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Game Music Continuing To Gain Recognition
Thanks to Yahoo/Chicago Tribune for their article charting the continued rise in popularity of videogame music. The piece quotes a music agent as saying: "Record companies are realizing that this is the new radio", and another commentator points out: "Consumers would rather download than pay $15 for a CD, leaving the record industry scrambling for revenue. How do they monetize music? License to video games." However, when it comes to stand-alone game soundtrack CDs, "sales aren't earth-shattering yet", and specific numbers are referenced for the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack, of which "...the most popular CD, 'V-Rock,' sold 42,300 copies."
Call me the worst kind of geek, but about all I listen to are Game soundtracks. However this is ill news for myself and others who have similar taste, because it sounds more like companies targetting game platforms for their contemporary licensed crap, rather than original music from various titles getting recognition.
I hope this doesn't phase out the querky and strange genre that is video game music, because it's definitely unique to itself. I'll take classic Zuntata over the lastest hot hits of record-label-X anyday, and I'll cry myself to sleep the next time I play a title who's full score is by some craptacular pop-group. (The Final Fantasy Series is well on it's way on that one).
Not sure what to add to that, but Machinae Supremacy is inspired by game music and they've done game music. But since you've reading this story you knew that already ;-)
As for stand-alone soundtracks for Games I think that's going to be a niche for a very long time, but one that I think is worth having. Jeremy Soule and Inon Zur have done a lot of good music for games (BG, IWD, etc). Robert Holmes did good work on the GK games too (also available on soundtrack in the now somewhat-hard-to-get Gabriel Knight Mysteries (Limited Edition) package).
Belief is the currency of delusion.
As the other poster said, it seems the majority of game players, who are not hardcore gamers, don't care for original game music. Some people even turn the sound off and play their own music.
Using licensed pop music that was not originally created for a game can create a mismatch with the game environment. I've often thought, "How does this song relate to the game?"
I think using licensed soundtracks will apply mostly to U.S. created console games. The Japanese games will most likely still have
original music. My musical tastes lean heavily toward Japanese game music, so I will ignore U.S. created game music.
I don't buy game sountracks. I download them. WHY? because they're not AVAILABLE TO BUY.
The only game soundtrack I own is the one from Wipeout XL. And I only own that because by some stroke of luck I just HAPPENED to come across it once by accident.
There IS no game sountrack section in music stores, and if you are lucky there will ONE game soundtrack available in the whole store to purchase. If you're VERY lucky you might find five.
With no selection, I have no inclination to constantly go to the music store and see what random game music CD they happen to have in stock this month, if any. As I'm not interested in 95% of game music soundtracks that means my chances of actually finding a game soundtrack I want are incredibly slim.
So is it really a surprise that game soundtracks sell so poorly? THEY'RE NOT AVIALABLE TO BUY!
And I don't buy stuff online. I want instant gratification. If I can't download it immediately upon purchase, without any kind of copy protection potentially preveting me from moving my soundtracks to another PC or putting them on a CD so I can listen to them in my car, then I'm NOT INTERESTED.
God the music industry is so stupid. How can they not realise these simple facts.
The best way to sell game music CD's would be to get them into the game STORES. Put them right alongside the games they're for so people see them when purchasign the game and so may come back for them later if they like the soundtrack.
Of course I would much rather just get a CD with the game I buy that has the music on it. And I would pay $5 more a game to get that.
Of course I will not pay $15-$20 for a soundtrack for a game I have purchased. No way. $9.99. That's it. Any more and I'll download it instead. I wouldn't listen to a CD often enough to justify a higher price, but I do listen to my game music MP3's a lot.
Of course a thriving game music market would mean that I would not be able to have the 5,000+ game songs which I have right now sitting on my hard drive, because then the game comapnies would shut down sites which distribute the songs. And I wouldn't like that at all. I don't have time to play even 1% of the PC games out there so I'd never hear the music to games I have not played if I could not download them for free to hear them and decide if they are worth keeping.