In the 90s and 00s, finding good music can be done through video games, such as Tony Hawk`s Pro Skater or Guitar Hero for example. But in 2022, League of Legends and FIFA are prime examples.
If anyone said that clubs were the biggest outlets for introducing dance music 20 or 30 years ago that would be a false statement. The beats and synth lines were famously introduced by video games back in the 90s. Wipeout is one of many video games that was the hype back then. Chemical Brothers and Orbital graced the soundtrack. Not long after, Sim Crazy Taxi introduced the Offspring, and Tony Hawk`s Pro Skater filled the atmosphere with Bad Religion.
Harmonix is the developer that introduced the insanely popular video games Guitar Hero series to the world. The series sold 25m copies worldwide, earning US$2 billion at retail. Although the sizzling hot culture references decades ago, video games are still the main channel for discovering cool music. You might have heard about CHVRCHES with their moody theme in the Death Stranding game or Lil Nas X with his anthem for League of Legends 2022 World Championships.
Obviously, it is hard to imagine that anybody would find Ariana Grande through her Fortnite concert last year since she’s already the biggest pop star today. But with more than 27 million people attending the concert, there are possibilities that some of them are new to music.
Music discovery through video games keeps on increasing as the gaming industry is rapidly growing. At least 25% of people find new music through games, especially gen Z. Video game music is specifically composed to create the perfect ambiance for the games in question. In the 80s, video game music involved talented musicians writing evocative scores with machines with three or four sound channels. This creative challenge is in some of the most legendary histories in pop culture; like Pac-Man, Mario Bros, or Pokemon themes.
These days, game music is limitless. There are no technical limitations, unlimited resources, and lots of times performed by full orchestras. While games that adopt licensed music for their soundtracks introduce millions of listeners around the world to the featured artist.
EA as the developer of FIFA sees the video game music industry as a career opportunity for musicians. We already know about Bad Bunny and Gorillaz who both featured in the FIFA 2023 is a perfect fit. But we can expect newer artists to come and morph the market. FIFA`s soundtrack too has morphed and more `tasteful` by introducing grime, EDM, and pop. This hints that video game is a powerful ground for music discovery.
Music can deliver massive and instantaneous global exposure as seen on MTV and commercial radio had once been in the 80s through the 90s. This too can happen in the gaming industry as it has been rapidly evolving and is expected to reach a value of $128 billion by the end of 2022.
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