The lifestyle of being a video game composer?

[Bloodrunes]

I've always wondered how the lifestyle of a composer would be,
would he be rich or struggling? I've never heard from any video game composers ever ! (except Nobuo Uematsu of course) I never hear anyone discuss about how they are doing in their career path or how they manage to keep their material so good and so on... Any of you guys hear anything at all from these composers? Its either that i've probably been searching very badly or they are just completely blocked from the music community .. (Please excuse my lousy writing , im from Iceland ^^)


-P.S. this site is simply amazing , i wont be sleeping tonight :P

[Blitz Lunar]

only the upper stratas really get "rich", the majority of composers are stuck in freelance hell, doing lots of smallish projects for indie developers for relatively small pockets of income. it's very much a ladder-climbing business for most, except the lucky ones! I guess also a lot of musicians don't talk about their financial situation because it's a bit of a faux pas.

so really the lifestyle is a bit rock 'n' roll, with a lot of work and dedication. you have to really live and breathe music to be successful (particularly these days now everyone potentially has a music studio sat in their bedroom), working odd hours and juggling multiple (and varied) projects isn't unusual either. you also need good people skills in order to successfully negotiate projects with ever-changing clients. and of course budgetting, because you might land a big project, then get nothing for months after. it isn't as glamourous as it seems, at least to start with. but if you love writing music enough then it'd be worth it, and i'm tempted to believe that it gets easier as you go, though obviously there's always new challenges.

also, welcome to the site~

[Kidd Cabbage]

http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2001_Rock_Star/mark_wahlberg_rock_star_001.jpg


At least, this is what I assume.

[titanicpiano14]

I go to college and I'm composing for a French RPG right now. I have time on the weekends to compose. I'm doing it for free- it's my 1st project. But, now, I really want to get onto project that's paid- either video games or film. I'm realizing now that this is the career path I want to follow!

www.youtube.com/titanicpiano14