Hot Topic
I am a moderator for the facebook group "Video Game - Composers & Sound Desginers" (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2541910980/), one of the hottest topics in the group is about how much should a composer charge, should composers work for free, or give music away? Its a topic that just never seems to die down.
This particular week a composer called Fabian Gremper posted the following:
Hey. I make free music for video games. This new track is inspired by casino sounds – and it definitely feels like you're winning
smiley
. This and all other tracks for SUPER GAME MUSIC are licensed under Creative Commons. You're free to use them in any projects of yours.Let me know what you think!smiley
Have a great day. https://soundcloud.com/supergamemusic/sugarrush
Jeff Lawhead then quipped :
Jeff Lawhead In before the "OMG NEVER DO MUSIC FOR FREE YOU'RE RUINING THE INDUSTRY" flood.
and Fabian replied :
Fabian Gremper If this is ruining the industry, then the industry is in really bad shape yo
Nils Orwell didn't agree :
Nils Orwell Well...the industry is in a pretty bad shape actually. because of the amount of people that are offering stuff for free to everyone (not only music). In general i think everyone who has contributed to a commercial project, should benefit from it financially, because if people want to pay for a game, then your work has a value to it.
In your case I would give those tracks to either nonprofit projects (there are tons of them out there) or to student projects. And leave the commercial market for people who are working for money.
My view is that writing music like this and giving it away under a creative commons license is great, as it doesn't really effect the work for hire composer industry. Mainly because publishers, and developers really do want to own all their assets, and they also like their assets to be original and exclusive to their product. So this is great for no budget indie developers who like Fabian make games content for fun. But anyone intending to monetize their release will want it to be exclusive and owned by them. There will of course be exceptions to the rule, there always is, but highly unlikely.
I am more concerned that composers offer to work for funded developers exclusively for free. But there is just no justification to work for a funded developer for free. But that doesn't mean a composer cannot choose to work for a revenue share if the project is exciting to them. Not all dev's have funding, especially if they are just starting out. I have recently offered my services to 3 indie developers to work on a revenue share deal, because I like the people and the projects they are doing.
Julian Beeston had this to say :
Julian Beeston FREE = BAD Bad for the industry, bad for you, bad for me, bad for everyone trying to make a living in this field or any other related field. Please don't offer you're services for free unless it's a registered charity or your brothers' scout group cake sale.
I don't believe that free music non-exclusive music affects AAA productions in anyway. I feel that this is more an issue of the so called "indie" scene, where indie means home made, or low budget teams that are doing it for fun in the hope they make a living from it some day. Yes, the app store is a wash with home made titles that use free resources, but I don't see those games as part of the professional side of the industry - however that does not mean that they are not quality games and worth buying, its about how they are made. I just cannot see the impact it has on the likes of established premier developers like Rebellion, Rock Star, and Sumo Digital.
But not everyone agrees with me, Sylvio Pretsch had this to say.
Sylvio Pretsch The industry is in a bad situation! A lot of well-known composers had to look for a normal job to be able to earn enough money to pay their bills because a lot of music producers like you offers their music for free. This is really bad! Why do you offer your music for free? Did you get your music equipment for free? I'm sure you paid a lot of money to create your own recording studio. Everyone of us has got fixed costs every month! We have to pay the rent for our recording studio and our flats. We have to pay for foods, insurance and other things. And when somebody wants to use my music he or she has to pay for! Your music equipment can break at any time where you need money to let it be repaired by a technician or where you need money to buy you something new. That's not nice what you are doing
Syvlio's reaction to Fabian is common amongst professionals who make their living from writing music, but I think that there is a misunderstanding between what constitutes as professionally made, and what is hobbyiest work. In part this is an issue with the Indie Scene in general because teams, and individuals present themselves as professionals, but the hard truth is that the true difference between being a professional and a amateur is not, talent, ability or skill, it is simply down to if they are funded or not. Indie Developers will bristle at this distinction because they feel they are doing quality work (and some are!), and that they conduct themselves in a professional manner (which some do!), but when it comes down to clearly defining if you are a professional company or
