Table of Contents
10. Stock Music or stock SFX sites
(sites where you write general music or sfx to be licensed)I have put two pieces of music on stock sites and probably made $70 total over the years. Honestly I think if you were really into that and you kept growing your catalogue you could make a decent living (same with stock photography).
The drawback for music is that most of the stock music that really sells is for Corporate videos/promos (think apple commercial). In reality it’s a bit soulless and that’s probably not satisfying for the people reading this that dream of working on games.
For instance the piece I did that sold the most, had a ukulele, glockenspiels, and whistling. Not really my thing, and let’s be honest I didn’t get into game audio for the money. That’s not the driving force here.
Austin Wintory isn’t getting rich off of stock music, he’s working on projects that he’s passionate about. If you are interested in this though: Here is a much better guide to stock music than I could write.
11. Freelance sites
(sites were you place a bid for posted freelance jobs.)
There is actually a lot of game related audio jobs on these. The only problem is that when you normally apply for a game audio job on a forum there are 200+ respondents but you aren’t aware of it. On these sites you do know, and can see how many people bid for these projects, and for some reason it’s very disheartening to me.
I have made at least a couple hundred dollars from work on these sites but I am just not into it for some reason. Having said, that I do see really interesting game audio ads on these sometimes, and its worth at least considering. Here are a few places to check out.
UpWork I have gotten work from their original company’s site Elance.
Freelancer Never applied for any of these, but I have seen a few game audio jobs now and then.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, as Matt said “Game Audio is a war of attrition.” It’s harsh but true. Finding work is really really hard and even if you do some awesome work on a game, it might never even get finished or be released.
But making friends in this industry is easy. People are generally welcoming, supportive, and happy to share what knowledge they have. So don’t lose hope! Just continue to do your best, stay polished, stay hungry, stay polite, and keep at it. Best of luck!
If you see any dead links or have some info that you recommend I add. Please shoot me an email.
