As the music industry continues to struggle to make money, it’s important for indie artists to constantly seek new areas of revenue, such as placements in video games. The video game industry is booming internationally and as it grows, the opportunities for musicians increase along with it.

For most placements, whether in TV, movies or video games, you’ll need to work with a music supervisor. So how can you increase your chances of getting your music placed in video games?

• Research: As we mentioned in the post about movie placements, you must do your research first. Learn everything you can about the video game industry before you reach out to music supervisors. Find the developers making the types of games that would fit your music and then ask them what they’re working on and genre of music they’re looking for. Do you have anything in your catalog that fits?

Note: Gamasutra.com and GameIndustry.biz are great sources of information about the video game industry. You should read them regularly to seek out potential opportunities and partnerships.

• Be prepared: Before you reach out to developers or supervisors, make sure your website is in order with a clean and easy to read presentation. Make sure your tracks are easy to access by making them streaming or downloadable on your site. Also get the legalities of your figured out now so if/when you’re contacted to license music, it can be a quick and smooth process.

• Play Nice: Remember that this is a very crowded marketplace with many musicians vying to get their music into the hands of video game developers and supervisors. Be friendly and make yourself easy to work with, or the supervisor can and will go elsewhere.

Give them something they actually need– don’t over do your sales pitch. Overall, knowing the industry and developing relationships with key influencers are the name of the game.

Tell us what you think! Have you had your music placed in a video game? What was the process like?

Up next: It’s a small world after all. Reasons you should never burn a bridge.

The SongCast Crew