Phonetic Hero   Members

Whether or not this is ethical as far as OCR's relationship with the artists who have submitted this music, to me, is secondary to the concern that this is kind of damaging the good case we had for Fair Use as far as arranging copyrighted material and releasing it publicly unlicensed.
It seems silly to me to equate website ads to YouTube ads. Website ads are driven by traffic to the OCR website/forums, and the mix write-ups. On YouTube, the ad revenue is generated directly from the content that users are consuming. The ad is tied to consumption; when a user consumes the content on YT by hitting play, ad revenue is generated. It's monetizing the content itself. To me this isn't really subjective, if you look at it in terms of the actions the user takes that lead to these systems logging the transactions. (Of course there is an extent to which the evaluation of whether something is subjective/objective is in and of itself subjective)
Besides personally feeling like an outdated submission policy has kind of been invoked on us artists, dormant patent troll style, to make it "okay" for OCR to do this because they're "covered" (I personally don't mind for my music because I'm invested in this community), I'm not sure why this isn't considered downright illegal. This music is not licensed, and should not be generating revenue; site revenue should come completely from donations, because OCR is (or at least approaches in spirit) a non-profit organization.
Submission policy notwithstanding, I also feel artists should get appropriate portion of revenue. My music is creating money, why aren't I getting that money? Is it because paying me makes it legally inconvenient? Well, that, but also, it's because OCR doesn't have the technical infrastructure to organize the payouts to artists like that. And so that makes for two reasons why it shouldn't be done; it's monetizing unlicensed music and it's ethically "wrong" to not give people a piece of the pie for their hard work (and OCR literally can't do so even if they decided to because of resources).
And because the policy protects OCR to not have to pay artists at all, I think the policy is too ambiguous and needs revision to match the climate of today's internet musical consumption models (streaming and such).
On the other Spotify thread, I proudly said that OCR isn't trying to "fly under the radar" with anything we do, but I feel there's a strong case for this monetization being illegal, and now it's starting to look like we *are* flying under the radar, especially because DJP had stated one of the main points of the experiment was to see if anyone noticed it was being done.
 
As far as Brandon Strader's opening sentiment, I think it's baseless, and insults the intelligence and collective intentions of the staff, as much as similar opinions were shared when Super Audio Cart was released or when the FF6 Kickstarter went up.

SEQUENCE BREAKER

Happy 30th birthday, Metroid!!  I've been working for the last half year on a few original tracks to pay homage to one of my favorite series in the most unique way I can.  The tracks heavily emulate the sound choices of Metroid Prime, my favorite game in the series, to give the listener something familiar but also something new.  Thanks for listening

From the album notes:
" "Sequence Breaker" is my personal love letter to the Metroid series, encapsulating the wonderment inspired by the striking beauty of the games' environments and introspective storytelling. The soundscapes in each track were chosen - and often created from scratch - to heavily emulate the music from Metroid Prime, my favorite game in the series, while keeping each piece unique to me as a composer. Every melody, chord progression, and percussive hit was crafted with a deep love, and I truly hope you enjoy this impassioned tribute to an amazing series as much as I enjoyed creating it! 

Each original composition was inspired by specific pieces, moments, environments, or characters in the Metroid series. Some are fairly overt, others less so. Since creating a consistent and enveloping atmosphere is so crucial to the series' emotional conveyance, each track was designed with the same sense of sentient world-building. My goal was to enable the listener to create their own narrative as the album progresses, walking through familiar worlds or exploring new ones in their mind's eye. 

Above all else, this release is a gift to Metroid fans everywhere, including myself. Please enjoy the first installment of what will assuredly be an ongoing project, with many more releases in the future!"

Pete

Surprised there wasn't already a thread for this, but happy 30th birthday, Metroid!!  This series means so much to me, and Metroid Prime in particular is one of my favorite games ever.  Anyone doing anything to celebrate today?  I'm working my way through AM2R, the fan remake of Metroid 2 with my roommate - the full version FINALLY released today after years of hard work and the game is seriously amazing, highly recommended!

Any favorite games from the series, or even more specifically, moments from games?  I probably have too many to list, but a couple for me are:
First stepping foot in the Chozo Ruins in Metroid Prime and having the camera pan around to show the abandoned temple structures Pretty much anything to do with avoiding the SA-X when it's revealed how powerful it is and knowing you're no match If anyone's got any fan works, I'd love to see/hear them!  I've been hard at work myself over the past 6 months or so, putting together a few original tracks to try to capture what the series means to me (made a separate thread for it, if anyone's interested).  If you've made anything to celebrate Metroid recently (or maybe not so recently!), post it up!

I'm celebratin' by playing Prime again and @timaeus222 and I are working on a positively sick follow up to our 2013 Metroid ReMix.

Thanks a lot dude!  The percussion in the Metroid Prime OST is very much at the forefront of its tunes as a result of all its unique timbres, so it seemed like a natural fit for me to try to emulate.  It definitely wasn't easy and I really had to push myself, but overall I'm really happy with how things turned out.  

I have to agree that the execution is probably better on the other two tracks than on the opener.  Hatchling is such an ambitious track, I really wish I had more time to sit with it and massage it a bit more to smooth out pieces of the structure and round the edges on some of the percussion.  But hey, at least I've got loads of thematic material to work with for future installments!

Even considering the deadlines and unfortunately having to rush things a little toward the end, I'm very happy with how all the tracks turned out.  This has been by far the most personally fulfilling music I've ever released, and I'm looking forward to doing more Sequence Breaker releases in the future

I said it earlier, but man, this is your best work yet! You definitely nailed the Metroid vibe, while still retaining your highly-percussive style. You've also really improved on your orchestral work in general, relying less on well-written percussion and presenting a more balanced package overall. It does seem like the percussion parts might have been the thing that significantly kept your inspiration going to write such long tracks (I usually have a hard time writing something longer than 4 minutes by myself), but hey, it worked out.
I think my favorite track is "Sentinel", as it had a great balance between atmosphere and compositional merit.

Just finished all of AM2R -- what a ride!  Some thoughts now that I'm done (with 94%, incidentally -- will look for the last things on my next playthrough):
First off, there are no real surprises until the 2nd area -- the first area where you get bombs and other starting items looks very nice, but doesn't immediately signal how much of a departure the remake is from the original.  Easing players into it is probably for the best, and it works.  Once you enter into Area 2's water stuff though, you know you're in for a treat.  Metroid II was often cited as the most atmospheric of the games for good reason, and I love that it keeps its potential to scare you if you wander too quickly inside a breeding ground.  The new mechanics -- especially the underwater zone and the electrified walls that prevented weapons fire -- were very well done.
Alpha Metroids are vastly improved, and it's nice that there are two clear variations of them now.  Gammas are bigger without requiring significantly different tactics, though the new moves they have are awesome (if easily avoided).  Zetas and Omegas -- holy cow, what great stuff.  I never did settle into a good pattern with Zeta Metroids, and instead just unloaded a ton, haha.  I don't want to spoil too much, but almost all of the new bosses (and returning ones from Fusion) are excellent as well.  I thought the optional boss above the mineshaft (come back with power bombs!) could have used one more attack pattern, but otherwise everything was stellar.  
The single best moment was an unexpected scripted event that caused a moment of sheer panic on my part -- absolutely brilliant design decision.  Won't say any more there, as I imagine I will not be the only one wracked with nervousness.
I'd place this right next to Zero Mission for quality, though it's worth noting that I did not encounter either of the large bugs (one after a suit upgrade, one after the Queen fight) that some people have reported.

Surprised there wasn't already a thread for this, but happy 30th birthday, Metroid!!  This series means so much to me, and Metroid Prime in particular is one of my favorite games ever.  Anyone doing anything to celebrate today?  I'm working my way through AM2R, the fan remake of Metroid 2 with my roommate - the full version FINALLY released today after years of hard work and the game is seriously amazing, highly recommended!

Any favorite games from the series, or even more specifically, moments from games?  I probably have too many to list, but a couple for me are:
First stepping foot in the Chozo Ruins in Metroid Prime and having the camera pan around to show the abandoned temple structures Pretty much anything to do with avoiding the SA-X when it's revealed how powerful it is and knowing you're no match If anyone's got any fan works, I'd love to see/hear them!  I've been hard at work myself over the past 6 months or so, putting together a few original tracks to try to capture what the series means to me (made a separate thread for it, if anyone's interested).  If you've made anything to celebrate Metroid recently (or maybe not so recently!), post it up!

Happy 30th, Metroid series. As much as I enjoy this series, I'mma release a relatively unknown arrangement of Sandy Maridia that I did ages ago for some Metroid orchestration project unrelated to OCR. It was made in Sibelius, so be gentle to the instrument quality, lol.
Enjoy the gift.
Also, AM2R is absolutely balls-out amazing, and everyone who enjoys any of the 2D metroid games should give it a go. It lives up to the hype, and then some.

My favorite Metroid is... Fusion.
I know, I know, it's the evil bastard child (for some reason) but it's one of the few Metroid games I really enjoyed. I've played it at least eight times since I got the GBA cart back in 2002 and on my 3DS (Ambassador, baby!), whereas the rest of the series is pretty much one playthrough and I'm done with it.
Prime? Completed the first one, almost finished the second never completed the third.
Original and Super? Tried them... never really got into them. Though Super Metroid had some pretty good music.
Metroid 2 on the GameBoy is a part of my collection, even if it's only something I've played a few times. Pretty good for the hardware and the screen limitations, as they used a huge sprite for Samus.
If only one game out of an entire series can make me keep playing it, then that series has done something right, regardless of the rest.
Thanks for some good times, Samus.

That remake is amazing. Kinda makes me mad that Nintendo gave up on 2D Metroid.

My favorite series for over 20 years.  I celebrated by making a new song based on the Metroid Prime battle XD
 

Very excited for this...not only did I get one of my favourite tracks of all time before it was snatched up...but I'm hoping to get the jazz collective involed as well. So great to see such enthusiasm for a game that is commonly regarded as a flop by critics. The ost on this game is second to none. 

give me "the castle" thank you

Something is very wrong with this post, here...
 
Y'know, Liberi Fatali is a very crucial track for the album. I think making it into a super collab centerpiece for the album would be a very good idea (something like Black Metamorphosis for the FFVII album years back). I may regret it later, but I'd be super on board with helping on a collaboration of that nature for that track, Heaven permitting.

Love this game's OST, looking forward to hearing the result  gl everyone

Really enjoyed the movie and I will probably see it again when it's available to see at home. Several others have shared my opinion on the movie, which is that it tries too hard to be an episode 4 reboot for it to be truly great. But this is the Star Wars movie we need right now though, something to set the tone for the new trilogy, to wash out the bad taste of the prequels. They can save greatness for ep 8.
The acting was better than it needed to be, which was nice (Ridley in particular was excellent), and the special effects were great. My complaints are pretty few and minor - some of the jokes didn't land, and the movie was slightly too overstuffed for me. I think it could have done with one or two fewer characters, and a couple scenes went too quickly for me to really appreciate what was happening. It's not like A New Hope didn't have problems with its script and story either. Ep 7 would easily be a direct post if I were a movie judge.
I'm super excited about Rian Johnson writing and directing the next one. Looper was a dark, innovative take on a well-worn sci-fi concept, and I'd love to see what he can do with this well-worn universe. If they are following the spirit of the original trilogy (if not the actual plot), he seems like the right director to do the Empire Strikes Back reboot.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. As if the Skywalkers were the only force sensitives in the entire bleeding galaxy.

the prequels make it pretty clear that force sensitivity isn't heriditary 

Yeah I agree, I didn't even know she was supposed to have a bigger part until I read stuff after seeing the movie lol.  Hopefully she's brought back and more interesting in the next episodes.
I think my biggest concern for the trilogy at this point is that Rey will end up being a Skywalker. I really, reeeaaally don't want that to happen.  I know everyone's expecting something along those lines, but it's just soooo cheesy.  And the message kinda ends up being something along the lines of "you're a useless piece of shit unless you're a Skywalker"

Spoiler Alert. James Bond is a stormtrooper. lol

 

Man does no one remember that Kylo Ren was dealing with a fucking blaster wound during the last battle scene...?

"HOW COME HE SUCK SO BAD"

I'd probably fight like garbage too if I'd been fucking SHOT and was trying to like.. not bleed out, on top of dealing with what I assume is a lot of pain

This is the only dueling scene in the entire movie, and he has a handicap.  Of course he's going to fight like shit.  On top of that, we have no idea how extensive his training has been, and it makes it seem like he's had hardly any formal force training and is instead just very force adept.  I don't find this super hard to believe, since he's fully aware of his lineage and knows that the jedi/sith/force aren't just myths.  There are plenty of people who are good at something with minimal (formal) training because they're aware of their affinity for it and have fostered their talents.  There are plenty of musicians who fit the bill right here  

Why would you want a "heroic character"? Heroism is a one-dimensional concept. People are complicated.  It's refreshing to see a story that isn't about someone wanting to save the universe just because it's the right thing to do. We've gotten quite enough of those over the last... forever in storytelling.
The exact questions you ended this thought with are why the characters are good. Because they're not the same old "save the world" heroes. "Save the world" heroes are uninteresting, aren't thought-provoking, and are incredibly predictable. Rey's character is interesting because while she seems to be a good person we don't really know the extent to which she's willing to put out for the cause. That's her defining flaw. Flaws in character define good characters. We don't understand her, because she has more complex motivations than "i must save the galaxy from darth kysnorenkolo", and this is the first act of her character progression.
A lack of one-dimensional heroism in the movie isn't a problem. In fact, Luke Skywalker had similar flaws. He was always willing to help, but he wasn't doing it because he really cared, he was doing it because he thought he had to. The Empire Strikes Back addresses his doubt and lack of genuineness on Dagobah. Yoda shows Luke through his training his lack of resolve and made him think hard about what he was doing and why he was doing it. And you know what? He fucks up and leaves his training incomplete because he gets worried about Leia and Han. Then he fights Vader, and because of his fear and his incomplete training, he gets his hand cut off and is overwhelmed by the emotion of learning Vader is his father. The Empire Strikes Back is such a good movie because everyone loses, and it's all Luke's fault because he put himself and his friends before the greater good. That's not "heroic".

i loved it. i thought kylo's performance was stellar - he's not some implacable foe (which we didn't need more of), he's this deeply conflicted dude who is not necessarily the strongest of jedi, or even the strongest dude. i mean, look at him, he looks like he should be cashiering at a discount shoe store, and he's trying to live up to this galactic badass. his acting was fantastic, if you recognize that being awkward and difficult to get along with and riding the struggle bus emotionally is good acting  (in this case, it totally was).
i love the concept of finn's character, as well as rey. i like that there wasn't one major character who realizes that they're going to save the galaxy and becomes awesome just in time to suck in the sequel. finn's groundwork is set for him to eventually be a hero, but they didn't need to make him blossom in this film, and that'll make it better when he eventually does. and rey's just phenomenal. great acting, great character, great job fitting the role and the actress, etc. i don't think it's strange at all that she was able to pick up concepts of the force quickly (it's not like they had her creating a lightsaber from scratch, the concept of imprinting your will on someone else is something everyone wishes for and 'practices' from young childhood), or that she was good at dueling since she had the stick and was obviously trained at it. once she remembered to draw from the force - which, according to ep 5, comes as naturally as breathing to someone who has the potential - her actions were fluid, defined, and not desperate at all. conceptually difficult to render on a screen but i'm sure that a well-written book would be able to make that be clearer without assistance.
someone else mentioned how lived-in the world felt. i think that's a great way of putting where the initial series succeeded and the prequels failed. they were so sterile, and here it was much more realistic that the areas had existed for a long time.
i loved it. i want to watch several more of it. i wish my thread (which started on thursday night!) was the main star wars thread though