Unlocking the Potential of Live Sports Streaming for Sports Studios
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We are currently experiencing a remarkable period for online gaming live performances. A diverse group of enthusiasts has gathered to enjoy live events such as Final Fantasy’s Distant Worlds and Final Symphony, Genshin Concert Tour, the Game Music Festival in London featuring performances from Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Last of Us, and the Stardew Valley’s Season Festival.
An increasing number of gaming companies are indeed hosting and broadcasting full-scale live shows for fans globally to enjoy online as well.
Even though this surprising growth of gaming live performances may seem like a relatively recent trend, its origins trace back to 1987 with Dragon Quest composer Koichi Sugiyama’s Family Classic Concert in Japan. It wasn’t until 2003 that gaming live events finally reached Western audiences with Thomas Böcker’s 2003 Symphonic Game Music Concert in Germany, where their popularity has been on a steady rise since then.
While there are more gaming live shows available than ever before, coordinating them is not exactly straightforward.
However, don’t let that discourage you. No matter how large or small your studio may be, there’s always a way to produce gaming live performances. With that in mind, I wanted to share some of the key insights I’ve gained over a decade of producing and creating online gaming live shows, as well as underscore the benefits that gaming live performances can offer your studio.
What is involved in creating a gaming concert?
Online gaming live performances necessitate a variety of skills across different roles and responsibilities, including licensing, production, booking, marketing/branding, orchestration, health & safety, merchandising, and financing. Some gaming studios may have in-house teams to handle parts of this (like licensing), but they will still need to hire and cultivate relationships with external partners for areas they cannot manage themselves.
Choosing your IP and musical selection
You will need to start by selecting the IP that your gaming concert will be based on. This may be fairly straightforward if you are working in-house at a game studio and simply want to create a concert around a single franchise, but you should still consider an overarching theme for your concert: is it going to be an anniversary celebration showcasing music from across the franchise, or does your franchise lend itself better to a specific curation approach? For instance, with Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons, we curated the music around specific seasons within the game.
Carefully consider the songs included in your playlist – but remember you cannot satisfy everyone. Often, you will collaborate with the game’s composer to decide which songs make the cut. If you have an IP with a wealth of music, you may need to balance featuring new songs (likely to promote new releases) while ensuring fan favorites also make it onto the list.
Carefully consider the songs included in your playlist – but remember you cannot satisfy everyone.
Data such as Spotify streams or YouTube views can help you curate a setlist based on what fans are eager to hear, but do not underestimate the impact of a memorable deep cut placed strategically in your setlist. And if certain songs do not make the list, you can always revisit them in future live performances through rotating setlists.
Licensing
While some studios may fully own the rights to the IP for which they want to host a concert, that does not always mean they own the musical rights. According to the 2023 Game Audio Industry Survey, over 91.2% of AAA game soundtracks are composed on a work-for-hire basis, meaning the copyright of the music is held by the studio or publisher. However, this percentage drops to 83.6% for midcore games and 44% for indie titles.
If the game composer retains copyright for the music, you will need to seek permission and re-license this music for broader performances. Additionally, game composers may be entitled to royalties if they are registered with a Performing Rights Organization (PRO). This compensation is allocated by the relevant PRO and will require venues to fill out cue sheets to ensure the associated composer(s) receive payment.
Online gaming concert licensing agreements necessitate a completely different template than standard licensing deals due to the various forms of compensation (such as revenue shares from ticket sales) and different ancillary uses of the IP (like merchandising and marketing). Moreover, if you are working on a concert that includes licensed music, you may require separate agreements, potentially directly with different artists or labels.
There is no one-size-fits-all contract. If you’ve wondered why a particular franchise is missing from a major publisher’s concert lineup, it’s likely due to licensing issues.
If you’ve wondered why a particular franchise is missing from a major publisher’s concert lineup, it’s likely due to licensing issues.
Arranging music for live performances
Often, you may need to hire an orchestrator or arranger who will collaborate with you and the composer(s) to develop new arrangements. They will need access to the music stems from the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) the composer used, such as Pro Tools or Logic Pro.
You should also remain conscious of your budget at this stage and consider the following:
- How many musicians will be involved in your performance?
- What does your desired instrumentation look like? Will your arrangements include specialized world instruments? Even ‘ordinary’ instruments such as timpani can be expensive to rent!
- Are you arranging for an orchestra, a jazz ensemble, or a rock band?
- If you’re arranging music for an orchestra, how many parts will you be composing for? Are you looking to collaborate with a smaller chamber orchestra or a larger symphony orchestra?
Arranging and orchestrating is one of the most critical aspects of production for a gaming concert and can take months, if not years.
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To be transparent due to the numerous adjustments and review mechanisms, it should definitely never be hurried.
Logistics and essential costs to consider
This is where matters can become intricate, and potentially very expensive based on the size and scope of your concert production.
Engaging musicians
You will need to think about how many performances you plan to host and where they will take place. While you may have a specific date in mind (perhaps to coincide with a significant anniversary), you will likely be negotiating with venues and ensembles or orchestras – who are typically booked years in advance. This means you’ll often need to collaborate with them to identify openings in their schedules and determine the most suitable dates accordingly.
We successfully secured the Sydney Opera House for a yet-to-be-announced tour launch, which falls on the same date as the game’s release AND on a Saturday, the perfect day for these live events to occur. While this is undoubtedly a rare opportunity, with effective planning (18 months in advance), you can increase your chances of making such arrangements happen.
Orchestra costs can fluctuate significantly depending on location and union regulations, and these expenses can accumulate rapidly, particularly in the United States. It is challenging to determine a general cost baseline, but they often range from $30,000 to $120,000 for a full orchestra hire, not including additional charges for guest soloists specializing in less common instruments.
While most concert producers work with local orchestras, such as the London Metropolitan Orchestra or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, or find a network of local musicians to hire ad-hoc ensembles in each region, some choose to take a single orchestra along on their tour. There are benefits and drawbacks to this approach. The advantage is that you will be collaborating with the same musicians each evening, who will likely be very familiar with your repertoire in contrast to a local orchestra that may only have a limited amount of rehearsal time before the performance.
Of course, if you decide to take an orchestra on tour, you will need to budget for transportation, catering, accommodation, and associated insurance. Most often, this is only economically viable with a well-planned tour route to minimize travel and lodging costs.
Venue costs and tour booking
Similar to musician expenses, venue costs can vary greatly depending on your production’s scale. Be realistic about the popularity of your intellectual property, a