Is GameGrooves a Record Label?
Logo by Don Corgi
Is GameGrooves a record label? This is a question that I’ve often asked myself. On the one hand, GameGrooves does organize albums, handle production (mastering, album art, and marketing), and distribute music (thanks to our partners at Soundrop). On the other hand, GameGrooves only secures non-exclusive distribution rights from artists. In other words, GameGrooves does not own the composition rights (especially for covers) or the recording rights to any music that is released on a GameGrooves album. Also, artists are free to release any GameGrooves track independently at any time that they choose. I chose to make GameGrooves as artist-friendly as possible, and these choices are intended to reflect that. Still, what does mean for the listener?
In my first article, I mentioned that I originally envisioned GameGrooves as a VGM hub with separate Twitter accounts for different genres of music. As subversiveasset so eloquently put it “VGM is not a brand”, and it’s difficult to market an album without giving listeners a sense of what style of music to expect. While GameGrooves has evolved beyond what I initially envisioned, I still wanted a simple way to convey a style of music before the listener even pressed play.
Enter the Elements.
Elements
GameGrooves’ first commercial EP, Elements, introduced four different genres and imprints or sublabels. Scorch represented metal, Flow represented jazz/funk/soul, Marrow represented folk/orchestral, and Ether represented lo-fi/chill. Just a few weeks ago, I added two more elements, Volt and Neon, which represent rock and electronic respectively. In addition, I hired visual artist Don Corgi to create logos for each of these imprints so that there was a visual aesthetic to go with the music. If you enjoyed Elements, then I have some very good news to share.
Over the next year or so, GameGrooves will be organizing six commercial EPs (one for each element). These EPs will feature some recurring artists as well as some new faces, and the goal is to showcase a particular style and game/game series. The first EP will be releasing some time in August, so keep your eyes open for that. If you’d like a chance to choose what element comes next, be sure to support GameGrooves on Patreon as each patron will vote on the next element EP!
Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to check out all six logos by Don Corgi. Do you have a favorite?
Charity Albums
While Elements was the first EP that GameGrooves released, it wasn’t the first album. Heroes, a collaborative charity album between GameGrooves and Pixel Mixers released on May 22, 2020. Over 20 artists provided 15 tracks and all proceeds went to Child’s Play Charity. Of course, charity albums aren’t anything new for the VGM community. In fact, Multiplayer Charity has been releasing charity albums for six years now, but it’s always the right time to release a charity album. Speaking of timing, the second GameGrooves charity album, Cry of the Planet, came as a response to the killing of George Floyd and the protests that broke out across the world.
Unlike Heroes, I called upon a different VGM community for Cry of the Planet—the Twitter community. I asked for people to provide tracks for a charity album benefiting the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure that too many people would respond. After almost 50 people messaged me, I realized that there was a real desire in the community to use VGM for good. I scrambled to put this album together as quickly as possible, only giving artists one week to provide a track. To the artists’ credit, everyone did an amazing job, even with the compressed timeline. James C. Hoffman stepped up, offering to do the mastering free of charge, and Emma Häthén created album art (shown below) that is bold as it is beautiful.
One of the most important lessons that I learned while making Cry of the Planet is that I needed to be sure that I was representing and empowering artists. I had planned to do an LGBTQ+ charity album next, and given that I didn’t consider myself part of that community, I asked Kain White to handle album organization. He immediately accepted, and while that album wasn’t advertised on Twitter, he still managed to find artists quickly. Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen events, the album will be slightly delayed, but rest assured that it will be worth the wait.
Of course, I haven’t mentioned the women’s charity album organized by Psamathes or the Black Lives Matter album organized by Sariya or the Quick Fire Album Challenge albums releasing in the next few months, but I think that you get the picture. GameGrooves is in the business of producing high-quality VGM cover albums and charity albums, and business is booming. Admittedly, I may have bit off a bit more than I can chew, but I’ve tried to use every experience, both positive and negative, as a learning opportunity. It’s been absolute pleasure watching this community grow over the past year, and I can only hope that I continue to serve it as best I can.
GameGrooves Agape
To that end, I have decided that I want to create a separate imprint for the GameGrooves charity albums. GameGrooves will continue to release commercial EPs, and GameGrooves Agape (logo tbd) will release charity albums exclusively. Agape is the Greek word for love that extends to everyone, and I can’t think of a better name to convey the intent of these charity albums.