Chris Lines - Game Composer

Buying Game Music? Find Out If You Actually Own It Afterwards (Game Music Business Series)

By Chris Lines

This may sound like a stupid question, if you’ve paid for your game music surely you own it, right?

Well the answer turns out to be ‘yes’ and/or ‘no’… in other words, it depends – annoying right?

Turns out ‘ownership’ is not a simple status to claim, unless you as the music buyer are careful.

In this article (which is the first in a more technical Game Music Business Series) I’ll try and guide you through exactly what you need to know as a game developer who wants to buy music for your game.
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What You Need To Know If You Are Hiring A Game Composer For The First Time

By Chris Lines

Bringing on anyone to help with your game is frightening. And hiring a game composer is no different, especially if it’s the first time you’ve ever done it.

If you are regularly bringing on people to help with your game then hiring a composer is no different to any other freelancer really.

But for the purposes of this article I’m going to assume you are new to it. I’ll walk you through the process as well as highlight some of the main points you need to think about.


This post actually brings together a lot of other articles I’ve written. I thought it would be useful to have all those articles in one place though. [Read more…]

How Being A Good Game Composer Made Me Invisible

By Chris Lines

When you work in an industry it’s easy to forget that not everyone is as knowledgeable as you are about your particular niche. Being a video game composer is no different.

I’ll never forget when I was at a conference introducing myself to someone as a game music composer, and that person actually said ‘I didn’t think games had music in them’. I was shocked!

After a few minutes of me talking and explaining what game music was, they eventually agreed with a kind of ‘… yeah, I suppose so’ response.

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How I Write Music For Video Games (My Guiding Principles)

By Chris Lines

Writing music for games on demand is a hard thing.

Rather than taking pen to paper (or hands to piano keyboard) when the inspiration strikes, I have to kind of summon up the inspiration at a moments notice and create magic.

As you can imagine, this doesn’t always happen. But over the years I’ve discovered a few methods that help me stay on track and deliver my best work for clients (and myself).

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Get Rid of Unreliable Game Composers (Or Any Freelancer For Your Game) Once and For All

By Chris Lines

Copperfield
There may come a time in your game’s development when you need help.

This could be in the form of a game composer, but equally it could be an artist, 3D modeller or someone to help with any other aspect of your game.

How to tell when you need help is the subject of a future article, but assuming you know you do, how do you make sure you hire the right person and are not let down?

I hope to show you through the principles of hiring a game composer, that the same thinking can be applied to hiring any freelancer for your game.
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5 Game Composers Answer Questions About Writing Music For Games

By Chris Lines

Usual SuspectsSean R Scott, founder of GameDevMasters recently conducted a survey on his Facebook page asking game composers to answer 7 questions about writing music for games.

The thinking was that this information would be helpful for any game developers wanting to hire a composer.

Sean then kindly asked me to review and analyze the results, which is exactly what this article is about.

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Should You Use A Royalty Free Music Library For Your Games?

By Chris Lines

RoyaltyA Royalty free music library probably sounds like it’s the kind of thing that might be good for you to use in your games. After all, anything free is probably good right?

Thing is, it’s a term that is used a lot but few people actually know what it means.

On the surface it sounds ideal, but dig a little deeper and you’ll see that it’s often something of a false target to try and reach in the first place for games, and in some cases could act against you.

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What All Game Developers Should Know About Working With A Game Composer

By Chris Lines

DangerYou may think once you’ve hired a game composer your job as a game developer is pretty much done as far as the music is concerned.

Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) that’s not really the case.

Although technically you have handed over the responsibility of music to someone else when you hire a composer, the reality is that unless you put some effort into the following 4 areas, the quality of the result (for your current or future games) will suffer:

  • Get to know your composer
  • Brief them correctly
  • Give honest feedback
  • Develop the relationship

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    I’d like to go into the details of each of these areas here so you can truly benefit from the (ever so wise) decision you have made to hire a music composer for your game.
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    Warning: Audio Stock Music May Not Be The Best Answer For Your Game

    By Chris Lines

    Stock Library Music

    If you just look at the price, there’s little reason not to use audio stock music for your indie game.

    The price is cheap, the service is quick and the web sites are easy to find.

    If you are on a tight budget they are an excellent option for game developers.

    However, there are several compelling reasons why stock music may not always be the best choice when choosing music for your game, and here I’ll explain what the main reasons are.

    [Read more…]