After speaking with some well-known game composers, I learned how often they stumble onto their own music being used in videos without relation, permission, or proper credit. For the composers of video game music, especially indie composers, the feeling is very different. If you’re a YouTuber, even a quick clip of pop music can be a straight trip to demonetisation, but use a random, unrelated, and unaccredited bit of a game's score and you’re probably in the clear.įor fans of video game scores, the current system is great. Video game music, on the other hand, occupies a grey area on the platform. Pop music is entered into YouTube’s Content ID system and other videos that use it unofficially are automatically flagged. And it’s only possible because YouTube doesn’t treat video game music as it does other popular music. If you’re reading this on a PC right now, there’s a statistically decent chance that YouTube is currently open and playing some video game tunes in another tab. Looking at the millions of comments, uploads, and views these uploads get, it’s clear that I’m not alone.

Ambient music from Skyrim, relaxing compilations from Animal Crossing, lo-fi Legend of Zelda remixes Sometimes, work or study just can’t get done without my 10-hour loop of Chrono Trigger’s Corridors Of Time. And loads of it can be found free on YouTube.

Every time I sit down to write, the first thing I do isn’t open up a blank document, it’s find some nice video game music to listen to.

System shock soundtrack composer