a Rock Band 2 bundle at the OK! Cog’aoke karaoke competition (Harmonix-sponsored event) Saturday, March 13, 10 p.m. – 2 a.m., The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. Fourth St.

• The Main Drag – Car Windows (80 MSP)
• The Nebraska Sailing Authority – Second Best Friend (80 MSP)
• The Project Hate MCMXCIX – Descend into the Eternal Pits of Posession (80 MSP)
• Mindflow – Destructive Device (80 MSP)
• Eulogies – Day to Day (80 MSP)

Big shout out to @BrittenKinley for sending this my way.  From a Green Day site down in Brazil comes this little morsel.  Could this be the cover art for the forthcoming Green Day: Rock Band game?  Or could this be a fairly decent photoshop?  I could use the help of you Rock Band sleuths out there… real or fake?

[Huge thanks to @BrittenKinley!]

Just saw a tweet cross my screen from @deliciousbees, AKA Harmonix Senior Designer Dan Teasdale, who mentioned that Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom, has officially announced this morning at the Game Developers Conference that Rock Band 3 will be coming out Holiday 2010.  No details yet on what to expect (maybe?), but I’ll update this post if there any any additional details from Mr. Dauman’s announcement.

Does that set everyone’s minds at ease a little more now?

UPDATE (I’m sure there will be more) 1: Confirmed via Rock Band’s Facebook page, Rock Band 3 will be distributed by EA.

[via @DeliciousBees]

• Flight of the Conchords – The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room) (160 MSP)
• Quartered – Africa (Link)
• Warpath – Life Unworthy of Life (80 MSP)

And if you’re keeping track at home, here were the two songs released yesterday:

• Between the Buried and Me – Mordecai (160 MSP)
• Attack Attack! – Stick Stickly (160 MSP)

Is this an example of life imitating art?  I REALLY doubt this is true, but a part of me still wishes this is coming true.  The blog AfterElton is reporting that four Lady Gaga songs, “Bad Romance,” “Just Dance,” “Monster,” and “Poker Face,” will be added soon to the Rock Band store as DLC.  The blog post goes on to mention that Rock Band can make you feel like Kanye West, Sting, or John Mayer… three independent artists who are NOT featured in the game (Sting is featured only with the Police), so I have a tendency to believe that this is not happening.

OK, what do you think? True, not true, or not true but secretly hoping it is true?

UPDATE: IT’S REAL!!!  Check out this post on RockBand.com with the details, including an additional song with Eric Cartman’s vocals!  Each track will be $1.99/160 MSP, and the Lady Gaga 4 pack will be $6.99/560 MSP.