Tim Riley is in charge of all things music at Activision. The Vice President of Music Affairs negotiates deals, signs the tunes, gets the artists in the games...he even books bands to play at events.

We recently got a chance to speak with Riley at a recent press event for Guitar Hero 5. We talk why people should still care about Guitar Hero, reuniting the Sex Pistols, what it’s like to listen to master tracks, and The Beatles: Rock Band.

TR: Trust me, there have been many, and it’s hard to pick just one. There have been bad ones, but I’ll share a good experience with you.

I tried to put a Sex Pistols song in Guitar Hero 3 so I reached out to the band’s management and record label. The band was interested, but at this time not everyone knew that we needed the actual studio recordings to put a song in the game. The story, or legend, with the Sex Pistols is that they’ve lost their studio recordings. Never Mind the Bollocks -- the whole record is missing.

I offered to get the entire band back in the studio. I had kind of given up on it because I figured the answer would be an automatic “no.” The manager wanted us to help out financially, which we did, and he reached out to the band and they agreed to do it.

One of the coolest things that ever happened to me was putting the Sex Pistols back in the studio to record two songs. Those guys hadn’t been together in a recording booth in 30 years; two of them hadn’t seen each other in 10 years. We were originally only going to do one song, but it went well and we ended up doing two. I don’t want to say that I reunited the Sex Pistols, but things went so well that they toured after that.

Bitmob: As these games have gotten more popular, you actually have artists approaching you trying to get their music in the game. How do you politely decline the acts that youaren’t interested in?

TR: It’s very difficult, and I don’t thing there is a great way to do it. It’s a blessing and a curse how big Guitar Hero has gotten and how well-received it has been with artists and the industry. On a big day we get maybe 150 CDs in the mail and the minimum is about 50.

Not everything works. If it’s an artist that we think could fit the game we try to work with them and find something that works. For example, a lot of the bands I like just aren’t big enough, so we try to do stuff in the download space or in another game.

Bitmob: This the fifth proper Guitar Hero, there are several spin-offs, and Rock Band has hundreds of tracks available. I would imagine at this point it’s difficult to come up with a setlist that pleases a large audience. How do you go about introducing new bands and songs to people without making it feel as though you’re forcing your own personal tastes upon them?

TR: I tell every single person that works with me that we all need to check our personal music tastes at the door. You can’t only sign the acts that you love. You have to put songs in the game that you know the consumer wants to play. We do a ton of consumer research. Is the song fun to play? Does it represent a difficulty or genre that hasn’t been in Guitar Hero before? Is the band big enough to be in the game? It’s like a science. You have to build a setlist that has a little bit for everybody.

Bitmob: One of the neatest things about your job is that you have access to master tracks that almost nobody else has ever heard. You can listen to just the vocals, the rhythm guitar, or isolate any aspect of a song. Make me jealous with a cool story about this.

TR: I grew up a super-big fan of Van Halen, so hearing David Lee Roth’s vocals (do yourself a favor and click here for the magic) has been so cool -- you almost feel like you’re there. But the most special moment with regards to your question has been with Bob Dylan, listening to “All Along the Watchtower.” It just freaked me out. The Rolling Stones are another. I could go on and on about the number of times I’ve had my head blown by what I’ve heard. It’s really special.

Bitmob: Before this interview I asked the Bitmob community what they wanted to know about Guitar Hero 5, and honestly, nobody really seemed to care much about the game. Why should people that are growing tired of the music-game genre care about Guitar Hero 5?

TR: That’s a great question and I’m glad you asked. Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero are unique in that if you’re a hardcore consumer and you like unlimited access to music you’ve already purchased -- we now have that. You can transfer over music that you’ve previously played from World Tour, Smash Hits, and downloadable content. That should be hundreds of songs right there.

For those people that don’t own other games or aren’t big online users we have 85 songs, 20 of which are from artists that have never been in a music game. There are also a whole lot of important new features and characters (Johnny Cash and Kurt Cobain) in the game. We’re trying to have something for everybody.

Bitmob: Last one. Beatles: Rock Band?

TR: I’m a big Beatles fan. I don’t know much about the game, really. From what I understand it’s all Beatles content, which is much different than what we’re doing.

We’ve done band-specific games with Aerosmith, Metallica, and now Van Halen, but even those games have a lot of variety, such as bands that Aerosmith was influenced by or bands that Metallica are fans of. At Activision we try to do band-specific games that have something for everybody, and I don’t think the Beatles game has that.

Bitmob: Were you ever in negotiations to sign The Beatles for Guitar Hero?

TR: We have relationships with pretty much all of the artists, managers, and labels. We talk to everybody.

Bitmob: Ah well, no big scoop for me. Thank you for your time.

TR: You’re welcome. Enjoy the game!