Fascinating read from Marty (Off-Topic)

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Tuesday, August 05, 2014, 06:41 (3553 days ago) @ Jordan117

That's an odd sore spot to have -- I thought one of Marty's claims to fame was that he was one of the very few video game composers who was *not* work-for-hire. That is, he was a long-term salaried employee, as opposed to the freelancers and contractors that do most VG music.

I think the distinction he makes in the article is not about how he is paid, but about who owns the final work.

Whether we're talking about Bungie hiring Total Audio as a third party studio, as they did in the Myth days, or Bungie hiring O'Donnell and Salvatori as employees in their own in-house audio department, if the owner of the final work is Bungie rather than Total Audio or the individuals, then the works produced are works for hire.

In the film industry I believe composers at least get, if not rights control, then at least additional compensation upon the publication of movie soundtracks. I actually thought O'Donnell already had that sort of deal, but if not then it appears that is what he is suggesting.

It is interesting, though, that hardly anybody talks about the same sort of rights being extended to concept artists, or environment artists, or level designers, or programmers, or any of the other creative professions that work in producing games and films. One can argue that soundtracks are just different, but I think it's something worth thinking about. For one thing, soundtracks can be purchased, consumed and experienced separately from the work they were created for, which is not true for most other related endeavors.

Of course, assuming that all the soundtracks are owned by Bungie, O'Donnell still gets a piece on the back end one way or another, given that he is also a shareholder. How to realize income from that asset is another question-- I don't think LLCs can pay dividends, put it is possible for them to share profits. It depends how Bungie LLC is structured.