Necessity of having experience

[Ravich]

I am wondering what, in addition to having a good demo, might be required for getting employed writing music for video games. That is, how necessary is it to have written music for independent games or having done some sort of (likely unpaid) internship.

Obviously this depends on the quality of one's demo and networking capabilities, but I'm trying to get a general sense of tendencies in the industry.

Let me know if you think this should go in a different forum.

[Nabeel Ansari]

That is, how necessary is it to have written music for independent games or having done some sort of (likely unpaid) internship.

That might be one of the most important parts. Don't quote me on this, but having a good and diverse portfolio should be a big MUST.

Or you can blackmail your potential employer.

I don't think it makes sense to rely on a little demo and a few connections to try and nail a job. It might work, but there's no reason not to try harder than that.

[dannthr]

I am wondering what, in addition to having a good demo, might be required for getting employed writing music for video games. That is, how necessary is it to have written music for independent games or having done some sort of (likely unpaid) internship.

Obviously this depends on the quality of one's demo and networking capabilities, but I'm trying to get a general sense of tendencies in the industry.

Let me know if you think this should go in a different forum.

There is nothing more important to the game industry than experience. The reason being that there is so much that happens during the game development process that almost completely unique to games.

Let me ask you this:

Aside from work itself, what differentiates you and someone working in games now?

Is your music writing up to par?

Is your music production up to par?

Do you understand how games are made?

Do you understand the role of music in a game?

Do you understand how to implement music in a game?

How quickly can you write and produce industry level quality music?

Moreover, how many days in a row can you sustain the process of writing music full time?

To an audio director, producer, or music supervisor, these questions are immediately answered with a work resume and if you don't have work experience, they are putting their neck on the line for you.

[ShadowBlade]

I've sent a lot of my stuff to video game companies big and small. A lot of companies just have their permanent audio people doing music. You're screwed if that's the case. Many companies specifically say on their websites that they don't accept unsolicited ideas. Demand for music composition for games seems kinda low.

I could be wrong, I can only speak from my own limited experience with the video game biz so I don't really know too much about it. But I'd say your absolute best bet to do music for games is to apply for some audio position at a company rather than just sending a demo. Of course, you usually require pretty high education plus re-locating for a job like that.

If you ain't an audio design guy or whatever. I'd say the next best bet is to become as well known as you can in general music and THEN send them your stuff. Hell, maybe they'll come to you.

[Nabeel Ansari]

You need to watch Zircon's MAGFest panel "Making Music: From Hobby to Profession"

They talk A LOT specifically about video game music and jobs and stuff.

[GarretGraves]

From what I'd imagine, you'd probably have to (like everything else in life) start out small time and then work your way up to BIG TIME!

An ideal situation I think would be to have a friend who works on an indie game refer you onto the project. That's a foot in the door. So networking seems like one way to get around. But as they said earlier, demand I guess is low for composers in the VG industry.

A friend of mine, who use to work at Ready at Dawn Studios and has credit on God of War for PSP, is still trying to get his own project off the ground. And when he does, I'm the first person he's gonna turn to for sound and music.

...can I DO the job you ask? HAHA!...no. no I can't. BUT! In that ideal situation, there's less pressure and more room to learn the process.

I'm kinda talkin outta my ass here, but it seems like a way in. right?

[LuIzA]

I am wondering what, in addition to having a good demo, might be required for getting employed writing music for video games. That is, how necessary is it to have written music for independent games or having done some sort of (likely unpaid) internship.

I got my job pretty much just because of my mixes posted throughout the net. Never got a cent for any of them, but I'd say, like dannthr already mentioned, you do have to have the ability of making industry level stuff in a short time.

Both myself and the company I work for are starting out, so I don't (yet) make enough money to sustain myself from this job alone, but that's the way it goes.

[Nabeel Ansari]

From what I'd imagine, you'd probably have to (like everything else in life) start out small time and then work your way up to BIG TIME!

An ideal situation I think would be to have a friend who works on an indie game refer you onto the project. That's a foot in the door. So networking seems like one way to get around. But as they said earlier, demand I guess is low for composers in the VG industry.

A friend of mine, who use to work at Ready at Dawn Studios and has credit on God of War for PSP, is still trying to get his own project off the ground. And when he does, I'm the first person he's gonna turn to for sound and music.

...can I DO the job you ask? HAHA!...no. no I can't. BUT! In that ideal situation, there's less pressure and more room to learn the process.

I'm kinda talkin outta my ass here, but it seems like a way in. right?

Networking helps, but it won't get you in by itself. It's the one thing you should worry the least about. Why? You can get recommended for something, but what about doing the job well? What about making quality music?

Having experience is the most important part, and I don't mean just "I worked on an indie game hire me because I'm your best choice".

I mean you really need to make industry-standard quality music, like dannthr and LuIza have been saying. And yes, networking too, because you need to have people vouch for you. You also need credits ("I worked on this, this and this").

But before you even start looking for jobs, make sure you can give positive answers to the questions Dannthr posed before.

Do you have talent? If you do, you have a way better chance of nailing a job, but you need to have previously shown that talent in other places; because as dannthr said, they'd be putting their neck on the line for you if you "kinda sorta" have some experience with working on game projects before.

EDIT:

Or you can be 15 years old and be the only composer your computer sci genius friend and his pals who want to make a game know, in which case you're just god damn lucky.

And/or worrying if it'll actually take off or not, but hey, if it's something for my-*AHEM*your portfolio, you take what you can get even if it doesn't pay, no matter how small or unrealistic the project.

Unless you're poor, then you really just wanna stick with the realistic stuff.

[dannthr]

Networking is vital.

It's really important to form trusting relationships with the people who may hire you, but as a freelancer, you will find that networking will also assist you in getting work when you're not writing for games.

For example, I will get hired to do arranging or production for other composers, and I will hire other composers as instrumentalists on my own work.

Work is shared when your friends get work.

It's also important to make friends with people just starting out. You may find yourself elevating WITH those people as you grow in the industry.

[Nabeel Ansari]

It's also important to make friends with people just starting out. You may find yourself elevating WITH those people as you grow in the industry.

The entire post is true, but I'm QFE this specific part.

I find myself offering music services to any one in my school wanting to make a short film or game, even though we're only in high school and the projects are all extremely low budget. The credits and portfolio additions are the rewards in and of themselves, and will PROBABLY HELP A LOT when I'm actually looking for paid work/ big multimillion dollar game projects.