Ever played a computer game with the volume off? It gets nowhere near the full-sound gaming experience. Music sets the mood of the scene and action, adds rhythm and “epicness” to the game, it’s immersive, and helps gamers focus. Research even showed that video game music typically enhances concentration and productivity, even if you’re not a gamer. Time for a little overview of how to choose the right music for your gaming experience.

How Music Contributes to the Gaming Experience

Someone once said that “There’s more to a game than high scores. It’s about being transported into another world, and music helps you get there.” Whoever said that quote understood very well the immersive power of music.

And while music should be considered part of a game’s narrative, the rule of thumb for video game music is that it should never distract from the game’s objectives. It should not be intrusive. 

Gaming music complements the gameplay. It immerses the player by reflecting the mood of a particular moment in a game, but also by drowning out sounds from real life surrounding the gamer. It keeps the right rhythm to help the gamer stay focused.

Style of Music

The style of music you’ll want to use depends on the style and theme of your game and the action level when the music plays. A game within the horror or space genre will do well with an atmospheric, ambient soundtrack. But ambient music can also fit perfectly in a shooter game after a bout of shooting and all enemies are gone, and the hero is left alone to wander to his or her next adventure.

Orchestral music has been used with great success in games like Zelda or Kingdoms of Amalur. It tends to make an adventure game instantly epic. Pumping rock and pop will fit your racing game or your action game. Puzzles, strategy games, or casino games work well with jazz or a softer new-agey style.

You can go with any style as long as the music supports the game and the experience. If you really feel undecided, you can do like they did for Grand Theft Auto and present several radio stations for the gamer to choose from and listen to while playing.

How to Find the Right Music for Your Games

Understanding how to use music to the benefit of your gaming experience and which styles to consider is great. But how do you go about finding the right gaming music? 

If you have the budget and time, you could consider hiring a music composer through Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or Fiverr. The main advantage is that the music will be unique to your game, which will help make it more memorable in the gamer’s mind.

You could try creative commons or public domain to find free music, but after investing time and money in developing a game, going with a generic free tune you found online would be a bit of an anticlimax. 

By far the fastest and most cost-effective way to source music for your game is by licensing royalty-free gaming music from platforms such as Artlist.io. You can easily browse music by genre and mood, and you’ll feel more at ease knowing the music you use in your game is properly licensed.