Is video game music in the same realm as serious artistic music?
If not, if a renown artist composed some music for a video game would that music be devalued because it's part of the video game, and thus not be in the same realm as other artistic music he may have contributed to?
>>343564772
Generally, no. Video game music is most often composed specifically for the game it's in, and specific songs are tailored for specific moments in the game. If the composer makes the music for his or her own sake, it is possible, but would likely not fit with the game. Evergrace is the closest that comes to mind in that regard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm17vgmh854
>>343565520
About a renowned artist working on a game, it falls along the same lines. If they're restricted to make their music fit a certain situation, they don't really have the room to truly express themselves. An example of this I can think of outside of video games is with Bjork. She did the soundtrack for the movie she starred in, Dancer in the Dark. While the album with that music, Selmasongs, is quite good, I'd say it still lacks the artistic expression that any of her other albums has.
Video game music is generally composed for heavy repetition and use with the sound effects of the game.
I don't think this is generally a bad thing, but it should be noted if you're going to judge vidya OST on its own merits.
>>343564772
Lots of 90s Japanese videogame music is more melodically technical and melodically oriented than most contemporary genres.
Japan had some really good musical colleges back then. They have disiprine. Also Japanese weren't afraid to go experimental and combine genres.
Also what "Serious" artistic music? Classical has been dead for generations and post-modern composition is godawful as fuck these days. I hope you aren't referring to /mu/ hipster genre-trash.
>>343565520
>Composer makes the music for his or her own sake
Dude composers of the 18th and 19th centuries NEVER composed just for their own sake. They were commissioned by the elite and every piece had to have a theme or ballet or whatever to follow.
You don't know what the fuck you are talking about I think.
>>343566226
That said, just because video game music may not have particular artistic merit, doesn't mean it can't be good. The composition can be solid, and catchy, or evoke a specific emotion. In the case of a good game, or a good story within one, it also has the added bonus of association to help make it more meaningful. Certain songs will remind you of specific parts of a game.
Back several decades ago, and beginning from the late 1930s, this was actually very important to Disney for their animated feature films. Since home video wasn't a thing back then, you couldn't just watch Snow White again whenever you wanted. You had to see it in a theater, and the theater had to be showing it for it to even be possible. However, the way to relive memories of it, or even to pass it on to those who hadn't seen it, was through the music, which could be bought and listened to at home.
>>343564772
No, it really doesn't. It does not have social or political value, it has little power to instigate subculture movements, it's not performance art, it doesn't have emotional depth when separated from it's game, and I simply cannot see how say, the earthbound soundtrack has the same intrinsic value as even a dystopian aggrotech album or mf doom or something older like joy division, and even some minimal techno without lyrics is trying to say something. and something from a sonic game definitely couldn't compare to an animal collective experience
>>343566765
>every piece had to have a theme or ballet or whatever to follow.
You can't really equate that with video games though. I doubt Ravel was commissioned to compose a battle theme that plays every time someone gets in a fight.
>>343567163
![tumblr_inline_nb5ecywLKr1rkmvik[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ndgn3Jo.jpg "tumblr_inline_nb5ecywLKr1rkmvik[1].jpg")
>>343567163
>>343567163
tl;dr: "It's art, but it's not the kind of art I think is important."
