next »

[bluescrn]

'ello,

I'm currently working on an iOS project, and some time soon it's going to need music...

The game looks something like this (very work-in-progress):



Ideally, I need 6 tunes - One for the front end, and one for each of the 5 zones in the game.

The game is heavily influenced by 8-bit and 16-bit games (Trailblazer, STUN Runner, Skyroads), and ideally, I'd be after a sort of '16-bit sound' (I've got a remix of a Space Harrier tune as a placeholder, and that kind of fits)

I've been looking at royalty-free music sites, such as Shockwave-Sound.com - their licence looks game-friendly, and I'd be looking at maybe $70-100 per track for the 'mass market license' (the standard licence is limited to 5000 copies distributed. Which might be plenty, but I'll be optimistic and presume that at least the demo may need more than that).

I can afford those sort of costs, and the quality on there is generally very good - but most of the music on there isn't very 'gamey'. Although there's some nice electronic tracks that might work (example: http://www.shockwave-sound.com/track/8731 )

(Are there any 'gotchas' that I should be looking out for with these royalty-free music sites, other than the 5000 copy limit with the cheaper licenses?)


And then there's the other option: Hire a musician/composer. Now that would hopefully give the best results - a consistent sound across the game, suitably paced and styled music, etc. But that does seem a scary option - as I'm a solo indie, I don't have a big budget, so I don't expect I can afford to hire anyone with an awesome track record (yeah, I did browse Souleye's site...). Realistically, I expect that I'd have to take a gamble on somebody less experienced?

There's obviously a number of musicians lurking on TIGSource, and I've briefly browsed the portfolios section - but I've really got no idea what I'd expect to pay an experienced composer, say, per 3-minute track?

Is anyone willing to disclose what they've paid (or what they charge) for music, with examples?  Is it common to have bad experiences (music not up to expectations), or does it usually work out great?

(Feel free to PM me if you're a composer/musician, and you think you can help make my game sound great on an indie budget!)

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

my main problem with royalty-free music is: what if someone recognizes that song from some other game? it'd break immersion, and make the game feel much cheaper that way. that said i'm not 100% against it, sometimes there are some really good tracks that really fit. but in general i'd recommend getting a musician friend to do it; i'd rather have amateur / hobbyist / unique / original music in a game than professional quality generic / unoriginal / non-unique music in a game

[nico]

Just my two cents as I have absolutely no valid grounds on which to be answering your question: Your first release doesn't have to be your final release. If you adapt a more continuous-development mindset you won't need to have all the 'final' pieces in place when releasing. Maybe especially true for a racing game where music isn't intimately tied to a story line (usually), and on mobile platforms where it's easy to distribute updates later anyways.

[bluescrn]

my main problem with royalty-free music is: what if someone recognizes that song from some other game?

Yes, that's definitely a problem - I could accidentally pick a track that's been used in a really well know game that I've just never happened to play (and then be accused of stealing it by raging internet fanboys...).  I don't really know how common the use of these royalty-free tracks are in gaming.

It's a tricky decision... it's tempting to get the credit card out and have the game 'music'd up' in a couple of hours... but there's certainly downsides...  And music can make or break a game...

As for first release vs. future patches, I'm going for the 'traditional model' of game development, where you finish a game, and launch it. I don't want to be selling an incomplete beta - if I patch it, I want it to be for bonus content or bugfixes, rather than to add the bits that I didn't get finished

[Woos]

It's not uncommon i believe to ask for a sample before hiring a composer, just to see if he can make something suitable to your game. In the end paying for anybody to do anything creative is always more or less of a gamble, so i guess it's just a consideration you'll have to make for every project that you do

[chubigans]

I used to use royalty free music, but when I switched over to original music I never looked back. It's a little more pricey but it's absolutely worth it.