Lord KJWilliams
Member
Ive always wanted to know the difference between getting into the video game industry as a game programmer versus getting into the music industry as a music artist. I am into both fields, but I am more familiar with what I have been told as a musician , on what it takes to get into the music industry. However as a game programmer ( or simply a programmer ), I have no idea what it takes to get your game noticed in the game industry.
Heres what I know about getting into the music industry, because I want to know if musicians have the same hardship as game programmers , in the context of getting "noticed".
Before the age of youtube and before the age of internet, publishing games and publishing music was a hard road. At the time I was into composing my music, my talents as programmer were limited and I did not investigate the problems of publishing video games, because the issue did not cross my mind.
My period of time that I refer to learning this, comes from the middle to late 1980s , early 1990s perhaps...
In this period of time for musician in the USA, getting into the music industry, required getting noticed by a representative of a ( big name ) record company. This involves the practice of getting noticed and by what artists referred to ( in this time ) as,"Coughing Up Blood" to achieve this. Why is it called coughing up blood? Because in order to get noticed, you have to sacrifice your music or art that you have worked on for long periods of time for nothing. No payment or compensation. This where the phrase "starving artists" comes from. Your at the bottom of the ropes and your competing with other artists to get noticed , regardless if you play the same style of music they do, or not.
The two ways that music artists used to get noticed....
Going from nightclub to nightclub to play music so that you could gain an audience. The more often you went from nightclub to nightclub to play music, the more likely that someone from a record company would notice you. You have to gain attraction, from people who like your music. If no one knows who you are, or no one likes your music, then no one is going to buy your music. This is where coughing up blood comes in, your booking agent takes a cut, and you and your band gets very little in terms of money to sustain your profession.
The second way, was to send in a cassette tape to the representative to who is in charge of finding new bands to publish. This person was called the A.R. representative ( or Audio Repertoire or AR ). Basically the AR rep, would receive hundreds of tape cassettes each month to review, and when they got to your tape to listen to, there is two things that they would do. Attention span of a AR rep for listening to music is a few seconds ( lets say 10 to 15 seconds ), if your music on that tape you sent in didn't get their attention, they would take your tape, smash it , and throw it away. Some AR rep who go on the road, would take your tape from their car's tape cassette player and throw it out the window while driving. The other thing they did, is If they did like your music, you would be contacted by letter, which is what you wanted. Hopefully good things happen , but not always.
The other thing that musicians have to do, is copyright the music by registering it before sending it out
to be heard, and join a musician union to protect their rights to royalties when their music is played on the radio. ASCAP and BMI are the most popular known unions for musicians to join. From there on as musician , you really need a lawyer, to help navigate yourself through setting up a contract with the record company who is going to publish your music.
This is what I know from what I learned about this industry in the 1980s.
The year is now 2019......
Now we have the internet, and we have youtube, and we have independent CD / DVD producers ( such as disc makers ) where you send in your master and they print out as many copies as you want, for a cost.
If you want to get noticed, just put your music up on youtube. You want to sell it, go to iTunes or even better, Amazon. You don't even have to publish a physical hard copy of your music on a medium to sell to anyone,
they can just buy and download it.
The internet has made advantages for the entertainment industry, especially for music and video games.
Thats what I know, as far I can recall......
Now what about the video game industry?
I have no clue what it takes for a video game programmer to get into the video game industry. In this
context, I am talking about video games for computers such as the games you make with GMS. The other two kinds of video games that I know of are for game consoles ( such as Playstation, Switch, and Xbox ), and
the standup arcade cabinets that you put coins in to play ( like the original Spy Hunter by Bally Midway ).
Do video game programmers have the same hardship that music artists do in getting noticed , even if they publish their game on steam?
Is there anything similar in this process that music artists have with video games programmers in the entertainment business?
Is one profession harder than the other, in the long run?
Do programmers have to worry about something like royalties, like musicians do with their music, when their music is played on the radio?
Heres what I know about getting into the music industry, because I want to know if musicians have the same hardship as game programmers , in the context of getting "noticed".
Before the age of youtube and before the age of internet, publishing games and publishing music was a hard road. At the time I was into composing my music, my talents as programmer were limited and I did not investigate the problems of publishing video games, because the issue did not cross my mind.
My period of time that I refer to learning this, comes from the middle to late 1980s , early 1990s perhaps...
In this period of time for musician in the USA, getting into the music industry, required getting noticed by a representative of a ( big name ) record company. This involves the practice of getting noticed and by what artists referred to ( in this time ) as,"Coughing Up Blood" to achieve this. Why is it called coughing up blood? Because in order to get noticed, you have to sacrifice your music or art that you have worked on for long periods of time for nothing. No payment or compensation. This where the phrase "starving artists" comes from. Your at the bottom of the ropes and your competing with other artists to get noticed , regardless if you play the same style of music they do, or not.
The two ways that music artists used to get noticed....
Going from nightclub to nightclub to play music so that you could gain an audience. The more often you went from nightclub to nightclub to play music, the more likely that someone from a record company would notice you. You have to gain attraction, from people who like your music. If no one knows who you are, or no one likes your music, then no one is going to buy your music. This is where coughing up blood comes in, your booking agent takes a cut, and you and your band gets very little in terms of money to sustain your profession.
The second way, was to send in a cassette tape to the representative to who is in charge of finding new bands to publish. This person was called the A.R. representative ( or Audio Repertoire or AR ). Basically the AR rep, would receive hundreds of tape cassettes each month to review, and when they got to your tape to listen to, there is two things that they would do. Attention span of a AR rep for listening to music is a few seconds ( lets say 10 to 15 seconds ), if your music on that tape you sent in didn't get their attention, they would take your tape, smash it , and throw it away. Some AR rep who go on the road, would take your tape from their car's tape cassette player and throw it out the window while driving. The other thing they did, is If they did like your music, you would be contacted by letter, which is what you wanted. Hopefully good things happen , but not always.
The other thing that musicians have to do, is copyright the music by registering it before sending it out
to be heard, and join a musician union to protect their rights to royalties when their music is played on the radio. ASCAP and BMI are the most popular known unions for musicians to join. From there on as musician , you really need a lawyer, to help navigate yourself through setting up a contract with the record company who is going to publish your music.
This is what I know from what I learned about this industry in the 1980s.
The year is now 2019......
Now we have the internet, and we have youtube, and we have independent CD / DVD producers ( such as disc makers ) where you send in your master and they print out as many copies as you want, for a cost.
If you want to get noticed, just put your music up on youtube. You want to sell it, go to iTunes or even better, Amazon. You don't even have to publish a physical hard copy of your music on a medium to sell to anyone,
they can just buy and download it.
The internet has made advantages for the entertainment industry, especially for music and video games.
Thats what I know, as far I can recall......
Now what about the video game industry?
I have no clue what it takes for a video game programmer to get into the video game industry. In this
context, I am talking about video games for computers such as the games you make with GMS. The other two kinds of video games that I know of are for game consoles ( such as Playstation, Switch, and Xbox ), and
the standup arcade cabinets that you put coins in to play ( like the original Spy Hunter by Bally Midway ).
Do video game programmers have the same hardship that music artists do in getting noticed , even if they publish their game on steam?
Is there anything similar in this process that music artists have with video games programmers in the entertainment business?
Is one profession harder than the other, in the long run?
Do programmers have to worry about something like royalties, like musicians do with their music, when their music is played on the radio?