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Lee Jackson
3DRealms | Music & Sound Director | Nov 16 1999, 22:35:18 (ET) | leej@3drealms.com
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Account Name: leej
Email address: leej@finger.3drealms.com
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Okay, Once More From The Top....
The stent removal didn't go as planned. We're going to try and get it out again on Thursday morning (November 18th). That means I get to spend my birthday (the 19th) all drugged out. I wouldn't mind so much if the drugs were enjoyable, but phentenyl (sp?) residue is no fun. Oh well.
The Entry List for the 42nd Grammy Awards arrived today. George Sanger, a.k.a. The Fat Man, was quick to point out in the VGM list that he didn't see any entries from our fellow game composers in the newly expanded Film/TV/Visual Media categories. The category has been around for less than a year, so I'm not really surprised. This will change, eventually, as long as game companies and publishers support their composers.
Soapbox Mode Engaged
I didn't realize it at the time, but the category carries the stipulation that game soundtracks and the like have to be released separately as regular CDs (or tape or vinyl) and sold in normal music outlets. In other words, if the current rules had applied back when Shadow Warrior was released, I wouldn't have been able to get it on the list since it was only sold in software outlets as part of the game.
IMHO, this severely hurts the chances of smaller companies, composers, and others without as many resources as EA, Sierra, and the other major players. It's hard enough getting your music onto a game CD in the first place. Getting it onto an audio CD that's sold at Tower/CDNow/Amazon/etc. is a much larger hurdle.
I can sort of see the reasoning behind the requirements. Motion pictures and TV soundtracks have to be released on CDs in order to be played on most peoples' audio-only equipment, so I guess they figured game soundtracks had to meet the same requirements. What gets me is that some game soundtracks are *already* in CD form (as was the case with Shadow Warrior), and that usually makes them playable as is. They don't have to be converted from another format, as is the case with film and TV music. As for the "normal music outlet" requirement, some software stores (Fry's, Best Buy, etc.) also sell audio CDs, so sales made in those outlets should be considered sales from normal record distribution channels and should count. So, if you can stick the final product in your audio CD player and fire it up, I believe you should be able to get it on the list.
The only case where a separate CD should be required is in the event that the music is in a proprietary format that can't be played on a normal CD (or tape or vinyl) audio player. If you've got to fire up the game to hear the music, then that makes it too hard to judge for those who can't (or won't) wade through the game. If the native format of the music requires that you have to load it into a WAV, MP3, or other non-traditional (in record industry terms) playback device to hear it, the same difficulties apply. Either of these cases should require a separate CD/record/tape release for eligibility purposes.
Like I said, the category is still new, and there's room for improvement. Time to fire up the lobbyists, I guess. (evil grin)
Disengage Soapbox Mode
-=>INSERT SHASH HERE<=-
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