MTV's "Rock Band" to launch full-album downloads

Jarrod Mizell (R) plays the guitar as he and his friends play the Electronic Arts Rock Band video game during the E for All video game expo in Los Angeles, California in this October 19, 2007 file photo.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - MTV said on Friday it will start selling full albums that can be downloaded and played in its "Rock Band" video game, with the first title coming next week from classic metal act Judas Priest.

Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance", which contains the band's hit "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and nine other tracks, will cost $15, with individual songs from the album going for $2 each, MTV said.

In "Rock Band", launched last November, players strum guitar controllers, pound a fake drum kit, or sing into a microphone in time with songs playing on a television screen.

MTV, a unit of entertainment firm Viacom Inc, has released new tunes every week for "Rock Band", usually in the form of three-song packs focused on an artist or genre, with players buying more than 8 million songs so far.

"Our intention is to cover every base, both in terms of era and every sub-genre of rock," Alex Rigopulos, founder of the Harmonix studio that makes the game, said in an interview.

"Rock Band" competes with the "Guitar Hero" franchise from Activision Inc, which adds fresh songs less frequently but is scheduled to roll out a new installment in June focusing on classic rock band Aerosmith.

"Rock Band" has long promised full albums, and the Judas Priest album will be followed in May by the self-titled debut album of 1980s rockers The Cars, and in June with "Doolittle" from alternative band The Pixies.

"These are three very different rock albums and each is very seminal in its own way," Rigopulos said.

The Judas Priest album hits the online store for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 on April 22, and arrives on Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 store two days later.

(Reporting by Scott Hillis; Editing by Braden Reddall)