I finished reading the second chapter in Pac-Man to Pop Music, Marketing Music Through Computer Games: the case of Poets of the Fall and Max Payne 2 by Antti-Ville Karja. The article has far less of the kind of musical analysis that I'm interested in, but does present some interesting facts about the connection between popular music sales and video games.
My reactions and notes:
Synergy is the word for the connection between the music and video game industries. That is to say that video games can help a song or band to get popular just as using a popular song in a game can help ensure its popularity. Typically, games help music more than music helping games, though.
Game composers are often paid a one time fee for their music, rather than making royalties on the music. As I'm starting to see, the issue of game music rights is extremely complicated. They lie in a quagmire between the composer, the game publisher, and the platform designer, and others.
The article also brings up the idea of games where "without music, there is no game" and cites Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution as examples of this kind of game. I need to consider more about this genre of games; it's a unique one worthy of special attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment