Another update!

What? Two newsposts in the timespan of a week? step, wut is up wit yu?

I'll tell you what's up. I made music for a game developer here on Newgrounds - PianoGamer. Months ago, he approached me, asking if I can provide some music for a game of his which he's submitting to this competition held in a university in Norway, called the Norwegian Game Awards. I thought "why not?" and after around 50 hours of work I managed to make four tracks for the game - three thematic gameplay tracks and one menu theme.

After I was done with those, he informed me what the cash prizes for this contest would be and I was blown away to see that the main prize is 42,000 NOK (Norwegian Dollars) which translates almost exactly to 7 grand in US dollars, and if we won I'd get 10% of that. Well guess what? We won!

This is a huge change from what I'm used to. I don't ever get paid for my music. One time I was promised to be paid 200 dollars after I finish some music for a game, and when I finished it, the game developers disappeared and I never got the money. Another time, I made music for a game along with another musician, but gave my share of the payment to a friend of mine who was robbed of his music gear.

Everything else I've done has been for free, so I've basically never been paid for music. I'm not too bummed about that, since making music is a hobby of mine and I'd never do it solely for money, but nevertheless there's a sense of achievement when I get something material as a reward for my efforts. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that we won and I'm getting the largest monetary payment I ever got in my life. That's just awesome, and I'm really thankful for that opportunity

I've also made a demo song for a new VST released by Versillian Studios! It's a sampled Dan Tranh. The Dan Tranh is a traditional Vietnamese zither (basically a plucked instrument that you place on a surface and play horizontally), and I had a lot of fun with it.

Uh yeah that's it, lamest conclusion ever but WHATEVERRRRR.

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Shanath 2013-09-25 20:58:01

I want monies too. :3

Step 2013-09-25 20:58:01

Don't we all :3.

BenTibbetts 2013-09-25 21:56:24

Congratulations! You should get paid more often.

Step 2013-09-25 21:56:24

Thanks, glad you think so :3.

I kind of find it hard to get paying gigs though. On Newgrounds, 99 out of 100 gigs only offer credit, rather than money. Still, I'm OK with that, especially when the gig is something that could get me a decent amount of exposure or it's something I'd really enjoy doing.

Yoshiii343 2013-09-26 02:41:20

Congrats Step! Don't spend it all at/in one place. idk my english sorta sucks

Step 2013-09-26 02:41:20

Yeah I'm not even sure what to do with the money haha. I might just save it all and not spend it on anything.

SoundChris 2013-09-26 08:52:54

"One time I was promised to be paid 200 dollars after I finish some music for a game, and when I finished it, the game developers disappeared and I never got the money."

In such cases you always should insist of some advanced money to be safe from such methods. If the client is reliable he will pay. If not you saved lots of time!

Step 2013-09-26 08:52:54

Yeah I was quite inexperienced at the time. It was the first time I ever signed up for a paying gig. I didn't care at all about setting up a contract or asking for some money in advance. However, the people who were developing the game made it very clear that they won't pay until AFTER the game as released, so in retrospect they probably wouldn't have even agreed to giving me a sum of money from the beginning.

I don't know if they didn't plan on paying all along or they just didn't like the music I made for them and ditched me or whatever, but nevertheless I did feel kinda cheated, especially after putting months of work into the music :(.

However, on a more funny note, the guy who employed me for the music asked me if he could add me to MSN. His MSN name was "Trickster". So yes, I was tricked by someone who actually called themselves "Trickster". I was such a moron haha.

SoundChris 2013-09-26 09:02:35

Oh - should have read the whole entry first :D Congratulations to your success! I can imagine you to invest in new vsts? If so - which ones would you choose? I reccomend CCC2 - just so awesome!

Step 2013-09-26 09:02:35

I really don't know. CCC2 is so expensive, and I'm not sure if I should rush and spend all that money (and more) on it rather than keeping it saved up. Plus, I'm not sure if my PC can even take it. I've got a dual-core 2.7 GHz Pentium(R) processor and 4 GB of RAM. I dunno.

JKSSN 2013-09-26 09:38:45

SHAME ON YOU!
Not getting paid for most of the songs you made...
SHAME!

You need to be rich and have money rain on you now!

Anyway, congrats! I bet if you haven't made that song for him, the game would be in last place. xP

Step 2013-09-26 09:38:45

Hahaha nah, it was a well-programmed game and had some really sweet concepts and level design. It would've gotten the prize whether my music was in it or not :3.

Still, I'm glad to have been a part of it!

ZipZipper 2013-09-26 14:20:20

That's right. Save it all and don't spend it on anything...ou pas.

Step 2013-09-26 14:20:20

CCC2
Trillian
Komplete 9
8dio
Cinesamples

TOO MANY TEMPTATIONS.

Cyberdevil 2013-10-01 10:57:30

Awesome news man, congrats! For 50 hours of work I'd say it's well-deserved too. The currency NOK is Norwegian Kroner btw, dollars = not the universal currency...

Step 2013-10-01 10:57:30

Haha yeah I remember reading Norwegian dollars somewhere so that's why I referred to them as dollars. But you're right! Here in Malta we use euro in any case :P.

Thanks for the congratulations!

johnfn 2013-10-02 16:27:20

Wow Step congrats!

I personally made money for the first time ever earlier this week!

It was 1$, paid through bandcamp.

THIS IS A TOTALLY SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE, I AM SURE.

Step 2013-10-02 16:27:20

omg. Combine that with the ad revenue you get from Newgrounds and you'll be FILTHY RICH.

Krichotomy 2013-10-05 10:02:55

Congrats! Where might we find this award-winning soundtrack?

Step 2013-10-05 10:02:55

Thanks!

The tracks are right here on Newgrounds! They're Automation, Sky's the Limit and The Festival.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/547038
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/546426
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/544290

Bosa 2013-10-08 16:04:15

You should've negotiated for 20%. Next time, call me beforehand.

Step 2013-10-08 16:04:15

You raise a valid point.

Another update!

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