Let's make a soundtrack for your indie game

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Reading the whole thing before you contact me will make this process quicker and easier for both of us.

I was that odd kid who would put in the code to get to the BGM select screen in a game, like Sonic 2 or Golden Sun, and listen to that instead of buying music. When I did acquire music, it was sound tracks. TV show themes and the soundtrack to the Mortal Kombat movie got a lot of play.

That isn't to say I only listen to soundtracks (proof!), but I like listening to them, and I like making them.

Major inspirations include:

Some demos I put together:

First, an ambient track ideal for a title screen.

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Title Ambiance
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And a chiptune-inspired track.

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Super Waterpark 64 Advance
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You can see more of my music on Bandcamp.

Before we start...

If this is your first time thinking about commissioning video game music, you can save yourself time and trouble and money by having a solid idea of what you want first. This usually takes the form of a music brief.

If you already have a music brief and this stuff is old hat to you, you can just send that on and I'll let you know if I can take the project with an estimate of cost. See below for pricing and contact information.

Making a music brief

This is highly recommended because the fee is non-refundable if we get to the point where you've paid me half the project rate to make an outline from your music brief and you decide to go with someone else or not commission music at all.

This stuff will come up either way!

Write a sentence or two each about:

  • Genre. This has the most influence on the character of the music. Synthwave/DnB fusion works for a cyberpunk-themed FPS, but might struggle to fit in as an adventure RPG overworld soundtrack.
  • Planned length. Is this a short experimental game or a sprawling adventure? There's often a clash between how much budget there is for music and how much the project scope requires. If you have a 120 hour game and budget for unique music for every area, that's great! Most game developers will need to figure out how to fill 10-20 hours of gameplay with a few minutes of music.
  • Style of gameplay. Action-oriented, turn-based, bullet hell, etc. For example: action oriented benefits from context-dependent music like encounters with enemies (example) and NPCs (example) that fades in and out with the ambient music. Bullet hell scrolling shooters benefit from long, powerful loops that drive the action (example).
  • Style of game. Top-down, platform, 3D, etc.
  • Budget. Ranges from a tiny amount of music you can stretch across a whole game without it getting boring to a full sound track for every level with variations.
  • Experience working on games. For example: first time, seasoned industry veteran striking out on their own. This tends to have a direct correlation with realistic project scale.
  • Timeline. How long can you wait from initial consult to delivery? This can affect how much music is actually possible, how much it costs, or if the musician can even take the project.

Now, using what you figured out above, go through each level, scenario, encounter, etc and make a list of what you want. Here's a template:

Genre:

Mood:

Instruments:

References:

Also note how much music you want, and how much you want allocated to each thing.

Be as specific as you can with each one. "Orchestral" and "dark," for example, are way too broad for genre and mood. This is where reference songs, preferably in the form of YouTube videos, help a lot. Point out any specific instruments or sections you like with time indexes. You should have some of the game made already, so send some footage of that too.

Pricing

  • $200 (USD) per minute of music. Comes with a license to use it in games, videos, podcasts, and streams.
  • (addon) $100 (USD) per minute for stems. These are licensed for creating music for use within your game engine. Ideal for games with minimal music budget.

I reserve the option to make and sell a soundtrack album or create tracks for inclusion with albums. This does not include copyright assignment.

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Music rights are worth a lot, far more than I can realistically charge most developers. The prices here are a compromise: you get music for your game without blowing the budget, and I retain the rights for stuff like posting tracks on social media, remixing, and selling.

The Process

This is what follows after we agree on the price and brief and I send you an invoice detailing it.

Getting Started

  • [ ] Initial payment (half of total project cost). We'll start out with invoices payable by PayPal or debit card. If we end up working together often or on a big project, I can send invoices with support for direct bank transfers to avoid payment processing fees.
  • [ ] I'll turn your music brief into a rough (text) outline of the song(s) with all the major elements. This is the first of two opportunities to make big changes.

Draft

  • [ ] I'll send you a quick, rough version. This is the second and last opportunity to make big changes.
  • [ ] I'll send you the final draft. You can request two minor revisions at this stage.
  • [ ] Final payment (other half)
  • [ ] Delivery of files.

Send an email to kye@kyefox.com