How to Get Your Music in Video Games
Video games are a powerful and sometimes forgotten avenue for spreading your music to new audiences and building a sustainable music career.
Some songs have long since left my consciousness, but if you play them and they happened to have featured on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Madden 2000, I can likely rattle off the lyrics with no problem.
But how do you, as an artist, go about getting into the business of music in video games?
The short answer to that question is through music licensing.
Music licensing provides the legal framework for your music to be used in various ways. Synchronization or sync licensing refers to media such as TV shows, movies, and video games where the music is synced to an image on the screen.
In addition to the sync license, the studio will also need a Master Use License. Once these agreements are in place, they can use your song in their game.
Like most aspects of the music business, this is a competitive space. To successfully place your music in a video game, you’ll first want to ensure you’re creating good music with radio-ready production quality.
Professional-sounding music is the table stakes for getting into a video game.
Once you have the music in the right place, your best bet is to work with a sync agency to represent you and help you find a placement, but it’s not the only game in town. The other options just require a little more blood, sweat, and tears or personal industry connections.
Benefits of Getting Your Music in Video Games
If you’ve solely been thinking about your music from the artistic side, placements in video games may not have been on your radar. Still, it could be a valuable path for you.
The first benefit is being an effective method of introducing your music to a new audience. Having your track featured on a game is essentially a mini-campaign promoting your music. Especially if the game is available internationally, you can reach a targeted audience that could become fans more efficiently and effectively than trying to do outreach yourself.
The second benefit is unlike a promotional campaign; instead of paying for this exposure, you’re compensated for the use of your track in the game. The game benefits from featuring original music, and you can earn a decent paycheck.
Third, you benefit by expanding your network and opening doors for the future. Getting your music placed in a video game can build relationships with decision-makers constantly seeking more music. One good relationship can lead to a lifetime of opportunities.
If it turns out to be a good fit, it may even lead you to pursue creating music for video games full-time.
Whatever goals you have for your music, landing a video game placement can be a helpful step to accomplishing them.
How to Write Music for Video Games
You may have songs ready to go for video game placement, in which case, you can skip the next few paragraphs. But if you’re looking for a few tips to get started, here are a few thoughts on how to write music with video games specifically in mind.
Targeting a Specific Genre & Gameplay
Not everyone can be Shohei Ohtani or Travis Hunter. Shohei has strung together multiple seasons as an elite hitter and pitcher in Major League Baseball. Travis Hunter has been making waves by playing at an incredibly high level in college football on both offense and defense for Coach Prime in Boulder, CO.
Maybe you can do it all.
I certainly won’t be the one to tell you that you can’t because I’m not trying to get mentioned as a hater in anyone’s biography.
Still, for the majority of people reading this, it can be helpful to narrow your focus and become synonymous with a sound to make it easy for decision-makers to know the situations when you’d be a good fit.
Clarity makes all the difference.
Knowing what types of games you want to be in, creating a distinct portfolio, and building your professional network with industry professionals in those areas is a winning formula.
And again, if you’re capable of doing multiple things at a high level, don’t limit yourself for the sake of this blog post; inspire us with your greatness!
Video Game Composition Tips
If you’re a gamer, it’s probably not surprising that the most requested types of music for video games are more upbeat pop, hip-hop, and electronic tunes.
That’s not to say other genres aren’t represented, but if the above list describes your music, this could be a better opportunity for you than if esoteric folk music is your jam.
Suppose you’re lucky enough to be sought after for a video game placement. In that case, you may be given a brief to work off to create the sound the developer wants in the game.
Assuming you don’t have a brief to work from, here are a few tips that can help you create something that might be a good fit for a video game:
1. Keep your lyrics general – this is good advice for any type of sync placement; the broader your lyrics are while still creating a specific mood, the more the pool of potential fits will increase. This is especially true in medium like video games where players have wider latitude to make decisions and take the action in different directions. So, if your track has lyrics, keeping slightly more generic and relatable can be a helpful move.
2. Incorporate loops – If you’re composing tracks, musical loops are one of the keys for video games. You’ll want to create pieces that seamlessly transition from their end back to the beginning. Learning more about how to create loops will help you in your video game composing journey.
3. Breakout the textbook – This is one area where having a strong music theory background is going to come in handy. Given the complexity and nuance of video game scores, having a strong grasp of the fundamentals and knowing exactly how to deploy them is crucial. If you could use an introduction or just need some refreshers, we recently compiled our list of the 11 best music theory courses to check out at varying price points.
Video Game Production Tips
Whether you’re a season pro or need some help figuring out how to make a beat, here are a couple tips to get you started with producing your tracks.
1. Get familiar with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Ableton Live, Logic Pro, and Pro Tools are some common ones. If you’re unfamiliar with these types of tools, we covered our 10 favorite DAWs for musicians.
2. Have your stems and instrumentals available along with your final mix. They’re going to want your stems, so if you’re proactive in providing them that can be helpful.
3. Mixing and mastering. Mixing is part art, part science, where you take the raw tracks and create your sound through EQ, compression, and effects. Experiment with these to create your unique sound. Mastering is your last step in the production process to ensure your song is in the right format and meets industry standards.
While you’re going through the production process, anticipate the different ways your track can be used and provide everything up front.
See if you can find an interview or social media post from the music supervisor that mentions what they love to have provided.
Finally, make sure what you’re delivering is radio-quality.
It would be a shame to have the right song placement derailed by logistics, insufficient planning, or production issues.
How to get Started Licensing Your Music
Suppose you’re simply wondering how to license your music for video games. In that case, the short answer is sync licensing, which you can read in a previous post, What is Music Licensing, if you need a refresher.
As is often the case, if you don’t want to bootstrap it, partnering with someone who focuses on this aspect of the industry is the most consistent way to experience success.
If you already have music you feel is ready to go, here are a few ways to start trying to nail that placement.
Sync Libraries
Central repositories where users can submit their songs or playlists for sync consideration.
Music supervisors can license your tracks directly from the library.
Putting some of your best tracks on libraries can be a great way to test the waters in video game sync licensing. It at least provides the opportunity for your music to be found.
If you get a hit from a library posting, you can also use that to make further introductions to music supervisors and sync agencies.
Directly to Game Publishers & Music Supervisors
Game publishers are responsible for creating, marketing, and distributing video games. They’ll handle everything from development to promotion. They often work with a music supervisor who is responsible for enhancing their vision through the game by deciding track placements.
Large studios can have robust in-house teams for this process, while others may outsource this role. Titles can vary slightly, but music supervisors and audio directors are typically the critical decision-makers for most game developers.
The best music supervisors know the ins and outs of the industry and have a long list of connections to publishers and sync libraries.
They know the vision and direction for the game and the musical supplement they’ll need to enhance it.
They’re tasked with bringing this vision to life through the music in the game.
If you can build a direct relationship with a musical supervisor, go for it.
In this insightful interview on getting video game placements with Activision Blizzard’s Director of Music Affairs, Brandon Young, he mentions being open to outreach from unknown artists.
I’ve seen this sentiment echoed by other music supervisors as well.
Just remember that no one owes you anything; they’re getting inundated with requests, and silence or rejection is the most likely outcome with this route.
I would also encourage you to make sure to keep things professional on your end and not to burn any bridges.
These are people that truly love music and work with a lot of independent and unknown artists. They know how hard good art is to make and the effort artists put into their music.
If you have the opportunity, a great way to work on building these connections is through attending video game industry events and conferences.
You can also look for social platforms where music supervisors you want to work with are active. Authenticity and relevance are vital to making impressions and connections, whether in-person or online.
The key here is to identify individuals you want to work with, demonstrate you’ve done your research, and that your music is relevant to the projects they’re working on.
Sync Agencies
Think back on your personal experience introducing yourself. Consider times you’ve had to come in with a cold approach and introduce yourself to someone when they weren’t anticipating it. Now, ponder a time when a friend made the introduction, potentially even mentioning a few of your accolades.
Maybe you’ve mastered the cold approach, in which case, kudos, but I think we can all agree the second scenario is much easier and more likely to go well.
That’s the role sync agencies play. They already know the people you want to like you and your music. They come to the table with history and knowledge of what that person likes and dislikes.
They’re also experts on the legal side of sync contracts and ensuring everything is squared away with the agreements, preventing any snags from completing the deal.
It’s difficult to overestimate the value of having an experienced ally guide you through this process if you’re new to it.
We had the opportunity to talk with Sonnet Simmons and John Clinebell from 2indie on the YouTube channel, and that short conversation was packed with enough information to demonstrate what a sync agency can bring to the table.
Similar to the tips we provided about reaching out directly to music supervisors (do your research, personalizing your approach, and being professional) are also the best ways to approach a sync agency about being represented.
Final Thoughts
If you were hoping for an easy path to a lucrative music career, I hate to break the bad news, but getting your music in video games is also challenging.
However, it is another piece of the music business world that’s open to exploration and can provide a foot in the door, revenue, awesome promotion potential, and professionals to network with.
Especially if you focus on a niche, specializing and consistency can work wonders in this area.
And the good news is there are plenty of opportunities for indie and lesser-known artists.
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