One whole year of Substack!
:o
I wanted to take a moment to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s tuned in to my Substack over the past year.
This Substack has been a learning portfolio for me—a space to document my thoughts and discoveries as I continue exploring the intersection of music and gaming. My aim has shifted from identifying trends to driving meaningful change by applying a taxonomical & contextual approach to optimise music placement and utilization in gaming, highlighting its true value for all parties involved. I’ve attempted to do this in my own way, using examples, strange parallels to lampposts and a bag full of gifs.
Looking back on 2024, sharing my conceptual rambles here has been a real joy and I’m so grateful for all the incredible conversations I’ve had as a result. Articulating the ideas that cross my mind every few weeks—and hearing your thoughts in response—has been an amazing experience and I’m genuinely excited to see where the industry is headed next year. After last week’s Game Awards, can’t say I’m not excited!
There are already some big changes in store for 2025, both in my career and my mindset. It feels like everything is moving in a direction I’ve been discussing throughout the past year. On that note, I’m thrilled to share that I’ll soon be leaving my full-time role at Sony Music to join Feel For Music as Director of New Business & Music Supervisor. As much as I’ve loved my time (and especially the people) at Sony Music, I can’t wait to get stuck into the new role in January.
Wishing you all a great holiday season—may it bring you your fair share of whatever makes you happiest! After the break, I’ll be dedicating time to my new role and likely picking up these posts again later in January. As always, my inbox is open if you want to chat, and I’ll be back in 2025 with more fresh takes, premonitions, and subtext deciphering than even Deckard Cain could handle.
For those curious about the journey so far, I’ve put together a summary of every post I’ve written this year, along with a short takeaway for each, because each post carries its own message.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Until 2025 <3
2024 TLDR:
Music and/or Gaming - Hi
Riot Games are becoming a record label - IP is king.
oh…so Fortnite Festival looks interesting - Epic Games are aiming to be the digital event space of the gaming world.
Fortnite Festival's potential...in the eyes of a music exec - Potential UMG partnership. Festival ‘career’ mode could work.
Needledrop - Halo 2 - Nile Rodgers as a genius producer made heavyweight excellent musical soundtrack decisions, leading to commercial success.
Why was Drake & Travis Scott playing Fortnite so important in Fortnite’s success? - Music has cultural capital. Big video games value this.
Creative music ideas for GTA VI (pt.1) - Rock Show - GTA VI could have a house party feature for emerging rock artists with template development.
Needledrop - Red Dead Redemption 2 - 1. D’angelo is amazing. 2. Storylines in and out of game are important music catalyst.
The Impact Of Background Music in Video Games - Categories of music placements in gaming can help determine ‘how’ to use it, or even valuation.
Needledrop - "Exile Vilify" by The National x Portal 2 - Secret in-game music has catalysed music fandom.
Roblox Music Partnership - My Thoughts - UMG’s Beat Galaxy review. ‘Be First, Or The Best’. Innovation or excellence wins.
Firewatch’s Boombox - Very cool interactive music use with contextual lore. I accidentally carried around a boombox to avoid fear/loneliness, and listened to a track multiple times.
Play-to-Win: Larian Studios' lessons for gaming partnerships - make great gaming experiences first and monetise second. Same for artists.
Max LL & 'Spiritfarer' - A Composer Analysis - Players wanting to replicate the ambience of a game in real life listen to game soundtracks.
Artists & Composers: Goals and the weight of the public eye - Composers work in projects, rather than ‘always-on’ inc. social media, which feels like a healthier, consistent way to be an artist beyond 2024.
TLDR: Games x Music Podcast feature (2.4.24) - Diving into categorisations and examples of music use in gaming.
The day & night dichotomy of Need For Speed: Heat's soundtrack - Example of game curating two opposing aesthetics using music.
Needledrop - 'Need For Speed: Underground 2' - 20 years on, excellent in-game music inclusions grow its commercial value through streaming numbers.
Creative Music Ideas for GTA VI (Pt.2) - Nightclubs - GTA’s dance musc influence & history can be curated into enriching in-game music experiences.
Hades is a beautiful game that reminded me that other things are ugly - Cosmetic achievements and music-related narratives are optional, artistic, and make for rewarding and replayble games.
Helldivers 2: Tips for hard-core community partnerships - Gaming fandom’s are unforgiving. Thorough research and thoughtful application are necessary for music partnerships.
Needledrop - 'Destiny 2' - Even a few quiet chords can have a significant impact when contextualized within a game.
Ronnie Radke could be a video game villain - Controversial musicians can thrive in gaming environments when applied correctly.
Gamemotifs - Recurring melodies and soundbites in games have a parallel value in popular culture (but are only indicators and not opportunities).
The Unseen Legacy of Y2K Gaming Music - Gaming experiences have exclusively inspired a generation of artists & decision-makers, embedding gaming culture into contemporary art and media.
Aesthetic music placements in games - Night-Runners - Smaller games can represent subcultures, offering niche artists a digital home
A Fresh Take: Reimagining Charli XCX’s 'BRAT' Campaign in Roblox - Upgrading the Roblox/Charli XCX’s collab by including an optomised lead up.
How to get anyone to listen to Kasabian - Video games can reach audiences traditional channels may miss.
Roblox's Brands Experience: My Thoughts - Using the latest ‘portal’ ad placements in Roblox to make a unique music scout event.
Needledrop - Outer Wilds - Games can use music as a storytelling tool.
Hunt: Showdown & The Port Sulphur Band - In-game music killing it out of game - Fandom beyond the game can be achieved when music becomes a separate but parallel tool.
TLDR: Music & Gaming interview with Eric Tan (8.10.24) - Music expression is transactional, but encouragement creates long term value…and other notes.
How video games can 'Encourage' Music - Fortnite Remix: The Prelude - Fortnite could promote development artists through smaller, narrative-driven in-game events.
Chill AF Music in chill AF games - ft. 'Satisfactory' - Games escape the infinity of Spotify’s music choice by curating music to match their aesthetic.