Xenon Odyssey Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 via Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/11/grammy-awards-to-formally-recognize-video-game-music-for-sever/ The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has altered four of its annual awards, making it clearer that video games can be nominated for the category. As IndustryGamers notes, although it's a minor alteration, it's a big deal that video games are getting equal recognition with film and television. The four awards amended by the Academy are: * The Music for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media) * Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media) * Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media) * Best Song Written for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media) Previously, video games fell under "other visual media." Bill Freimuth, VP of the awards for the academy, recognizes this as a first step for video games receiving its own category. "Many people from the game community have been asking us to create a special category for games over the years, but the main reason we haven't is because we have received very few entries from game publishers," he said. This year, Christopher Tin's "Baba Yetu" was the first piece of "video game music" to win a Grammy, though it was in a category that had nothing to do with visual arts and was given years after the work was originally composed for Civilization 4. Now all we have to do is shed the 'video games are for children' stigma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamphibious Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 It's about time. This is fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flare4War Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 This is big news for us. Congratulations VGM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I highly approve of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Now all we have to do is shed the 'video games are for children' stigma! That'll go with time. I mean in 10 years, the people running the world will mostly be people who grew up gaming. The only thing slowing us down is EA's marketing, which is in fact run by a board of children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BardicKnowledge Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 It's worth noting that along with mass acceptance (of which the Grammy award is representative) comes academic acceptance, as well -- games are increasingly the subject of academic study, which is positive for the industry. Look at Kiri Miller's work with GTA and Guitar Hero/Rock Band as a place to begin if anyone here has JSTOR access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinewav Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Understated, but this is a huge win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion5182 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Hot Damn. People are finally getting the message that the real talent is in VGM. Save a few things. I find most modern music today to be trash. Where music doesnt suck? Movie Soundtracks (Some movies not all) and Video Games. (Nickleback for a time gave me some hope but then they tanked.) Video Game soundtracks have given me hope that good real music still exists in the world. Its long overdue for this group to recognize the talent and quality of this music. Here's to Pixietricks's first Grammy and to many more to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekofrog Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 the grammys are bullshit so this doesnt really mean anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygecko Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 It's a shame it only happened after the music has largely blended together with film and TV music. Modern game music has largely lost its identity that set it apart from other media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I find most modern music today to be trash. At least I'm not the only one. The only modern music I listen to is The Protomen and other well built rock operas, (not that I won't listen to other stuff, it just doesn't catch my interest.) Everything else in my music library is either soundtracks, remixes, Daft Punk, and stuff from 10 to 40 years ago. IMO, the overuse of autotune really ruined the creative process for music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Rydell Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 via Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/11/grammy-awards-to-formally-recognize-video-game-music-for-sever/Now all we have to do is shed the 'video games are for children' stigma! It excites me that they are finally realizing that video game music is a form of creative expression. It has been a long time in coming, but I believe that is has been deserved since the invention of video games themselves. Even back in the 8-bit days, creative tunes were made to symbolize the games that weren't necessarily eye catching. It didn't change the facts of how much work was put into it. Nor does it change the fact that the music itself was memorable in addition to its creativeness. I say "Bravo." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidoff Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 At least I'm not the only one.The only modern music I listen to is The Protomen and other well built rock operas, (not that I won't listen to other stuff, it just doesn't catch my interest.) Everything else in my music library is either soundtracks, remixes, Daft Punk, and stuff from 10 to 40 years ago. IMO, the overuse of autotune really ruined the creative process for music. Chiming in to agree with you two. It's all classical and film/game soundtracks for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 the grammys are bullshit so this doesnt really mean anything I agree with that, but only about the very most popular categories like "Album of the Year". The majority of categories, like the ones in the OP, are just voted on by the Grammy membership as a whole - most of whom are indie artists. For certain categories, like those Chris Tin won in last year, there are special craft committees (like a judges panel) that are composed of experts. NOT major label people, NOT major artists, but individuals in various cities across the country who are nominated by fellow members to the task. In the committees, the panelists listen to EVERY entry very methodically. So, it's very fair. On the other hand, with "Best Album", there are like 1000 entries and nobody listens to all of them, so people just vote on whatever they liked anyway. That's why that category is meaningless imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZealPath Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 It's nice to see that this is in place now, I find myself wondering how many nominations will just be for more traditional orchestral soundtracks that would be easily comparable to a movie soundtrack (something like say Mass Effect 2) versus a soundtrack that is more "conventional" VGM, like say Super Meat Boy. It's a lot better than not having it acknowledged at all though, so it will be interesting to see where this goes and hopefully it can lead to a VGM-specific award as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinewav Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 At least I'm not the only one.The only modern music I listen to is The Protomen and other well built rock operas, (not that I won't listen to other stuff, it just doesn't catch my interest.) Everything else in my music library is either soundtracks, remixes, Daft Punk, and stuff from 10 to 40 years ago. IMO, the overuse of autotune really ruined the creative process for music. Even then, The Protomen go out of their way to craft a sound that sounds over 20 years old. 10 points for bringing them up though. But I have to respectfully disagree with you about autotune. I don't think it really ruined anything, so much as the overuse of autotune is a symptom of a lack of creativity. A lot of people in the 80s claimed synthesizers sucked the soul and the need for talent out of music. I remember a lot of my friends during the 90s throwing around words like "overproduced" and saying music was dying because it wasn't recorded in someone's garage. There's nothing inherently wrong with synths or 90s production techniques... but there will always be talentless hacks who abuse popular trends and leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. It's nice to see that this is in place now, I find myself wondering how many nominations will just be for more traditional orchestral soundtracks that would be easily comparable to a movie soundtrack (something like say Mass Effect 2) versus a soundtrack that is more "conventional" VGM, like say Super Meat Boy.It's a lot better than not having it acknowledged at all though, so it will be interesting to see where this goes and hopefully it can lead to a VGM-specific award as well. It probably will be mostly soundtracks like Mass Effect over Super Meat Boy, but isn't that how it is for movies too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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