The Game Music Business: Relationships Between Composers and Large Corporations

Our distinguished panelists discussed the high-level corporate viewpoints on current trends, opportunities, deals, publisher/developer relationships, licensed music content, state of the industry, how composers are hired and approved, and other issues which face today’s game composers.

Featuring:
CHUCK DOUD – Sony Computer Entertainment America (Music Director)
ADAM LEVENSON – Activision (Director, Talent & Audio Management)
VICTOR RODRIGUEZ – THQ (Music Director)
Moderator: RUSSELL BROWER – Blizzard Entertainment (Director of Audio/Video)

CHUCK DOUD oversees all music development for first-party software for the PlayStation® family of products, including the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system. Doud’s SCEA Music Group is comprised of some of the best talent from the videogame and music industries, overseeing all areas of music development including creative, business, production and technical, in addition to new business opportunities related to the music and gaming industries. Some of the recent products his group has worked on include GOD OF WAR II™, UNCHARTED: DRAKE’S FORTUNE™, WARHAWK™ and LAIR™. Doud has a background in music composition, production, performance and business.

ADAM LEVENSON serves as Director, Talent and Audio Management Group at Activision where he oversees original music, sound effects, voiceovers, audio technology, celebrity talent, and scriptwriters across Activision portfolio of titles. In addition, he is spearheading the creation and implementation of shared audio standards and technologies across Activision’s global studios. He joined Activision in 2006 as the Director of Central Audio. He has more than 15 years experience in video game audio production having contributed to games as a composer, sound designer, supervisor and audio director.

VICTOR RODRIGUEZ is the Music Director of THQ, one of the world’s largest video game publishers. A former management executive at several music publishers and labels including Sony/BMG, he has worked extensively with the industry’s top artists to provide music for hundreds of games, films and television programs. He is also a published author and has spent time in many different countries, but always manages to find his way back to Los Angeles, where he currently lives.

RUSSELL BROWER has over 25 years of experience as a Composer, Musical Director and Post Production Supervisor. His background includes television, film, theme-parks, games, plus he is a three-time Emmy Award winner. Currently he is the Director of Audio/Video and Lead Composer of Blizzard Entertainment, a leading developer/publisher of video games, including WORLD OF WARCRAFT. He previously served as a Principal Media Designer and Musical Director at Walt Disney Imagineering. He currently serves on the SCL Board of Directors, and the Advisory Board of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.).