Videogame Soundtracks

Interesting article on how much money composers make for video game soundtracks:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111800262...yid=20&cs=1

speaking as someone who is making a living in film and TV music, i find this article both frustrating and encouraging at once. it's ironic that a couple of these guys profess their frustration with "established musical precepts" (i.e. producers wanting composers to "rip off" other existing composers rather than express their own musical vision or bring creativity to a project) yet they all gravitate back to the idea that an orchestra is the pinnacle and holy grail of music for film, TV, and even games.

this is something i run into CONSTANTLY. if you think the stigma against electronic (or indeed, even slightly non-traditional) music in popular listening culture is bad, try working on films and television.

even STUDENT filmmakers i have worked with (who are, traditionally, the most open-minded or willing to try new and interesting things) want "big orchestral scores!". even more frustratingly, they want them to sound "real, not like sample libraries." oh, and usually for free...

if a filmmaker wants anything remotely electronic, it's invariably "well, orchestra, but with cool electronic drums - you know, like harry gregson williams..." beyond that, you'll see people specifically say "no electronic - no techno!" as if they were one in the same.

but i digress. the palette of available musical styles, genres, timbres, etc. is so massive, but peoples' willingness to experiment or play around with different ideas is so slight. occasionally you'll work with someone who either isn't musical enough to really care (which can work, but is not a great back-and-forth collaborative effort), or someone who really respects and is excited and inspired by your ideas (which is remarkably rare.)

there seems to be some hope, as smaller game studios in particular like santa monica games studio and some of the other folks that make download-only titles are more open-minded.

i think a lot of it stems from the same mentality that makes singer-songwriter music, or re-hashed punk and pop-rock nonsense win grammy awards. it's because everyone is so used to that being music. it's what the radios play, it's what's on MTV, it's what people tell them is good. not to sound like people don't have their own opinions or ideas, but this hive mentality extends to even highly creative people at times, particularly if it's a facet of creativity they don't have a great deal of experience in.

the article is encouraging, however, because it's good to see an industry where creative openmindedness (as limited as it may be in my mind) and budgets are to a point where it supplants the stagnating film industry.

i was actually going to go up to the GDC this year in san fran to try and find some smaller game development houses. i've started trying to approach them even more than i have been film and TV producers because of some of the encouraging things i've stated. as library music starts to take over the world (even in films now), games seem like they might just be the new industry where one can be honestly creative with music and still make money. i wish there were more.

c

I've wanted this type of job for ever, more-so for handheld/lo-fi games. If any one has any advice or tips for getting this type of job please let me know. (I don't want to get a whole degree though fukkk)

  Glass Plate said:

I've wanted this type of job for ever, more-so for handheld/lo-fi games. If any one has any advice or tips for getting this type of job please let me know. (I don't want to get a whole degree though fukkk)

i've been trying as well. it's pretty hard to get people to even consider you for soundtrack work. for example, i've provided two short soundtrack pieces for e3 trailers by a semi-well known australian company (metal shell and top gear: downforce), and in a very short timeframe, meanwhile they still use someone else for their actual music. however, i did those tracks back in '05/'06, and they still haven't finished the games yet.

i think the best thing to do is find some indie game developers and try to push your music on them. generally indie games tend to be more experimental and awesome than commercial games anyway, so it's probably a good place to start. and then you'd have a portfolio of sorts as well.

That job is mad fucking hard to get.

write your own game and you get to do the music too.

bogdan raczynski made the soundtrack for this game

that game looks awesome.

getting scoring work (whether it be for TV, film, or otherwise) is HIGHLY competitive. this is even MORE The case lately, as major studio music budgets have plummeted from the $500k and up range for even *B-list* composers, so you'll find rather large names competing for gigs that were previously left to the "rest of us".

not to mention that a LOT of popular musicians, now that record sales and the traditional music model have dried up, have suddenly decided they want to become film or game composers. i don't think i've talked to a single musician in the last 2 years who hasn't mentioned they want to be composers.

of course, they have a name, and even though they'll meet with the same creative frustrations when it comes down to it, they're more likely to get the gig because prospective producers will know who they are, even if their skills don't REMOTELY translate to scoring.

having said all that, it's not particularly hard to get gigs, but it is absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably, and without question a matter of networking, exposure, and WHO YOU KNOW. when i moved out to LA 4 years ago this was the first thing i learned, and every day it becomes more apparent.

the few larger-scale jobs i've had have come as a direct result of being recommended or contacted by someone i have worked for or with, without exception. music supervisors, producers, directors and even ASSISTANTS get absolutely BOMBARDED with demos, resumes and links to MP3s. even if they WANTED to objectively listen to everything and pick a shining star from the detritus, it's not humanly possible. so they go with the guy that they've met, or someone they trust recommends. often times that person may not even be very good, or the right choice, but that's just how it works.

if you're serious about getting work in any scoring capacity, the #1 piece of advise i would give you is to become an intern, or assistant, or slave laborer for someone who does it already. what you'll learn and the contacts you'll make by virtue of being in that position for as little as a year are worth 10 years of academic schooling on business, composition, or anything else.

the problem is that you have to commit to doing it for a living and sacrifice a LOT. you can't just send a few demos off and hope you become a star composer. well, maybe. i'm sure it's happened. but the practicality of it is that working in this business is the FARTHEST thing in the world from easy. the people who are vicious self-promoters get ahead, regardless of talent. you can't sit back and hope that your great music will get you through, no matter how legitimately amazing it is.

i probably sound a bit long-winded and frustrated, but it's because i'm living this DAILY, and getting gigs is hard fucking work to say the least. i end up working for free or for backend payments half the time on stuff that'll never see the light of day. that's the reality of it, unfortunately.

but when you're getting paid to do what you love, all the dues you've paid are more than worth it.

c

I much rather make my own music, and if it leads me to an opportunity to make my own music for a game... that'd be cool... but I would never just push to be a generic game composer.

Like Amon Tobin... they heard his music, and went to him. Of course, this requires success in a different manner... but at least you are writing what you like to write, and not what you're told. But to each their own!

  Kcinsu said:

I much rather make my own music, and if it leads me to an opportunity to make my own music for a game... that'd be cool... but I would never just push to be a generic game composer.

 

Like Amon Tobin... they heard his music, and went to him. Of course, this requires success in a different manner... but at least you are writing what you like to write, and not what you're told. But to each their own!

This is way i feel also. I have recently gotten the chance to do some stuff like this. A friend of mine is a fucking awesome character designer and he's developing a giant online world for his characters and wants me to do the music and sound design. It's a "years" kinda gig though and for free.

  Kcinsu said:

I much rather make my own music, and if it leads me to an opportunity to make my own music for a game... that'd be cool... but I would never just push to be a generic game composer.

well that's exactly my point. unfortunately, the cases where a developer reaches out to an artist because they respect and admire that artist and want their particular style are very rare.

making music for film and tv is, for the most part, still work, plain and simple. it can be a royal pain in the ass, actually. but i still enjoy making my own music on my own time. they'e completely individual pursuits.

hey, i have to sell out and write horrendous punk tracks to sell to TV shows lately. not exactly my artistic dream, but it beats the fuck out of the years i spent in an office working as a UNIX admin. no contest.

but, as you say, to each their own.

  Kcinsu said:

Like Amon Tobin... they heard his music, and went to him. Of course, this requires success in a different manner... but at least you are writing what you like to write, and not what you're told. But to each their own!

And he created just about the best damn stealth soundtrack ever.

In a couple of years I'll be a Master in Audiodesign for Computergames and at the same time my friend who I make music with will be a master in artwork for computer games so I hope he and I can put something together. Some sort of independent game.

Btw. you should all check this out:

http://www.limbogame.org/

A new independent game made by some Danes.

Yeah exactly like Maus was saying, making your own music and seeking out a job to make music for games etc. are two entirely different things. There's a lot of competition for both, but the one that's more like a job is something that's actually reliable for paying for food. Also the idea of trying to make something that will stand out in a very set construct that some one else wants sounds like a really challenging and helpful experience for making my own stuff on the side.

Yeah, totally... I mean, I spent 5 year writing music for someone else, basically... It certainly has its pros and cons. I just got really tired of it, and now I can't imagine doing commercial music for a day job. I don't think they are entirely seperate either... if I worked for 12 hours a day (these guys work HARD) in front of a computer screen writing music, I KNOW I wouldn't want to come home and work on my stuff, for many hours on the computer.

Certainly, it's an option for me... it's what I'm trained to do, and I'm good at it... I just rather try to do something for myself first.... if I don't succeed, I can always then try to pursue commercial work. I'm young, have no responsibility to anyone else... and I have the time to work on my stuff... Id kick myself if I didnt even try to do my thing.

And yeah, I know the chances of me 1. being successful in general, and 2. being successful enough that people want to hire me specifically for what I do, are both very slim.... but worth a shot!

i befriended the head of a&r outfit early on, and he was kind enough to call me up and bend my ear for an hour about this stuff.

a show like CSI will have a "house" composer, who does whatever music is needed from week to week, and is perhaps in charge of licensing anything he can't write, etc. you can't just send a demo to the producers of CSI or whatever because they have a guy, and he probably won't appreciate having someone horn in on his gig. he said if i wanted such work, i should get a demo pressed, a few thousand discs, my strongest stuff. then send them to him, he'd pump them out through his contact circles. if someone picks me up, he got 30%. essentially, in exchange for taking the initial financial risk and giving up a slice profits, my demos would be presented to the proper people in the proper style.

he had lots of other good suggestions to help my chances -- figure out what sounds are trendy etc... because of this i wound up getting into massive attack :grin:

it was an interesting pitch. in the end, however, i passed it up -- i was in college, poor, and i felt i had a lot to learn about music still... e.g. every 6-12 months my tunes double in quality, and this was like four years ago. :laughing:

progressing age and maturity have brought a lot of other shades to the situation. i realized i don't really care about being a "professional" musician -- or professional whatever, for that matter! there are just things in life i love doing, that i want to do... and work sucks, jobs suck, bosses suck. i want to do things i find fun and interesting rather than slaving for a paycheck. it's rare you can get paid for something and do it 100% the way you want, that's why they pay you!!

if music became my JOB, it might also become WORK. it could ruin the fun of it. this isn't speculation -- i burned out on computer programming for a few months. i love it as much as i do music, but after doing it 5-10 hours a day for two years straight, i just got sick of it... i was programming what other people wanted, not what i wanted.

i'd still love to give scoring a go, but i worry i'd get sick of it fast, it'd ruin me musically etc. :tongue2: so, i just have fun with music now. fuck around. do whatever i want. i do enough slaving to the demands of others when i'm hired to program this or that on the computer. why should i dement my music, ignore interesting avenues, so i can perhaps have a better chance of licensing a track? at least with computer programming, the money is almost always there, so i put up with BS. when i'm in the studio, it's personal, not professional. to do it any other way would be turd. it's about personal interests/aesthetics/curiosity/etc.

i would argue that even Amobn Tobin's stab at commercial big game soundtracks he slightly compromised his own style to make it 'fit' more with the modern style of videogame music. Its better and more interesting than most VG music out there but at the same time its nowhere near as insane or creative as 'Foley Room'

  Awepittance said:

i would argue that even Amobn Tobin's stab at commercial big game soundtracks he slightly compromised his own style to make it 'fit' more with the modern style of videogame music. Its better and more interesting than most VG music out there but at the same time its nowhere near as insane or creative as 'Foley Room'

this is why i think it'd be better to write music for indie games - they tend to be a bit more experimental/innovative in general, and therefore the designers would probably be more lenient than a commercial company.