It was exciting to say. Got to meet great artists and composers under the shroud. Most work is subcontracted by Tseries and cant be shared. They own the rights to everything. It is a complex ecosystem. Composers don’t have much creative freedom and have to work through fine lines of formulas and derivative works…But the brighter side was that there was compensation, great food and an opportunity to learn some new and exciting stuff. I was able to pick some brains of composers and producers. I have a few other potential projects in 2024-25 so looking forward to those.
I picked up the game gig, as it gave me creative freedom. Well, the gig found me rather. It is good to finally be in that position frankly. While I still enjoy playing flute at weddings (giggles) and taking wedding photos (sort of a two in 1 deal), those days are in the rear-view mirror.
I like game music, themes and tracks so this was right up my alley.
Anyway…enough about me.
Wow that is rough. I am well aware of the state of Indie music…it is hugely driven by social media, spotify playlist bribes, Reddit, discord, tiktok…so many social platforms have joined in that it is nearly impossible for a single indie musician to do it all. Does not help that Youtube is pretty much dead for indie musicians due to recent changes in its algorithm. So yes, money talks and competition is fierce.
It is also extremely hard to survive in the top tier genres like pop, rock etc…An artist has to dig a deeper niche to stand out. I like singing and writing music. Initially I wanted to sing and make my own songs. I couldnt do it, I couldnt do it in todays scene either, even with having some industry contacts because there are literally hundreds of people like me in their contact lists who sing, dance, mix, master and make music. You have to be unique, have a massive social following and quite literally be an influencer today to crack through the surface. Discouraging, I know but exceptions have happened.
All the hoops did eventually lead me to find my niche. One of the things I don’t regret however is learning mixing, and audio engineering enough to stand toe to toe in the jungle. It was humorous at times to walk up and speak up that their compression technique is killing this sound lol. When I showed them what to do, the looks on their faces was priceless haha. This forum did encourage me to get better at mixing and for that I am grateful.
Games and movies follow different philosophies when it comes to making music. They have different audiences and different expectations. A game that follows movie overtones is essentially frowned upon, like how movies made on books are often frowned upon in a book club lol.
I could potentially make it sound like the avengers have landed but it just doesnt work. It creates a sonic-visual disparity that could lead to unpleasant experiences.
Games do however depend heavily on great music to be liked. Final Fantasy franchise is a great example of a marriage between games and music. Great fitting music can make a game great.
It is a great steppingstone to taking on bigger movie projects. It is a journey I am happy to have embarked on over the last few years.
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Welcome back Michelle! Wow, it looks like we’ve really got a Renaissance going on here now at IRD. Although, since the World Economic Forum (WEF) says “You will own nothing and be happy” maybe we’ll have to settle for a Rent-aissance. 
Oh well. as long as we can make music and be happy, I guess it’s all good.
Hope you’re doing well!