Tommy Tallarico talks about the game music industry

A portion of an AVClub interview with Tommy Tallarico…

AVC: There’s so much emphasis on the graphics in games today, and I’ve talked to some composers who feel they don’t get the budget they deserve.

TT: I think that’s a fair comment, although it has certainly changed by thousands of times since the old days. Back in the old days, this is how it went: Okay, the game’s finished, we have no time left, we have to submit this game in two days, we have no space left in the cartridge, and we have no money left. Make some sound. My whole thing was always, “Look, you have to view audio right from the very beginning. Audio is a third of your whole game! A third is the visuals and graphics, a third is the gameplay and programming and design, and the other third is audio.” Obviously we want the budget to be higher, and I think with all these film composers and TV composers coming into our industry—which I think is fantastic—I think that’s going to help our case that much more.

Full interview here