(This article originally appeared on ArtistsHouseMusic.org.)

I love the Guitar Hero franchise. Even the 80′s version that was only for the ps2 and only had 35 songs but still cost 50 bucks. If you’re keeping score, that makes 4 titles for the franchise, to this point. The titles span all major consoles and according to the publisher Activision in the past 26 months the franchise has generated over 1 billion dollars in sales.

Let me put 1 billion dollars in perspective. It’s a big enough number so that even millionaires say “damn, that’s a lot of money!” but small enough so that no one in at the International Association of Jazz Educators conference in Toronto that I met last week (including the heads of prestigious music schools) had heard of the franchise.

I was manning a booth in the exhibition hall for artistshousemusic.org and on Saturday, the last day of the event a lady came up to me and she wanted to know what she could do to foster a love of music in her 7 year old daughter. My answer: on the way home, go to Best Buy and find the demo versions of Guitar Hero III or Rock Band on the floor and try them. That’s your answer.

And how. On top of the $1 billion dollar announcement by Activision, CNN is profiling the rise of Guitar Hero nights in restaurants, clubs, and bars. MSNBC reports that since October 27, 2007 more than 5 million songs have been purchased for Guitar Hero III at $0.99 to $1.99 a piece. Guitar Hero III has sold more than 5 million units since its release at $90 each. For Rock Band, out since late November, it has sold in excess of 2.5 million songs. This in addition to total unit sales in excess of 1 million for Rock Band through the end of 2007 at $170 each.

Let me back up for the totally uninitiated. When you buy a game in the Guitar Hero franchise, it typically comes with a small plastic guitar controller. It has five fret buttons, a strum bar, and a whammy bar. The game allows the player to simulate playing guitar to all of the songs in the game. It’s a simple concept but one that has a powerful draw. It can give you a musician’s high. Like a real musical instrument, the game also requires actual skill. Activision has been able to extend the value of the game by making more songs available online for purchase.

These purchases are one of the only bright spots in the music business at the moment. Each song costs between $0.99 and $1.99 unless they’re bundled in a pack of 3 songs which costs $5.50. Since these songs are available only on the Xbox Live Marketplace or the Sony network, there is no piracy. People are paying for the experience, but there’s also no alternative.

Now that the floodgates are open, look for future publishers (EA, I’m looking at you) to investigate opportunities to sell music to gamers in a range of titles, from racing games to puzzle games.

These games are good for music and good for the music business. If you listen closely you’ll hear a small cacophony of music teachers telling you what Guitar Hero won’t teach you. No one is confusing one guitar with the other. This game gets kids and adults both excited in participating in music. After years of reading about how the live music scene is dying, one can cry that its rebirth is in the living rooms of America but think about a generation from now when we get great music by a kid first stimulated to play by a video game. The beauty of these games is the ability for the musically untrained to participate in the experience of performing music. The secret isn’t the technology, it’s the experience.

If you’re a soloist, check out Guitar Hero III, and if you’re into the group thing, go for Rock Band. You’ll find that once you start, you can’t stop. You’ll be surprised how good it feels to “play” music.