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[jordanchin]

I'm very (very) new to this forum, and am here because I want to learn more about the industry. I am hoping that somebody with more experience can help me create a discussion about what it means to make music your career. I'm going to start with 3 general questions, and hopefully, will ask a few more later on.

1. I've always been passionate about listening to, playing, and composing music. But it seems these days that passion isn't enough. What exactly do you think turns passion into success? (and I mean success is the most practical of ways -- how can you make a living doing this?)

2. I've seen a post about there being a "saturation" of composers. I have to say, many of the posts I've seen on here are from composers looking for work. 0 replies. How sad! I've followed the links, and there are some very talented musicians here. How is it that nobody will enlist their help?

3. Lastly, what kind of networking events, meetups, or marketing tools do people use to generate leads? I've been contracted to write soundtracks for 3 indie game jobs. All 3 of them were from word of mouth and personal connections. It is unreasonable to find a forum full of like-minded people (like this one), post your portfolio, and expect to find work?

Hope some of you can chime in!

[FelixArifin]

1. Stubbornness. You just have to keep writing and composing. Get another job to support your work as a musician, because being in the music business is one of the slowest waiting games around.

2. Like any other job, it's all about knowing the right person at the right time. If you make the right impression, you will be able to get the job.

3. Game jams, festivals, personal connections, etc. Sometimes one can get lucky with finding work online, but for the most part, it's about knowing the people face to face and showing them your passion for what you do.

Good luck!

-Felix

[Valoon]

Hi! I am going to talk about sound design mostly and not composition because I am not a composer, I am a sound designer.

Since you ask about audio too I guess it fits.

1) For sound design it's a bit "easier" than for composition. Mostly because you need basically one composer/game no matter what kind of game it is and multiple sound designers/game if it's big enough (AAA games for example). To get a job you need a portfolio and a demo reel, showing that you can do sound design and that you can implement sounds into a game (this is for a real pro job here, if you want to work as a student with students you don't need that much, just a demo reel basically).
Also if you're going at the biggest companies you need to have a lot of other valuable skills on top of your sound design ones. For example scripting/coding is (very) valuable even if you won't have software engineer level.

2) So, still talking about sound designers (so a situation a bit better) it's mostly because there is too many of them + you are mostly needed at the end of a project. So you could do 3 projects by the time a programmer does one.

3) It is if we're talking about small projects and/or non paying projects. Again for big companies I think the chances are really slim that they somehow find your stuff and find it so great that they go out of their way to talk to you.
I don't know much about the events, a lot of the biggest ones are in the US, such as GDC which just ended. Then there is like E3, random game jams, IGDA chapter (not sure about the name) if there is one in your town) and this kind of stuff.

[MoritzPGKatz]

Hello,

Late to the party, but here are my thoughts:

1. I've always been passionate about listening to, playing, and composing music. But it seems these days that passion isn't enough. What exactly do you think turns passion into success? (and I mean success is the most practical of ways -- how can you make a living doing this?)

You just start doing it. You have to start a business - think of it like opening a shop. Having a website helps, but actually keeping business times in which you focus on working your shop is far more important. And there is oh so much more than just the pure act of producing music that makes a composer (financially) successful in his field.
There will be many things to encounter like the dreaded Client Acquisition that often occurs during Social Interaction. Or keeping a clean workspace. Or sending out newsletters to your clients. Or doing taxes. (shudders)

What you'll find too is that you'll probably need an investment risk (even if it's just quitting your old job) or good connections to other people in this creative field. I've started working from my bedroom before I moved out from my parents', and was lucky enough to cooperate with other studio guys before graduating, but even setting up the various bedroom studios I had during my studies took a lot of thought and some monies to construct.

2. I've seen a post about there being a "saturation" of composers. I have to say, many of the posts I've seen on here are from composers looking for work. 0 replies. How sad! I've followed the links, and there are some very talented musicians here. How is it that nobody will enlist their help?

A lot of people (not only on this forum) complain that there's like a huge wave of composers and it's so hard to get a job and get it to pay well... truth is, a lot of the guys who post music here are mere enthusiasts - and often very good at the specific craft of creating music that sounds like video game music - who haven't made this their living. Anyone can get a cracked copy of Ableton Live and get a SoundCloud account. Keeping a studio running and your rent paid and your fridge full is a different story.

One other thing, Most composers and studios, even the big names, perform a wider range of services than just composition. It helps if you can also do post-production stuff like sound design, voice-over recording, mixing for different broadcast standards...

3. Lastly, what kind of networking events, meetups, or marketing tools do people use to generate leads? I've been contracted to write soundtracks for 3 indie game jobs. All 3 of them were from word of mouth and personal connections. It is unreasonable to find a forum full of like-minded people (like this one), post your portfolio, and expect to find work?

For most guys it's probably practical to have a look around locally - It helps if you live in a bigger city.
I've actually found work quite often on this Forum and elsewhere online. Some even came to me because they liked my compositions in another game, which is probably the best thing that can happen. Good thing is, it'll happen to you if you keep at it and really make this your thing, that's pretty much all there is to it.

Cheers,
Moritz