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MTV Nominates Game Tracks, Misses Point
1up.com is reporting that MTV's Video Music Awards has a 'Best Video Game Soundtrack' in the mix this year. However, as usual, MTV misses the point. From the article: "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, Madden NFL 2005, Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition, Def Jam Fight for NY, and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 have all been nominated. Unsurprisingly, the reason these games have been nominated isn't because they feature charming, interesting, moving symphonic scores." Good job for highlighting more cookie cutter Top 40's crap, MTV. Way to go.
Bravo, Zonk. Posting a story that is purely flamebait, referencing an article that is little more than flamebait itself. Any comments posted to this story will be by definition responses to a flame...involuntary draftees in the flame war to follow.
(Definition of irony: This comment will inevitably be modded as 'Flamebait'. See if it doesn't.)
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
That's what happens when you throw together some potheads who don't know what day it is or who they are.
Go to the w3.org and put Slashdot.org through the validator.
Some people, brace yourself for this, enjoy it. I hate this illogical "If nobody likes it then it must be good" "underground" mentality shared by "counterculture" advocates. Get your favorites out there instead fo whining how nobody is giving your unpopular tastes the attention you feel they deserve.
Man, this IS going to be a flamewar.
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
What to do when the author and editor inject a huge personal opinion into the article. Goddamn Zonk, what about others having there own opinion?
This
Good job for highlighting more cookie cutter Top 40's crap, MTV. Way to go.
It's not about whether you like the music or hate it, or if it's popular or original or whatever... They get paid to advertise this music.
First off, I am, sadly, not particularly suprised at this development, simply because I rather suspect these games have soundtracks that are most accessible to MTV's audience, and from the sorts of games they would be most likely to be playing anyhow.
This does not mean that I am not disappointed. After seeing increasing amounts of coverage and performance of more conventional video game soundtracks, I was under the impression that they had entered the mainstream far more than they actually have (for instance, Final Fantasy. I don't actually particularly like the music, but I certainly admit it is very well done, and has made amazing headway here). This shatters any of those preconceptions.
Sony settles a payolla scandle....
... Then," they called the program director of a San Diego radio station and offered her a 32-inch plasma TV in exchange for adding the artist's songs to her play list.
If you ever wanted to know why most music on the radio and TV sucks, look no further.
===
Paying a Price
# Sony BMG reaches a $10-million settlement of allegations it bribed stations to get its songs on the air
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-payola26jul2 6,0,5609660.story?coll=la-home-headlines
When executives at Sony BMG needed to drum up support in 2002 for Jennifer Lopez's album "This Is Me
Sony BMG Music Entertainment knew such payola, or "pay-for-play," was improper. Nonetheless, the company asked the programmer to provide a fictitious contest winner's name and Social Security number to cover up her involvement.
The station executive got her TV, and J-Lo got her spins.
The alleged exchange was disclosed in a treasure trove of e-mails, BlackBerry messages and other documents made public Monday by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer. That electronic paper trail led the second-largest music company to a $10-million settlement.
Spitzer said Sony BMG executives offered "outright bribes" to radio programmers to make sure the company's artists got heard. Among the goodies Sony BMG gave employees of stations owned by Infinity Broadcasting Corp., Clear Channel Communications Inc. and others: airplane tickets, cash, vacation packages, PlayStation video game systems, DVD players and laptop computers.
In one e-mail that Spitzer released, a station manager who allegedly accepted gifts joked to Sony BMG executives: "I'm a whore this week. What can I say?"
Sony BMG, home to such artists as Tony Bennett and the Dixie Chicks, promised Monday not to pay radio stations in exchange for airplay. The company issued a formal statement acknowledging that "various employees pursued some radio promotion practices on behalf of the company that were wrong and improper." The company also fired an executive vice president of promotions at one of its labels.
Radio airplay is considered the most powerful promotional tool for record companies. Payola has plagued the music industry since the 1930s, with disc jockeys at times accepting cash, drugs or prostitutes in exchange for airplay.
At the news conference in his Lower Manhattan office, Spitzer said payola today was as widespread and "corrosive" as it was in the 1950s.
"It is omnipresent," Spitzer said. "It is driving the industry. And it is wrong. It reaches to the very top of the industry on the radio side and on the label side."
In 1960, Congress passed an anti-payola law banning broadcasters from taking cash or anything of value in exchange for playing specific songs unless they disclosed the transaction to listeners. Spitzer launched his investigation based on a similar law passed by the New York Legislature.
Spitzer's investigation continues at the other three major record companies -- Universal Music Group, EMI Group and Warner Music Group -- as well as at the country's largest radio corporations. Many industry insiders say the Sony BMG settlement could provide a template for agreements with other companies. Each company said it was cooperating with Spitzer but declined to comment further.
Documents released as part of the Sony BMG settlement depicted the seamier side of the music business, in which under-the-table payments and nudge-and-wink deals were so common that no one even tried to hide them.
"What do I have to do to get Audioslave on WKSS this week?!!?" a Sony BMG employee promoting the Audioslave song "Like a Stone" wrote to a Clear Channel programmer in 2003. "Whatever you can dream up, I can make it happen!!!"
Documents show that through its labels, which include Epic Records, Columbia Records a
Isn't there a difference between "Soundtrack" and "Score"?
i.e., Something like "Best Score" should be included in a legitimate video game awards show. (Altho that doesn't exist).
The article even says it..."Unsurprisingly, the reason these games have been nominated isn't because they feature charming, interesting, moving symphonic scores."
Soundtrack is different and what this is representing.
they're going to nominate games that feature pop music; this is MTV for crying out loud. It's the same with all the rest of their awards. "Best video" rarely goes to the really innovative videos (e.g., anything Tool has done); rather it goes to the latest Brittany revealing outfit trash. You want a real best video game soundtrack award, then you pay attention to the industry awards (interactive software association?), and not the popcorn awards...
Where does this sudden surge in the usage of "Feh" come from? To anyone with any familiarity with Yiddish, it comes across as idiotically as if my grandmother started saying "Fo' shizzle!"
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I disagree. Like all the Hawk games, THUG 2 has a great soundtrack. If the author of this article disagrees so strongly why don't they list games that they feel were slighted along with some kind of justification?
MTV _does_ put out cookie-cutter crap. Every time I hear or see that channel it is either some guy rapping about how he beats his bizitches and smokes weed, some sk8r grrl video or some emo dribble.
Original music is gone. A very large portion of the people on that channel don't even write their own music (and in a lot of cases don't even perform it ala Ashlee Simpson). Channels like MTV seem to support the bastardization of America's youth.
They have missed the point. They might as well call the award "Best group of songs we already gave awards to that happen to be in a video game" The best videogame soundtrack this past year, by FAR, has got to be God of War.
Woohoo! I've been arrested on 6 continents. Now all I need to do is kill a penguin... - Homer Simpson
If there were a REAL video game music award, Katamari Damacy would have to be nominated. Each track is completely different, like a unique little jewel of pure musical joy.
And the soundtrack's got EVERYTHING from techno to big band.
May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
MTV isn't handing out the award for best video game composition or score. They are handing out an award that best represents the types of music that the audience of MTV would like in a video game.
They are essentially awarding the song that is best licensed to be in a game that is already a favorite song of the MTV population. You can't fault them for it either. If this were a video game awards show, it would be different. This is a show about music videos though. People watching want to see Eminem get an award, not some random Japanese dude. You have to play to your target audience.
/. ++
At least they're offering programming than is some way/shape/form relates to music, which they really haven't done much of since the early 90's. =O)
"What is the answer?" (Silence) "In that case, what is the question?" --Gertrude Stein
And after all, I'd think that MTV would like sex mini-games.
Before you walk a mile in someone's shoes, you should insult them so you know how they are and what they're doing.
You know, if they want to put together this kind of an award, whatever. But it really irks my taters when they proceed to mess up the nominee list. I mean, did they even play Burnout 3!? That soundtrack rocked!
Sure, most of that is boring standard MTV fare. However, some of the songs on the Tony Hawk games are incredibly obscure, although the latest version doesn't include anything that's all that hard to find. Go looking at any top 40 and see if Dead Boys or the Germs ever had a single hit song.
This matters how?
Uh, what exactly do you think MTV is for?
People still watch MTV? That's news to me!!
C'mon... this is MTV. Yeah they suck, but nobody should be acting surprised. It'll be a cold day in hell when MTV has Uematsu playing piano on stage.
Should say "Best Use of Licensed Music In A Game".
Of course this IS MTV. It wouldn't know music even it bit MTV in the collective rear.
Insert Sig Here
...at least I don't think they are. I mean, look at the song list for THUG2. http://playstation.about.com/od/news/a/thug2soundt rack.htm It's stuff like The Doors, Ramones, Handsome Boy Modeling School and Aesop Rock. These aren't the same songs you would hear on MTV or M2. It is a game track that fits into the MTV mold of what a game track is. They didn't pick the games because they feature all top 40 hits.
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
As everyone and their mother has pointed out, this is MTV, and these types of nominations are expected. But this is the MTV Video Music awards (not a fan of that name, btw), an awards show which is not even remotely centered around video games. In fact, their nominations are perfectly appropriate given the setting. I think that Zonk and the article's author "missed the point", in terms of the "point" and target audience of the MTV Video Music awards.
Not that I don't think "Best videogame score" should be celebrated, but in the appropriate context, at a proper video game awards show... if one existed...
They advertising that can sell advertisgin time.
- I voted for Nintendo and against Bush
actually, as is already pointed out, this is a troll. Mainly because the parent misrepresents the definition of irony. Which is commonly done, but still a troll.
/. articles fit into that category (not in the least due to the write ups).
/. because people not only fail to understand what it means for a post to be a troll, but also what is meant by flamebait (instead applying them to posts they simply don't like, which is a large part of why we have meta moderation, to prevent people who habitually moderate in such a way from being able to do so in future).
You (and a few other readers) might want to actually read the alt.troll FAQ to understand what a troll is.
It is not in and of itself trolling to mis-use the word 'irony', unless it's in alt.grammar.nazi, for example.
This post ostensibly is not of that nature, it's not even inflammatory, unless you happen to be Zonk. Rather it would more accurately be described as Insightful, as the nature of article is indeed flamebait. An increasing number of
As the Moderator Guidelines indicate, it's inappropriate to moderate the parent down as when moderating you should focus on moderating UP (not DOWN) and save negative moderation's primarily for the likes of goat.ce and the automated troll-bots.
In this case the usage of the word irony is quite justifiable because it is ironic that people have failed to recognise the original article as flamebait but that they have instead incorrectly marked the posting point out that it's flamebait as flamebait.
( It is only correct to assert it is not ironic if you hold the view that we should all know full well it would be incorrectly interpreted not least because 'The Moderators are on Crack', as any fule kno. )
I would note that given that the article has produced several flames already, it's self evident that it is indeed flamebait.
This confusion frequently occurs on
Any soundtrack nomination list for games from this last year that fails to include Katamari Damashii is clearly without merit.
I want my Cowboyneal
They could have nominated Burnout 3.
Holy hell, that's some obnoxious music. I mean, I like the Ramones and all, though after hearing "Blitzkrieg Bop" in the context of exploding cars, I'm prepared to burn my decades-old T-shirt. All the other music happens to be washed-out dreadful 1.5-chord flaming emo rock with white guys singing out of their noses.
Great game, though. Plays like a dream.
I can give a crap that its Top 40, Top 10 Classic Rock, or whatever; if the music was Led Zeppelin or something else not originally produced for video games, it does not matter: it is not original video game music, so dressing these awards up in this guise is a simple marketing plot. Much like the Oscars publically tries to recognize parts of production that you normally do not see a face for, I feel this should be the same for video games and should attempt to recognize some of those artists out there that are producing an original product for these games but we never get to see outside of perhaps an interview or game credit. Having 'pop' but original video game music would be a vast improvement to this marketing charade as atleast the contestants would be real.
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
you'd realize that, aside from a few token licenses, the vast majority of the music is created either in-house by Konami's musicians (many of whom are incredibly talented), or is done specifically for the game by freelancers. On top of that, it's not the kind of music you're going to hear on MTV anyway. I would agree that DDR Extreme does not belong on that list, but that's more due to Konami picking bad songs out of its library for that specific release (hands down the worst US DDR) than it being generic MTV fare.
I'm hoping Konami doesn't squander the US release of Beatmania (where the music ranges from mainstream to experimental and back again) so hopefully the music game genre starts getting more respect on both counts, because there really is some amazing music in these games.
This was me.
How can you expect MTV to get it right when the game industry itself can't get it right? Every year at GDC I go to the awards, and every year it's clear that far to many of the game industry musicians are would-be film composers trying to break in through gaming.
The centerpoint of gaming is interactivity; not figuring out how to get your next project recorded by an orchestra. Thus, the focus should be as much on creative use of music in games to enhance the interactive experience as it is on the quality of music produced. Certainly there is an achievement to be had in recording a high quality film score for a game (expecially on a game sized budget); but I don't think thats the pinacle of what makes a game's soundtrack work, or what builds a more interesting game experience. If we don't focus on what makes music unique to gaming, the industry won't be recognized for it's music.
I see this just as often in other parts of the industry too; this code is my thesis, this game is my chance to write a novel, etc.. It just... misses the point.
Wasn't it just a few years ago where we heard calls to start using "real" songs in video games?
Maybie like 20 songs out of the entire 6+ game series have been on the top 40...most of it is alt, rock, metal, etc
Your skill in reading has increased by one point!
Darwinia has the most awesome soundtrack ive heard in a game in ages.
Sort of 8bit infulenced progressive.
http://www.darwinia.co.uk/store/soundtrack.html
Official GOD FAQ.
The more they keep my music off MTV the better it remains.
Let me preface my comment by saying I haven't read the article (because I'm in a place that does not allow me access). But a lot of people are mentioning the Oscars as if they're some sort of award that isn't affected by marketing and what have you. Truth be known, it's actually quite the opposite. The winners of each year's Oscars are very much advertising influenced. Advertising of nominated movies is increased around Oscar time so the voters' choice of winners can be influenced. Here is a link to an article that talks about the Oscar campaigns for two of the more popular movies of recent times, Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan. The story shows some of the lengths studios will go to in order to have an Oscar winner. It's rather ridiculous to think that in this day and age, anything in the public eye isn't influenced by advertising and marketing.
Now for something completely different:
I'm a big music hound. I love music. I love "good" music. I love music that gives is innovative and inventive sonically and in their meaning. Now, I'm 24, by no means am I "all grown up." But even at my relatively young age, I've had my musical taste and attitudes have changed numerous times. Individuals' opinions and likes/dislikes evolve and morph over time along with their maturity. I would argue that TRL and Top 40 music relates more to a certain level of maturity in our society. Personally, more than anything else, this level of maturity seems to be one of confused-adolescence, with lots of strutting for dominance and muddy emotions. But, could ONLY teens push a song into the Top40? I don't think so. I think it will take listeners of all ages to push a song to such a high level of popularity. Like a Jerry Bruckheimer film, maybe it's easier not to get emotionally involved in the art and quickly process the aural lard that is given to us by 50 cent, Hoobastank, Creed, Nickelback. However, I'm not saying that this type of emotionally-vacant music is bad. Hell I often listen to Freezepop which is great music but requires much less from my mind than say Led Zeppelin. I just think Top 40 is less emotionally involving music and while appealing on some level, like a Big Mac, it isn't something that you can sustain yourself with for very long.
Now just for reference:
Some Music I like:
Juno Reactor
Hero Soundtrack
The Corrs
Coldplay
Outkast
They would have put Hitman: Contracts on that list. Now theres a game with a fantastic musical score, very well put together.
Find Escorts, Strippers, Massage Parlours, Swingers
Honestly, Tales Of Symphonia for Gamecube had some of the damn best game music I've heard in a long time. But alas, you won't hear of this game being nominated on TV, and it's no suprise MTV nominated the shit that they did.
:p
Especially since it reminds me of the last time Spike TV had their own video game awards show, which was one hell of a disgrace and aimed at idiot's who don't know better.
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy
"Good job for highlighting more cookie cutter Top 40's crap, MTV. Way to go."
And in related news
"Good job for reporting more tedious insignificant parochial events, entire US news industry. Way to go."
(BTW that's ironic on two levels.)