How to find a game music composer for your indie game
Updated · onyr1x
To find a game music composer for an indie game, first decide whether you need custom music written for the game or existing music licensed for it, then look for composers whose released work matches your game's tone and ask whether they can deliver stems or loops for your engine. Agree the licence terms, including where the music can be used and whether it is exclusive, in writing before work starts.
Your three options for music for indie games
There are three common ways to get music into a small game, and each suits a different situation.
- Royalty-free library music: you pay once, or nothing, for a licence to use existing tracks without ongoing royalties. It is fast, but other games and videos can use the same music.
- Licensing an existing track from an artist: you agree terms directly with the rights holder to use a specific piece, sometimes with alternate versions or stems.
- Commissioning custom music: a composer writes original music for your game, shaped around its world, characters and gameplay.
Royalty free game music vs custom or licensed music
"Royalty-free" does not mean copyright-free. It means you do not pay a royalty each time the music is used, but the licence still has rules. Read them for limits on commercial use, the number of copies sold, use in trailers or streams, and whether attribution is required.
Library music works well for prototypes, game jams and background audio where uniqueness matters less. Its main drawback is that it is not yours alone. A track in your main menu may also appear in someone else's advert or another game.
Licensing a specific artist's track gives you something more distinctive without commissioning from scratch, and the terms can be tailored to your release. Custom music costs more time and planning but gives you a soundtrack that belongs to your game, fits its pacing and can be built to react to gameplay.
What an indie game composer for hire should deliver
Game music is not delivered like a song for an album. Before you hire, check that the composer understands the formats a game needs.
- Seamless loops: tracks that repeat without an audible gap or click, for menus, levels and exploration.
- Stems: separate audio files for each group of instruments, such as drums, bass, pads and melody, so your team can mix or layer them in the game.
- Stingers and short cues: brief pieces for events such as winning, losing, level-ups or discoveries.
- Trailer edits: a version of the music cut to the length and pace of your trailer.
- The file formats and loudness your engine or platform expects.
Adaptive and interactive music, and where middleware fits
Adaptive (or interactive) music changes in response to what happens in the game. The two most common approaches are vertical layering, where stems are faded in and out over a looping base to raise or lower intensity, and horizontal re-sequencing, where the music moves between separate sections, such as exploration and combat, based on game events.
Audio middleware such as FMOD and Wwise lets sound designers build this behaviour and connect it to parameters from engines like Unity and Unreal without writing all of it in code. Not every indie game needs it. Many games work well with simple loops played by the engine's own audio system. If you do plan to use adaptive music, tell your composer early, because music that will be split into layers or sections has to be written with that in mind.
Licensing terms to agree in writing
Whichever route you choose, get the terms in writing. The main questions are simple, but they affect how you can use the music for years.
- Exclusive or non-exclusive: can the composer license the same music to anyone else?
- Buyout or licence: does ownership transfer to you (a buyout), or do you receive permission to use music the composer still owns?
- Scope of use: the game itself, trailers, streams and let's plays, platform stores, and any future ports or sequels.
- Soundtrack release: who can sell or stream the soundtrack album, and how income from it is shared.
- Credit: how the composer is named in the game and on store pages.
- Deliverables: loops, stems, cues and trailer edits, with file formats.
How to brief a game music composer
A useful brief gives the composer the feel of your game, not just a genre. Include a short description of the game and its setting, screenshots or a video capture, a list of the scenes or levels that need music, and three to five reference tracks with a note on what you like about each. Say which engine you are using and whether you plan to use middleware or simple loops.
Ask to hear a short sketch for one key scene before committing to the full soundtrack. It is the quickest way to find out whether the composer's idea of your world matches yours.
Game music from onyr1x
onyr1x is a music producer in Almada, Portugal, across the river from Lisbon. Alongside cinematic hyperpop and art-pop, he makes cinematic music for game universes.
He offers sync licensing of his music and original music for indie games, trailers and film, with stems available. He works remotely by email and shared files, replies to every enquiry personally, and quotes each project on request.