Thought a bit more about this, trying to figure out how to do this - how to make a game that is mechanically sound, plays well, encourages player input, while also being a game that is fun to play and lets players live their fantasy of rock stardom.
I'm kind of a huge music nerd. I've been in bands, I watch live shows pretty often, I collect vinyls, currently have six guitars in my house, and have spent 200+ dollars on things like headphones. I'm a bigger music nerd than a D&D nerd, truth be told.
Anyways.
I think one of the biggest problems would be finding a large enough group - I imagine that, in any group of gamers, most likely only one or two people would enjoy a game where players don't kill bad guys, explore dungeons, or do any of that stuff. But hey, that's a pretty common problem in the world of indie RPGs, right?
Now, let's get to business:
1. Genere Chapters (divide it out by the goals/styles/struggles of the various decades as well as different music styles/classifications -e.g. punk, pop, grunge, etc)
I don't know if decades is a great idea, because it would take up a lot of page space. But it could be do-able, if we made each decade a basic setting, and then gave an idea of genres within that decade (say, two or three per decade).
THE 1950s: Focus on the development of rock and roll, racial segregation in the united states (a huge factor in the music industry), the beginning of the sexual revolution, and of course dodging accusations of devil-worship and communism (McCarthyism!). Genres would include early Rock and Roll (defining a new sound, creating dance music, and the like) and 50s-style Jazz (that traditional black sound, with a healthy dose of Frank Sinatra and the like).
THE 1960s: Music plays a part in political upheaval. The Beatles explode upon the world and are the first true "Supergroup". Experimentation play a huge part, and distortion explodes upon the world. Both gibson guitars and marshall amplifiers first come into common use, forever changing the world of "hard rock". Genres include Beatles' style Rock and Roll (the "bigger than jesus" campaign), Blues and R&B (Clapton is god), and Folk Rock (Bob Dylan - creating protest music!).
THE 1970s: Period of supergroups, the height of indulgence, and a period of dissatisfaction and cynicism as America comes to terms with Vietnam and the Cold War. Music experimentation begins to fade out, to be replaced by labels that dominate the bands in the search for profit. Genres include Punk Rock (fight the system!), Arena Rock (PCs that own planes and experiment with mud sharks while bored), and Disco (by 1979, the goal is simply stayin' alive).
THE 1980s: A period that begins with much in the way of experimentation, but when these original experiments prove fruitful, they are very quickly mass-marketed and reproduced. Musicians no longer see the profit that they saw in the earlier years, and have more limits on their creative freedom. Genres include New Wave (A combination of warhol-inspired fashion, defying authority, while simultaneously kow-towing to it), Hair Metal (more excesses, crazy guitar solos, and being accused of unchristian behaviour), and Rap/Hip-Hop (trying to justify your new music and getting it to fit in with pre-established music - forging a new genre)
THE 1990s: Huge upswing in musical experimentation in the fringes, creating the "alternative movement" as a sort of backlash towards the MTV generation of the 1980s. Many new labels form, and there always seems to be a new sound. Of course, halfway through the decade, music homogenizes once more, and 'boy bands' dominate as the decade draws to a close. Genres should include Alternative (Trying to outweird all the other bands, while still staying marketable), Grunge (Trying to avoid being marketable despite being hugely popular), and Boy/Girl Band (trying to be more marketable than everyone else that is trying to be more marketable than you are). Nu Metal should probably be a genre too, but I just don't have the heart to put it into game form. Because, well, ew.
The 2000s: Music has homogenized, but then an amazing thing happens - the internet. Musicans begin to realize that labels are dinosaurs, and the so-called "indie" movement begins - where bands are marketing their own products. Even the big bands get involved in this, to a point. The result? An explosion of new material, some good, some bad. Genres should include Indie music (fight the big bands, fight for indie cred, and try not to be too hipster-y), new rap (an open battle for money, bling, and power), and New Country (basically a music form all to itself, and one that is predominantly tied to America's right, as opposed to most other genres' usual connection to the left).
2. Advice on theme songs, top hits, and campaign soundtracks...it'd be fun to use real music during sessions for a game like this.
It'd be even more fun to have players make their own mixed CDs, and to have action resolution be tied to the song going on. Imagine each player making a list of 20 songs, and having the group put their combined playlist on shuffle, and to have skill checks be based on whether there's a bass solo going on, or a drum solo, or how many times in the next twenty seconds the singer screams (or whatever).
As for making songs and the like in-game, each PC would need to have roles (bassist, guitarist, etc) as well as sub-skills (vocal freestyling, guitar solos, rhythm guitar, sing while playing, etc). Exactly how that would play out remains to be seen. But if you actually ask the players to make the band's music, you're going to end up with some pretty crappy stuff.
3. Rockstar lifestyle (groupies, roadies, touring, the seedy side, the glamor, the excesses).
Really, just create scenes, and take it from there. The PCs will get involved in all sorts of hijinks. A few that instantly spring to mind:
* There are groupies, and you are bored. What do you do? (You'll be amazed at how many answers don't involve sex)
* While driving across country, your van's back door burst open, and all your guitars and gear fell out. You're going on stage in ten minutes. What do you do (and do you fire your roadie?)
* You show up for a live show your manager booked. The crowd is obviously not into you. How do you change your set?
* Outdoor show, and it's raining. Five thousand people are there to see you. If you play, there's definitely an electrocution risk, but if you don't, they could very well riot. What do you do?
* You're playing Moscow. It's 1979, and you're one of the first western bands to play the city. The CIA wants to swap out one of your roadies with a spy. Helicopters are overhead, watching you. The crowd wants you to sing one of your songs that is basically about the overthrow of the state. What do you do?
* There's a guy outside the arena, selling posters of your band without giving you a cut. Your manager wants to beat the crap out of them. Do you let him?
* It's 2010, and it's Kim Jong Il's birthday. The American government knows he's a fan of yours, and wants you to play for his birthday guests as part of a trade agreement. Do you go forward with it?
By the way, these are all real stories. Props to anyone who can guess all of the bands.
4. The "Biz" (getting contracts, cutting demos, bribing bouncers, garage band, arena rock, etc.)
Kind of boring stuff, because in most cases, it's the band manager that does this, unless you're in, say, the indie rock genre or other "DIY" cases.
5. Perhaps most important: Adventures. Maybe 1 full adventure, 3-4 fleshed out "sidetreks", and perhaps 10-20 adventure ideas paragraphs.
There are a lot of good ones to go with. I personally like the Led Zeppelin/Black Sabbath "race to release" in 1969 to see who could release their debut first. This area would need a LOT of rock history built right into it.
6. Band versus "ensemble/troupe" roleplaying. (Here I mean either all the pcs are in the same band or they are perhaps more individual stars that have their own careers, but interact a lot and have adventures together).
It all depends on genre. If they're indie rockers, they could all have different bands from the same city, with different bands playing different venues on any given night. If they're rap/hip hop people, they can all be part of the same "collective". But I think most games would benefit more from everyone being part of the same band.
7. EDIT (Thanks to Wik): Gear/equipment. Guitars, amps, lights, pyrotechnics, etc.
Don't forget venues! If you're a black band in the 1960s, you really want to play the Apollo in Harlem. If you're an arena rocker, you know you've made it when you play Wembley Stadium. If you're an indie rocker in, say, Victoria, you're doing well for yourself if you're headlining Market Square on saturday night during Rifflandia.
And ditto for studios. Abbey Road needs to grant, like, a +20 on all music checks (amazing albums made at Abbey Road: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road (natch), Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you Were Here, Ultra, OK Computer, Kid A, and like, a bajillion more.
