Music Special

Steve Schnur Interview - Part Two

  Posted: 8 February, 2010 12:45

Written by Rob Rymond
Content Monster

Welcome to Part 2 of our chat with Steve Schnur, the worldwide executive for music for EA and president of record label Artwerk Music. We’ve found out exactly who Artwerk are and why they were set up to try and promote bands and artists through the videogame format in Part 1. But what about the franchise Rock Band and how important is the music itself?

Rock Band launched in 2007 on the main console formats and was developed by Harmonix Music Systems (responsible for the first Guitar Hero games) alongside MTV Games and published by the giant that is Electronic Arts. Despite a slow start, the series rapidly grew with the promise of downloadable content each week. The service now holds over a thousand songs to date and includes a sequel Rock Band 2 alongside spin-offs such as The Beatles: Rock Band and Lego Rock Band.

It is thanks to games such as Rock Band that mainstream artists are more willing to let videogames use music or convert it for the privileges of videogame consumers. The original Guitar Hero series featured cover artists rather than the ‘real deal’ due to licensing, but with the launch of Rock Band, it saw the first time fully licensed music in a music game.

On the success of Rock Band, Steve Schnur comments: “Rock Band has single-handedly created a whole new medium of music discovery.” He questions: “Where else today would kids have the opportunity to make a genuine emotional connection with music they have never heard and easily dismissed?”

Growing up in the era of Brit-pop and Boybands, it is very easy to have overlooked the vast variety of music on offer down the years and instead look at the genre through rose-tinted glasses. Thanks to Rock Band and other similar games, the world is suddenly looking upon new music that they’d never previously discovered. Steve backs up this claim with the 2009 release, The Beatles: Rock Band: “Nowhere is this [discovery] more evident than the cultural and creative landmark that is The Beatles: Rock Band”.

Here is a band from the rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1960’s, being showcased to a brand new audience who possibly have never heard of them. By re-living the musical genius of years gone by, they have expanded the musical horizons of many.

The release of full albums onto the Rock Band service is also one of the highlights of the service alongside new single releases. As Steve explains, the latest release from Motley Crue is one of those highlights: “[Motley Crue] sold five times more copies of their single on Rock Band than they did with iTunes. This is merely the next level in the unprecedented relationship between music, artists and games. And it’s just the beginning”.

People must be lapping up the music, because over 40 million download purchases have being made since launch. A staggering amount of profit, but least not to cover the licensing costs associated with each individual track. Steve makes comparisons: “When was the last time the traditional record business could boast those kinds of numbers based on radio or video airplay?”

He is right, the service has grown tremendously since 2007 and more is yet to come from the Rock Band series. No doubt there will be a growth in those releasing new music on the service before physical or downloadable singles in the future.

What about the ever-changing taste in musical appetite? Audiences can be fickle and narrow-minded when it’s comes to their favourite genre, but how does EA tackle keeping music relevant and current in its major series?

“Keeping the music current and relevant is our greatest challenge,” says Steve. “Radio stations have the ability to drop songs from their playlists after only a few weeks, but our music stays in the game until the next version becomes available.”

Most of the EA franchises arrive on a yearly basis and incorporating bands and artists who can remain relevant and interesting for a year is a tough task that the teams face as Steve explains: “We have to make sure that when we put a band in our games, they have the growth potential and ‘cool factor’ to last for the entire year ahead”.

Looking forwards is the key goal for EA and Artwerk when selecting what is to be included in the latest FIFA or Madden title. Sticking in the old classics will not do a game justice, instead looking to the future is the test for the team: “The bottom line is, every song in every game music point the music forwards,” says Steve.

There are one or two ground rules for staff which include a blanket ban on listening to the radio or reading sales chart data. The music you hear is crafted from the heart of those involved; from the studios they talk with across the world.

“We keep an eye and ear on every independent label and we meet with plenty of publishers,” says Steve. “We see a lot of bands and listen to thousands of songs,” Steve continues. The ethos is simple: “I never want us to be followers. We must always be the leaders”. A bold claim, but one that we know will reverberate in the industry in many years to come.

What is Steve’s favourite soundtrack in a video game? Would he give us the obvious answer? “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished with our Madden and FIFA games,” he answers. “My personal favourite soundtrack will always be the one I’m currently working on!” Steve says.

Perhaps not the modest answer we were looking for, but that said, EA have introduced a whole load of new bands over the years and made them a worldwide success. Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Jet, Kasabian, Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon to name a few.

“It’s a huge annual challenge – and one my staff and I crave – to literally create the sound of the coming season via the soundtracks.” Steve states.

With the yearly franchise updates that we’ve come to expect from EA, it seems like Steve and the team will have plenty of new ideas up their sleeves and potentially a whole load of new bands waiting in the wings of stardom.

In fact, Steve is quite confident that the future of music lies within videogames: “Think back just three or four years ago and you realise how fast music, videogames and their places in our lives have changed. He continues: “Certainly the current generation of home systems and PDAs have re-set the bar for both entertainment and technology and the popularity of digital downloads and online connectivity continue to create tremendous breakthroughs for games and music alike.”

This is the iPod and iPhone generation that have embraced digital music more so than those avid record collectors in the 80s and the CD of the 90s. Ear-phones are glued to ears across the country as people enjoy the convenience of pocket sized products and the wide variety of music on offer.

Just like the rest of us, Steve questions what the future holds in generations to come: “What will the next generation iPhone, Wii 3, PlayStation 4 and Xbox 5000 bring?” he asks. He doesn’t have the answer, but what once again the claims are bold: “Over the next few years, some very cool new music developments will be happening that will rewrite the rules forever. Keep your hands on the controller and your ears open!”

What about the future for EA though? The pioneers of music soundtracks and choice are surely going to continue with the resounding success of previous games? Steve remains tight-lipped on the future for EA: “Every title EA creates will be heavily influenced by music. It’s why we do what we do, and do it better than anyone else in the industry.”

And the final word: “More importantly, it’s why tens of millions of fans around the world know that EA will always make the music matter”.

Steve Schnur knows the music matters, because he is the music man.

Missed Part 1? You can read it here.

Comment on the article below and tell us what you would like to see in the future from Artwerk. We'll have interviews with some of the bands featuring in the games plus some exclusive interviews with music composers over the next few weeks.