2024's Biggest Video Game and Music Licensing Trends
2024's Biggest Video Game and Music Licensing Trends
Also: What makes a great sync in a video game trailer?
Game Music Digest is a weekly wrap-up of the most interesting stories at the intersection of video games and music, brought to you by music and gaming newsletter, MusicEXP. Subscribe to keep on top of the latest trends in video games and music delivered straight to your inbox every week.
Want more music and gaming news? Subscribe to my music and gaming podcast GXM, which I co-host with Laced A&R and community manager, Tom Quillfeldt. The latest episode features Scott Pease, former studio director at Neversoft, who reflects on the incredible legacy legacy of the music in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video games, and how they shaped the music tastes of an entire generation.
Music and Video Game Licensing Trends from 2024 ft. Vickie Nauman
I recently interviewed Vickie Nauman, founder of the music licensing consultancy and advisory firm CrossBorderWorks. It was a great chat covering a broad range of subjects, from the biggest music licensing challenges facing game developers to emerging trends and the music industry’s relationship with video games.
You can listen to the full chat on the GXM Podcast here, but I’ve summarised some of the main talking points below.
Rights Fragmentation Remains a Major Challenge for Game Studios
Unless game developers have in-house licensing experts or massive music teams, fragmentation of rights can be a difficult thing for game studios to understand and deal with. Songs with multiple writers and rightsholders require approval from everyone involved, and this can take months, if not years, for some of the biggest artists. Similarly, this can be particularly challenging if you don’t have contact info for a specific rightsholder. Worse, you might have contact info, but no one is responding to approval requests - leaving you in licensing purgatory!
“If you want The Rolling Stones or Billie Eilish, these artists are very high-profile and have the right to know exactly how their music is being used,” says Nauman. “It’s very difficult to scale that, because rightsholders don’t want some sort of solution to put a song in a basket and check out without a negotiation and a clear outline of how the music is going to be used [duration of use, trailer, emotes, music kit, in-game radio, etc.]. I think some of the people who are slightly outside of the industry don't understand the requirements of what you need to go through for higher-profile artists to say yes.”
Scalable Options For Music Licensing Are Growing
While music licensing for video games is difficult to scale down, it hasn’t stopped a growing number of start-ups and labels from trying. Monstercat’s ‘Monstercat Gold’ monthly subscription allows individual content creators to use a library of Monstercat music in their streams and video content without risk of copyright strikes, while STYNGR allows game developers to integrate and monetise music from millions of pre-cleared songs.
While these solutions are growing in number, Nauman highlights the importance of game developers ensuring music integrations are the right fit for their game and align with the tastes and preferences of their players.
“[Gaming] is so different from streaming and other services where it's a fire hose. You put everything out there and you hope something will fit. In video games, you have to really pick and choose and marry those things. Right? Or it's pretty unforgiving. [Players] will let you know exactly what they think.”
VR Concerts Are Underutilised
VR adoption is at an all-time high, but VR concerts are underutilised by game developers and the music industry, with the exception of Meta’s Music Valley Series, Amazon’s AmazeVR Concerts, and a handful of start-ups such as Wave. It still baffles me that Sony PlayStation didn’t have a native VR Concert app similar to what Meta is doing for the launch of their PSVR2 headset. The technology exists for larger artists to integrate VR filming into their production rigs and work with gaming and tech platforms to upload live performances as virtual concert experiences.
“[The music industry] doesn't think about porting [recorded concerts] into platforms or being able to make something that is a different [digital version] but thematically similar. I think it's about the evolution of thinking in the industry that a lot of people are just not marrying these two things up,” Nauman says.
Record Labels Need to Grow Gaming Divisions
It can be hard for people in partnership roles at video game studios to identify which bands and artists are genuine gamers. This is important because game studios want to work with bands and artists who are genuine gamers and fans of their IP. Similarly, it’s important for people in the music industry to understand video game music integrations and monetisation models so they can work with the games industry to create the best campaigns possible.
The global video game industry recorded revenues of $184 billion in 20204, but major labels still have far fewer gaming experts than other mediums. “If I were running a record label right now, I would create a gaming imprint full of artists who are gamers, want their music in games, and write music inspired by games and for games,” Nauman says.
“The gaming industry is diverse, it's difficult, it doesn't put a shingle out to say ‘here's how to contact us. You really have to understand how to navigate that whole ecosystem. So I think the more the major labels, major publishers and independent labels in this broad ecosystem of music business find artists and staff who are gamers themselves, that is the way to organically grow the understanding.”
Game Studios are Sidestepping Licensing Challenges by Creating Original Songs Through Artist Collaborations
Why license a song from a major artist when you can work with them to write something new you can own forever instead? That’s exactly what a growing number of game studios are now doing, where we’re seeing studios collaborate with well-known bands and artists that resonate with the players to write original songs that serve as the ‘anthem’ for new releases or new marketing beats in existing games. Recent examples include Dragon Force and Brawl Stars, Wind Rose and Deep Rock Galactic, Tekken and D Double E, and League of Legends and Linkin Park.
Video game companies have historically relied on in-house music and custom composition because they don’t require performance licenses and are able to buy anything out without worrying about deal expiration or back-end royalties.
“But then you start thinking about collaborations: how can we collaborate with a well-known artist or composer to utilize their cultural impact in their network? How can we integrate commercial music into this?” Nauman says.
“I think there's a lot of shades of gray in there. A mix of things that are custom and yet have some kind of relevance to our culture and our society as well.”
Video Game Trailers: How Mad World Became Synonymous with Xbox’s Grittiest Franchise
I really enjoyed reading Duncan Fyfe's story in The Guardian about how Gears of War’s Mad World trailer changed video game marketing forever. Gears of War, a gritty and gory third-person-shooter that’s now a flagship Xbox franchise, became synonymous with Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World after it was featured in a trailer for the original game, widely regarded as one of the best video game trailers of all time. The sync was a vital marketing asset as it highlighted the sadness flowing through creator Cliff Bleszinski’s work, helping the game avoid being misconstrued as a “brainless chainsaw game.”
“That was a watershed moment,” Brett Hocker, a creative director at the agency Hammer Creative tells The Guardian. “Gears was doing some real world-building and storytelling. It really started making [games] feel like an event. It started making the industry as a whole feel elevated.”
EXP: Fast-forward to 2024 and the recent announcement trailer for Gears of War E-Day, a prequel set before the original events of the first game, features an instrumental version of Gary Jules' ‘Mad World’ cover. This is a clever move, as it positions the latest game as a return to roots for the series. While all the Gears of War games have original soundtracks, Mad World now serves as the ‘theme’ for the series. Players who grew up playing these games will instantly think of the series whenever they hear this song.
I know we have award ceremonies recognizing the incredible work of music supervisors and sync placements in video games, but there’s no overstating the importance of music in video game trailers, especially announcements. Song placements in game trailers set the tone for what players should expect from the final product, and the right or wrong piece of music can make or break a game’s launch plans.
The best song placements in game trailers reflect the themes and narrative elements of the featured game, either through lyrics or tone, ideally both. Even if players have never heard the song before, the right sync will feel familiar. Here are some of the best examples that spring to mind:
Lorde’s cover of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule The World’ in the world premiere for Assassin’s Creed Unity, which is set in Paris during the French Revolution, nails the tone and story of the game.
The ‘Our Curse’ trailer for Dark Souls 3, featuring Agnes Obel’s song ‘Familiar’. As the top-rated comment says: “‘Rise, if you would; for that is our curse,’ Nothing so eloquently sums up this series better than that one line of dialogue and it still chills me.”
The Believe trailer for Halo 3, which highlights the power of juxtaposition and that you don’t always need a big rock or rap band to get people excited for a new shooter!
Have you got a favourite music sync in a game trailer? Let us know in the comments!
Introducing Alarmo: Nintendo’s Sound Clock
In case you missed it, Nintendo announced Alarmo last week, an alarm clock that plays sound effects and music from Nintendo games such as Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 3, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pikmin 4 and Ring Fit Adventure. You can grab one for the alarming price of $99.99/£89.99.
EXP: It speaks volumes (wheyyyy) to the incredible demand and popularity of Nintendo’s music that they’re able to shift an alarm clock for close to three figures. It does include some cool features, like motion sensor technology and your favourite Nintendo tunes, but it’s definitely more of a novelty item when most people will just use their phones as alarms anyway. That said, it’s cool to see Nintendo innovating and thinking outside of the box for ways its IP and music can be used. Shout-out for that.
In other news…
Apologies for the two-week break in newsletters. There’s a good reason for that: I BECAME A DAD. I’ve spent the last week in the neonatal intensive care unit at Hull Royal Infirmary with my amazing wife and son, Elijah, and we’ve launched a funding campaign to make the lives of the incredible nurses, parents, and newborns on the ward a bit easier.
This newsletter is free and I don’t ask subscribers for money, but if you’ve ever found it useful or enjoy reading it, PLEASE make a donation. Any amount you can give will make a massive impact.
Please donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hull-nicu-crowdfunding
Anyway, on to the news – we’ve got two weeks to get through!
Konami has released 100 minutes of Silent Hill 2 Remake music over on its YouTube channel. If you’re a fan of Portishead and trip-hop, check it out. [Link]
Speaking of Silent Hill, here are five albums you should check out if you’re a fan of Akira Yamoaka’s music for the series. [Link]
Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have announced a Dungeons & Dragons 50th anniversary vinyl record [Link]
Hans Zimmer has written the main theme for EA’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard. [Link]
Are you ready for Rocky Horror: The Video Game? [Link]
Coldplay hosted a massive Roblox takeover to promote their latest album, Moon Music. [Link]
Bandai Namco has partnered with BANKS to write an anthem for their upcoming action adventure game, Unknown 9: Awakening [Link]
Kenny Young’s soundtrack for Astro Boy, which many are hailing as Game of the Year, is now up on Spotify. [Link]
The Guardian speaks to Cody Matthew Johnson to learn more about his diegetic Songs from the Underworld soundtrack for Star Wars: Outlaws. [Link]
The Rolling Stone has an oral history of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack to celebrate its 25th anniversary. [Link]
The soundtrack for Wargroove 2 (think modern-day Advance Wars) is getting a vinyl release. [Link]
Speaking of vinyl, you can also get your hands on a two-disc or six-disc vinyl edition of Inon Zur’s Starfield soundtrack. [Link]
Did you know Ghost in the Shell got turned into a PlayStation 1 game back in the ‘90s, and it has one of the hardest techno soundtracks imaginable? The soundtrack, which features bangers from Derrick May, Hardfloor and Mijk Van Dijk, recently got a 2LP and picture disc vinyl re-issue. [Link]
Feeling spooky? Scarlet Moon has released a new Halloween album of video game remixes, featuring new music from Super Mario Kart composer Soyo Oka [Link]
Lupe Fiasco has written a new song, ‘P4P’, for the VR boxing game Undisputed, which makes its debut in the game’s official trailer (which has less than 100 views!!) [Link]
BABYMETAL and Electric Callboy have released a free-to-play browser game to celebrate their recent collaboration for the song, ‘Ratatata’. [Link]
NME has a list of the best music games of all time. [Link]
Weezer launched a Fortnite experience to celebrate 30 years of ‘The Blue Album’ [Link]