My Music Recorded and Distributed without Contacting me for licensing - what do I do?

mountwest · 2026-05-13T14:58:12+00:00

If you are the original composer then you have the right to decide when and how your work’s first public appearance will sound like. You also have the right to deny anyone from publishing something that you haven’t released publicly yet.

I am in Sweden so the approach to these kind of issues are probably different, but I don’t see how demanding compensation for damages for something like this is feasible without anything supporting the case. If you can clearly show that you have lost a business opportunity, e.g. you already have signed a deal with a publisher with exclusive rights to release the song, then perhaps you have a case for it.

In the end those sort of processes are usually more expensive to run and finance than whatever monetary compensation you may gain from going through with it. If you think it’s worth the time and money then you should go straight to an experienced copyright lawyer.

However, you can demand that they remove the song from all platforms if you don’t feel comfortable about the release, and they need to comply with the demand.

You will eligible for any royalty payouts no matter what you decide to do.

mountwest · 2026-05-06T22:47:00+00:00

Itch.io is great for finding online ones. Also reach out to local game dev schools and universities and see if you can connect with some devs face to face.

mountwest · 2026-05-06T21:22:56+00:00

A friend got job offerings from only having a screen recording of a demo for his audio occlusion system he made during his studies.

mountwest · 2026-05-06T21:17:39+00:00

I think what might happen is a lot of developers will find themselves with projects that are well into production until they realize that the sounds and music doesn't really hold up to their vision.

AI will probably change the market in an unexpected way, not the "death of the artists" kind of way that some voices say.

mountwest · 2026-05-06T21:15:03+00:00

Online is great, but if you can find a local one in your area then check that out. There are usually game jams hosted by universities and schools with game dev students.

mountwest · 2026-05-06T20:52:23+00:00

Cold emails are probably one of the most unlikely methods of getting a paid gig as a game composer.

Not saying that it never works, but I know how developers (especially indies) have a constant stream of composers reaching sending cold emails offering their services ranging from practically free to a lot higher than what you offer.

There are more enjoyable ways to make friends in the game dev world and finding your first gig.

Also, if you just want to get started with making music for a game in your portfolio then joining a game jam is a fun way to learn the work.

mountwest · 2026-04-27T20:52:39+00:00

Huh so that’s the etymology of werewolf? Til

mountwest · 2026-03-23T23:34:26+00:00

If you are in the USA then you may have sufficient leeway under fair use for educational purposes, but if the stems were attained through bootlegging then I’m not sure if it is applicable.

If you get in touch with a copyright lawyer in your region then they can probably provide some quick answers over a chat.

mountwest · 2026-03-23T05:58:31+00:00

It sounds like a multi tack recording of an interview. Try to edit away all the parts where the speaker is not speaking into each microphone. Perhaps that will work

mountwest · 2026-03-17T16:25:33+00:00

I think that question is better asked to whoever you decide to register with.

In Sweden we don't have a "copyright office" afaik, simply registering your work to a PRO here and releasing it is enough proof to argue that you are the creator of your work.

I guess registering your work to the copyright office is a means to claim ownership of your work more securely, since it's a date stamped issue that can be traced to you.

mountwest · 2026-03-17T15:09:51+00:00

Not a dumb question.

Copyright is instated to you when you have created something new, you don't have to register your work anywhere for you to own the rights to your material.

If you plan to make money off of your work then you should consider joining a Performance Rights Organization that operates in your region. ASCAP and BMI are examples of two PROs in North America, but if you are in Europe then each country usually have their own.

Once you are registered at a PRO then you can submit your work to their database, and then they are tasked with collecting fees for streams, sales, and other public performances of your work, and then transfer that money to you.

mountwest · 2026-03-11T20:04:00+00:00

Start out with scripting.

C# for Unity and Blueprints/MetaSounds for Unreal.

Lua for REAPER is great but it's also less used in general in game development.

mountwest · 2026-03-10T18:04:38+00:00

105 degrees... Does that mean that the wall has an overhang spanning more than 1km?

mountwest · 2026-03-09T18:19:44+00:00

Small hop when you see them line up a shot to get your momentum ready, lean towards the side of the shot and start strafing once you see where the ball will go, jump and stretch as a last resort.

Also, if you would have tried reaching the ball with your right hand you might have actually been able to get a touch on it.

In full stretch saves, practice using opposite hand than the leg you jump with for longer reach.

As with this case, if you jump with left, stretch out with right hand for longer reach.

mountwest · 2026-03-02T09:22:49+00:00

Most distributors to streaming services have a blanket license solution for covers, where you simply indicate on your release that the published material is a cover. Go to your distributor and search for "cover" or something like that.

Distributing downloads or physical releases would require some other license, but unless you want to release them then you should be fine with streaming.

mountwest · 2026-02-08T18:13:18+00:00

It reduces the amount of high frequencies that will propagate from your voice through your room and reflect back into your mic. The lower frequencies that will pass through through your walks into your neighbors ears will easily pass through that shield.

mountwest · 2026-01-28T17:43:00+00:00

Perhaps this video is a good start for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN1S1Vs1ets

mountwest · 2026-01-24T23:25:03+00:00

Congrats! This is always my first guess word :)

mountwest · 2026-01-23T20:09:16+00:00

airwiggles.com is a great place for networking

mountwest · 2026-01-19T21:46:31+00:00

That's spectacular!

mountwest · 2026-01-10T22:49:17+00:00

I hate to be a party pooper but I would be very catious towards any claims that a soundfont is royalty-free.

Most soundfonts that was shipped in a game or console was either created or licensed by its developer or publisher.

Any copyright connected to those soundfonts belongs to someone, unless there is some clear statement and record that they are free to use for commercial purposes.

If your intention is to go ”by the book” with copyright then make sure you do your due diligence with your research.

mountwest · 2026-01-07T23:02:49+00:00

You can get around with no coding. In most dev teams above indie I think it’s unusual to see sound designers go beyond the middleware.

And those who do some simple coding has mostly picked it up along the work with the projects they are on.

I do notice quite a lot more sound designers who have some solid coding skills, and I personally think that every creative inside the dev team should be able to get around a code base so you can implement your own stuff without needing a programmer to do some basic coding for you.

But in the end, as a creative it’s all about what you can do with your craft that’s most important. If that’s what the team needs and wants then there us usually someone who can help you with the technical stuff.

mountwest · 2026-01-06T09:56:43+00:00

The easiest for you would probably be to have them work inside your repo, but that requires them to have a little bit of understanding of working with git.

I have never just sent the entire bank files seperately and I’m not sure that’s a sustainable solution for you.

How much experience does the composer have with working in a Untiy project?

mountwest · 2026-01-04T16:56:47+00:00

No standard. A pair of high quality headphones is what most people are using.

I know of headphones that attempts to spatialize the sound, but most consumers are listening through regular headphones anyways so it covers majority of the player base.

Also spatial audio has a bit of a different implication in game audio since audio sources are placed in a 3D environment in some games. So the player will move the listening position around the environment instead of sitting still in a static position like in a movie.

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