A treasure trove of interactivity, connectivity, and subtle advertising for the music and film industries
For a long time, music has formed an integral part of the gaming experience, but now, it is becoming a highly commercial and profitable avenue that even the music and film industries are exploring and leaning more into.
Billboard noted that the gaming industry itself is a billion-dollar business, which was projected to surpass $200 billion in the past year, more than the film and music industries revenues put together. However, it has not been so easy for the gaming industry to integrate with the complex workings of the music industry.
According to Vickie Nauman, founder/CEO of the Los Angeles-based boutique music tech consulting and advisory firm CrossBorderWorks, this and the creation of original music compositions tailored to gaming, is because of the many copyright and monetary hurdles that the gaming industry would have to sort through trying to access already produced music from the music industry.
She observed, “Gaming studios hired composers to create original compositions rather than stumble through the morass of music rights or risk giving up too big a share of revenue…” However, she also pointed out that many young people who are gamers, will likely purchase music products, such as music subscriptions and music concert tickets.
She says, “…The same young fans who are playing games and socializing online will be buying concert tickets, artist merch and music subscriptions as they age. Older generations may not completely understand it, but inserting music and artists into these worlds and communities is also an investment in the future of our business. We know a well-placed soundtrack or artist activation can enhance the experience and differentiate a game, but the gaming community can also boost awareness of the music in turn.”
Added to this, there is considerable diversity in the age range of gamers spanning across Baby Boomers to Gen-Z.
Surprisingly, Gen-X, who have considerable spending power, are among some of the most engaged gamers, with 1/4 of all gamers coming from that generation, which is the same ratio for Gen-Z gamers, according to that same report.
It is also interesting to note that there are a wide variety of music genres that gamers enjoy listening to, and though the most popular genres are Hip-Hop for Gen-Z and Rock for Gen-X, it doesn’t mean that gamers do not explore new music past those genres.
Country music, for example, has become one popular genre with 40% of gamers, including millennials, and Gen-Z, listening to it. This also translates into their spending choices, with many of even the younger listeners contributing to the resurge of vinyl album purchases in recent years. Other popular music genres with younger gamers also include EDM & K-Pop, while for older gamers, it includes Bollywood, World, and Americana music.
Remarkably, this variety in music tastes translates across gender and social media use as well.
Female gamers engage with music 10% more than male gamers according to an MRC Data report. This coincides with their more frequent use of different social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, making it more likely for them to come across new music and artists than their male counterparts.
Most gamers say that they discover new music through gaming, and according to a Luminate report, gamers are 14% more likely to invest money in music streaming services, and 19% of gamers spend more across music categories than a typical music listener. However, young gamers say that they are not finding it as easy to find the music they hear and like in games outside the gaming environment.
Nonetheless, subtle marketing opportunities for the music industry are being discovered within the world of music gaming.
One form that this has taken is holding virtual music concerts within games, and according to IFPI data in 2022, 44% of gamers have watched a virtual concert.
In these interactive concerts, the audience can actively participate in gaming with the music artist, while enjoying an immersive musical experience at the same time from the comfort of their homes, and perhaps purchasing some merch and further music projects connected with the artists.
Though the concept did exist before, its potential came into sharper focus with DJ Marshmello’s concert in 2019 on Fortnite, which was attended by more than 10.7 million viewers. The growth of music artists using the medium of gaming to connect with new audiences, as well as parts of their current audiences that enjoy gaming, was accelerated even further during the Covid lockdown in 2020.
Notable concerts include rapper Travis Scott’s on Fortnite in 2020, where he debuted his new song at the time ‘Astronomical’. His concert drew in 45 million viewers.
Pop artist Ariana Grande broke Scott’s record a year later, with 78 million viewers participating in her ‘Rift Out’ Tour held on the Fortnite platform in 2021.
Fortnite also recently held a live event hosted by Epic Games on December 2nd of this past year, (2023) dubbed ‘Big Bang’ to unveil some new additions to the popular battle royale game, featuring a musical performance by rapper Eminem.
The queue to get in (mainly because of the live interactive elements that were part of Eminem’s featured performance), was so long that many players missed out on the live event though they logged in early as per recommendation from Epic Games.
Some of those who were not able to participate live voiced their disappointment at missing out on the interactivity that comes with the live experience , noting that though the recording was made available after the event, the feeling while watching it was not the same, according to a New York Times report.
This trend of holding music concerts in gaming environments also runs across genres, as exemplified by K-pop girl group Blackpink’s anticipated December 26th virtual concert in partnership with The Diamond Bros and Meta, for which they had released a trailer.
Interestingly, this concert was set to have a longer run-time (70 min) than the aforementioned concerts according to Billboard.
This exploration of live music gaming concerts has worked out in financial profit, such as in sales of merch, as well in the streaming and even purchasing numbers for these popular artists.
Travis Scott’s streaming numbers jumped up to 60m within two weeks of that 2020 concert, as well as his digital album sales by 229%. He also earned about $20 million for the concert itself, including from the merchandise sold within the concert experience. This was more than Scott had earned at individual concert dates on his live, and in-person Astroworld tour which brought in just under $1 million according to NME.
Ariana Grande reportedly earned more than $20 million from her Fortnite concert.
Other gaming platforms such as Roblox have also explored integrating music concerts within the gaming environment, with the same success.
Another interesting avenue in the gaming world that music artists are also utilizing is live-streaming game platforms such as Twitch. The purpose is to engage with their fans, while simultaneously premiering, and/or promoting their new music releases.
American singer Tori Kelly, for example premiered the music video for her new single ‘Cut’ off her mini-EP ‘Tori’ for her fans on her Twitch channel just before releasing it on YouTube back in August of 2023.
She did the same for her collaborative remake with Deegan (the writer and original artist) of the song ‘You & Me Makes Us,’ the theme song of the ‘Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story’ for Riot Forge (the publishing side of Riot Games) this past December.
Famous music composers who have also worked in film and TV have and still are wading into these waters of original music composition specifically for gaming. Renowned music composer Hans Zimmer, for example, contributed the main theme of the soundtrack for the highly successful game, 2009’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.” The game went on to garner more than $1 billion in sales, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
There are also composers who are primarily known for their musical contributions to gaming, such as Japanese composer Koji Kondo. He composed most of the music for the video game company Nintendo, which created among others, the commercially profitable (Super) Mario franchise.
The music for that franchise is generally considered to be one of the most ear-catching and rememberable in gaming music, and though it utilized a mix of various genres, Kondo himself prefers not to box it under any particular music genre.
The soundtrack of the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie that was adapted from the Super Mario game franchise, was scored by American music composer Brian Tyler. It was primarily a remix incorporating many of Kondo’s music themes from the series with some new additions, to widespread acclaim.
This film adaptation itself smashed different records at the box office, a markedly different result to its predecessor in 1993.
Another positive step in the direction of fostering the relationship between the film, gaming, and music industries, is that music composed for gaming, and composers of music tailored to gaming, are gaining recognition at the mainstream music award level outside the gaming industry.
This is much to the delight and excitement of those who have advocated for music gaming to be rewarded as distinct from other musical creations for film and TV.
One example is the Grammy Awards. The only previously Grammy-nominated game was ‘Journey’ in 2013, the music score of which was predominantly worked on by composer Austin Wintory, but it was only included in the established category of ‘Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media,’ which also honours music in films, TV, and other visual media, leaving it stiff competition to climb up against.
It eventually did not win, with the 2013 award going to the film soundtrack ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
However, last year, for the first time in Grammy Award history, a separate category (‘Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media’) was created to spotlight composers of music for gaming.
Brian Schmidt the president of the Game Audio Network Guild responded to the news, “I’m thrilled to see the Recording Academy recognize game music as the unique art form that it is with its new…category. This is great news for game composers and music lovers alike.”
Gordy Haab, a composer who has notably worked on music for games created from the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, likewise praised the move noting that, “… music composed for games is as strong, important and groundbreaking as any…equally in its composition, performance, production and impact on its audience of billions.”
He further continues “…Games have a unique challenge that film, and television do not, which is to not only enhance emotionally the media it’s for — but also be completely interactive…art that is crafted so that it evolves in real time…for this alone it should be judged on its own merits and recognized for its greatness and unique contribution to the art of music-making.”
The Assassin’s Creed ‘Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok,’ soundtrack, composed by Stephanie Economou won at the 65th Grammy Awards.
This new category has been continued at the 66th Grammy Awards (2024), with the nominations having been announced November 10th, 2023. Among the nominations are music composed for ‘Call Of Duty®: Modern Warfare II,’ & ‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor .’
The winner will be announced at the awards, to be held February 4th, 2024.
Though progress in bringing these powerhouse industries together has been steadily slow, it does seem the main groundwork has been laid for a business-savvy and flourishing relationship.
The future expansion of this ambitious endeavour seems to depend now on more strategic collaboration & cooperation between individual creatives and associated corporations within the gaming, music, and film industries, and a willingness to draw creative and forward-thinking ideas from the marketing strengths, and immersive power of each.