The Man Behind the Music

As a 15-year music industry veteran and currently the Worldwide Executive of Music and Audio for Electronic Arts, Steve Schnur has a firm grasp on both the music industry and the video games business. The fact that the two industries have been collaborating more and more over the past several years has made Schnur's job even more exciting.

GameDAILY BIZ recently had the pleasure of chatting with the man behind the music to discuss EA Trax, licensed music, working with the biggest names in hip hop and rock, game soundtracks, and much more.

GameDAILY BIZ: You started your career at MTV back in the '80s. What was that experience like, what did you learn from it, and did you ever imagine at that time that you'd be so heavily involved in game music?

Steve Schnur: During my time as part of the original MTV programming team, I distinctly remember attending a focus group in which a 15 year old was asked about videos compared to songs on the radio. His comment back was: "A song only becomes real to me when I see it." I still think about the implications of that kid's statement. Since MTV first appeared in 1981, an entire generation has been raised with an expectation of visuals attached to audio. Twenty years later, we are continuing a trend already ingrained in future generations. These are young people raised with videogames as a major entertainment source in their lives. For these new generations, the song now becomes real when they 'play it'.

I have nearly 25 years of experience in radio promotion, A&R, music marketing and as a music supervisor for movies. I've worked in every genre of music and helped break artists that range from Sarah McLachlan to Metallica. But over the years, I began to sense a growing cultural shift that would lead me away from the traditional label business to where I am today. And today, my work at EA is the most rewarding—and exciting—of my entire career.

BIZ: How did the idea for EA Trax come about?

Schnur: EA Trax is a global initiative to formalize in-game music and set new industry standards for fair licensing, label cross-promotion and artist involvement. As Worldwide Executive of Music for Electronic Arts, my role is to pursue, create and continuously develop the international vision for music in our games. My staff all comes from similar A&R or music marketing backgrounds. We all listen to a lot of music. We see a lot of bands. We study charts—not just Billboard and, Soundscan, but all the international charts as well. We track mix tapes, college radio and independent scenes all over the world. We work with record labels, publishers and artists often more than a year in advance to ensure that, in an EA Game, the music will always matter. Videogames have changed the way the world hears music. And EA Trax has changed the way the world hears videogames.

BIZ: What is your opinion on licensed music vs. original music in games? Licensed music seems to be something that can only be used for a limited number of genres, like sports or racing. Thoughts?

Schnur: A great song never gets old. And if it enhances the gaming experience for the player, then it's the right music for the game. Consider our new in-game jukebox feature, EA Sports Throwback Trax Powered By Rhino. Fans can now enhance the game they're playing by customizing their own soundtracks with some of the best music from the Rhino Records catalog of the late '80s and early '90s including cuts by Ice-T, House Of Pain, Ministry, Devo, Faith No More, The Cure, Violent Femmes and many more. We premiered it in Madden 2005, and it will also be part of our 2005 editions of NBA Live, FIFA Soccer, NASCAR, Rugby, NHL and more. And if fan reaction to the new Madden is any indication, gamers love it.

Beyond sports and racing titles, making licensed music a unique part of the game is a challenge we really enjoy. For our new Sims spin-off game, The Urbz, The Black Eyed Peas appear as themselves throughout the game, teaching players hip moves and unlocking special missions. In addition, the game features exclusive versions of tracks from the band's upcoming "Monkey Business" album. In fact, Will I. Am went back to the studio to custom mix the songs in 'Simlish,' the game's original quirky language. It's the very first time a band has re-recorded their album in another language specifically for a game. And the buzz on this title is huge.

If games can truly be thought of as 'movies you play,' EA believes that games can, and should, be scored like Hollywood blockbusters. In August, we announced that Paul Oakenfold had signed an exclusive agreement with EA to create music for some of our most anticipated titles, including GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, FIFA 2005 and more. In September, we announced that Mark Mothersbaugh had signed an exclusive agreement to be the lead composer for The Sims 2. We see both these deals as breakthrough moments in the evolution of original musical composition for games. And we're enormously excited to hear where the music will lead next.

BIZ: What are some of the hard costs involved with licensed music?

Schnur: Licensing payments are not why artists get involved with videogames. Exposure is. And the numbers prove that video games are absolutely the most direct—and essential—promotional tool available to artist, publishers and record companies today. Yet unlike television networks and radio, EA pays for each and every piece of music we use. EA has licensed over 250 songs, an increase of more than 275% from 2001. And because nearly 95% of all the music in EA games currently comes from new acts, we are constantly creating new revenue opportunities for developing writers and artists, their labels and their publishers alike.

BIZ: Just how difficult is it at times to secure the music you're after for a particular game?

Schnur: There may be rare occasions when certain music license become cost-prohibitive, but that only pushes my team and I to find a different perfect song for a game.

BIZ: How has it been working with some of the most popular hip hop and rock personalities like Snoop Dogg, Outkast, Blink 182 and others?

Schnur: The fact is that nearly all artists want to be in videogames. Besides being gamers themselves, they know that the person playing a video game is the exact same person buying their albums. And unlike radio or MTV, we can involve artists from every genre equally. Over the past two years, stars like Outkast, Blink 182, Snoop Dogg, Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, Green Day, The Hives, Fatboy Slim, Christina Aguilera, Saliva, Busta Rhymes, Kings Of Leon, The Roots, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, DMX, Sum 41, Nelly, The Crystal Method, Jane's Addiction, The Donnas and literally hundreds more have become an enthusiastic part of EA games.

Our Def Jam titles have been especially rewarding for me. Def Jam Vendetta revolutionized the concept of artist involvement in videogames and took the look, spirit and music of the Def Jam brand to unprecedented new levels around the world. The artists were the key to it all. Believe me, nobody was more excited about Vendetta than the Def Jam artists themselves. For the new Fight For NY, the artists insisted on getting involved in the design itself; they had amazing ideas for the plot as well as their characters' dialog, fighting styles and finishing moves. We couldn't—and wouldn't—have created the game without them.

BIZ: It seems nowadays that licensed music in EA Trax and other games has become a great way for lesser-known bands to get noticed. Are video games a great way for bands to spark their careers?

Schnur: In less than two years, labels have gone from seeing video games as mere licensing opportunities for their artists' songs to becoming an integral part of an artist's set-up, development and continued growth. Today, labels are coming to us for one simple reason: our games are now critical mainstream exposure. Take our Madden franchise, for example. Labels now build entire album launches around a band's inclusion in the latest game. Madden 2003 introduced such bands as Good Charlotte, Nappy Roots and OK Go. In fact, Epic Records credits the band's track in the game for helping to push Good Charlotte's album 'The Young And The Hopeless' past Double Platinum. Madden NFL 2004 featured Yellowcard, Avenged Sevenfold—who were an unsigned indie band at the time—and Jet months before they broke nationally. The new Madden NFL 2005 includes great new bands like Ear Shot, Alter Bridge, Mooney Suzuki, Midtown and more.

And that's just what we've accomplished with one title. Wait until you hear some of the amazing new bands we're showcasing on NHL 2005, NASCAR 2005, FIFA Soccer 2005, NFL STREET 2 and the new NBA Live...

BIZ: What is your opinion of game soundtracks? They seem to sell very well overseas, but not so much in North America. Will this change?

Schnur: Two years ago, our NBA Live soundtrack—which introduced Fabolous, among others—became the biggest-selling videogame soundtrack of all time. Today, we're creating even more new music for our games, and licensing bigger and better exclusive tracks from top artists. And with upcoming technologies like Dual-Disc CDs, we can redefine the concept of the soundtrack album by creating additional discs of content, including new game levels and missions, cheat codes, exclusive video and more. When North American music fans and gamers have exciting reasons to buy videogame soundtracks, they will.

BIZ: Considering that EA Trax and EA, in general, have been phenomenal successes, do you see EA ever expanding into other businesses—for example, an EA record label or film studio?

Schnur: As a global entertainment company, we are always considering new avenues to pursue, and new licensing opportunities for music we've created for our games. We're incredibly excited about our exclusive music deals with composers like Paul Oakenfold and Mark Mothersbaugh. There are many different technologies, media formats and opportunities out there and we're evaluating them all. There are no limits. There are no rules. We are re-writing them every day.

BIZ: Finally, what do you see as the next big thing or trend in video game music? What does the future hold?

Schnur: Today, video games are one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of the music industry, on a par with car stereos, walkmans and music video. The next generation of game systems will absolutely re-set the bar for both entertainment and technology in our lifetimes. Videogames have already become the new MTV. The next generation of PlayStation, Xbox, the PSP and combined function mobile phones will become the new record store. The days of total reliance on radio or music video are gone. Within the next two years, our ability to create and expose new music will go beyond anything the industry has ever known before. We can create a fully interactive environment where new artists, hit singles, international soundtrack phenomena and more can—and will—all emerge exclusively from our games.

BIZ: Thanks for your time, Steve.

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