music & video games: song libraries

song libraries

For a long time the song library was a favorite of mostly producers of racing and sports games, often time seeking out high energy rock, electronic and hip-hop material instead of composing original music for their games. Sometimes the tracks are picked from collections that publishing companies put together with the sole intent of getting the music licenced for various media. Many modern producers such as Moby and Celldweller actively seek out licensing for video games. Occasionally the libraries include re-recorded versions of the songs (as with the Guitar Hero titles).

One of the first games I recall using popular music was the Rock ‘n Roll Racing soundtrack for SNES, which included 16 bit instrumental versions of classic rock and metal tracks like Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild. Here are a few games that mix it up well…

Very little in life or games satisfies me quite like careening down the road with tunes at full blast. In high school I used to spend countless hours picking out tunes for cassette tape compilations I made specifically for auto aural enhancement. It just makes sense that racing games often employ this same concept. For example, the futuristic racing shooter Wipeout Pure features an outstanding collection of acid techno, trance and drum n bass tracks by artists like Aphex Twin, Ming & FS, LFO, Way Out West and Photek.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is where huge libraries of music really started to shine, setting a new precedent for licensing huge quantities of quality music. The soundtrack featured radio stations full of classic hip-hop, new wave and hair metal, complete with spoof advertising and DJ commentary. It did a fantastic job of setting the tone of the game environment, a perfect complement to the neon streets of Vice City. GTA: San Andreas continued this practice with its recreation of the 90’s musical landscape via stations of grunge rock, gangster rap and house music.

Since games are often marketed to a broad spectrum audience consisting of many different age groups it is sometimes deemed necessary by the studio to edit the content or language of the tracks included in the game. This is especially the case with hip-hop focused soundtracks. Depending on the material selected and the method of censoring used, the end result can be irritatingly distracting (take Bang the Ball on the 2k7 soundtrack for example) or mostly transparent. Luckily the selections on 2k6 generally pretty listenable, with note-able contributions from Aesop Rock, Common, Zion I and Blackalicious. Or you can always check out Dan the Automator’s beats solo on the instrumental 2k7 soundtrack if you can’t suffer the censorship.

up next: star power

previously: themes/scores