British musicians submit soundtracks to Microsoft as part of an original talent search.
British bands, disc jockeys and singers are being solicited by Microsoft to participate in a musical talent search meant to find great artists who can provide original material for Xbox 360 games and trailers. Entrants in the “Soundtracks” contest will download game videos and apply their own homemade background music, then upload their finished trailers onto the web to be rated by the 360 community. Winners will be sent to professional recording studios where they will produce polished recordings and receive a professional demo tape.
The competition was launched by the band Enter Shikari, who created an exclusive track for the 360 title Blue Dragon. Lead singer Roughton Reynolds stated, “Having just got back from a tour of Japan we were completely taken by Japanese culture, so when I saw the trailer for Blue Dragon it made perfect sense to write a track to fit it. I’m excited by the results – the visuals work so well with the music and fit our sound really well. Hopefully, other musicians out there will feel inspired by games too and want to get involved.”
Stephen McGill, Microsoft Head of Gaming and Entertainment, added, “The fact that music artists are being inspired by video games to make new music is a major turning point in the industry. With the quality and realism of games now better than ever, the emotional engagement can now, for the first time ever, be compared with film, theatre or other arts, and this is being reflected in how people are reacting to them. We’re delighted to have a band as innovative and exciting as Enter Shikari on board and we hope that it will inspire other people to get creative too.”
