Tag Archives: Society of Composers & Lyricists

Game Changers: Video Game Grammy Nominees

Posted by Winifred Phillips on

Photo depicting Grammy Award-winning video game composer Winifred Phillips in her music production studio. As the current Grammy Award winner in the video game category, Winifred Phillips will serve as the moderator of the upcoming GAME CHANGERS seminar, hosted by the Society of Composers & Lyricists.

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Hi!  I’m videogame composer Winifred Phillips, and in February of this year I was thrilled to win the GRAMMY® Award for my musical score for Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord!  My Wizardry score won in the category of Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media.  Every year, the Society of Composers & Lyricists (in collaboration with Electronic Arts and White Bear PR) organizes an online seminar entitled GAME CHANGERS.  The seminar features all of the nominees in the video game category of the Grammys that year. Discussions during the seminar range from expert analysis of composition best-practices, to sources of inspiration that fuel the creation of the Grammy nominated scores.  I remember participating in the GAME CHANGERS seminar as a nominee for Wizardry.  It was one of the most awesome online seminars I’ve ever participated in, and I was really honored to be a part of it!

Grammy Award-winning video game composer Winifred Phillips, here shown in her official Grammy Award portrait. Winifred Phillips won the Grammy Award in February of 2025 for her soundtrack album to the video game Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.Now, I’m thrilled to share that as the current Grammy winner in the video game category, I have been invited this year to serve as the official moderator for the seminar!  On December 16th, I’ll be interviewing all of the nominees for next year’s Grammy Awards, and I’m really looking forward to exploring their creative process in composing their Grammy-nominated video game scores.  It should be tremendously inspiring!  Only current members of the Society of Composers & Lyricists can attend this popular online seminar (more info here).  However, everyone can enjoy the Grammy-nominated scores composed by these celebrated video game composers!  With that in mind, I’m happy to share their work in this article.  I hope our readers will be inspired by the creativity and skill on display in these nominated soundtrack albums!

If you are a current voting member of the Recording Academy, you’ll find the following details helpful as you decide how you’ll vote in the video game category.  And if you’re not yet a member… why not consider joining the Recording Academy?  Any Recording Academy member can submit their soundtrack releases for Grammy Awards consideration.  Let’s get the video game composer community involved!  After all, the Grammys are famous for being ‘Music’s Biggest Night,’ so the video game music community should be a big part of it!  More information about joining the Recording Academy can be found here.

So now let’s explore these currently nominated soundtrack albums for the Grammy Awards!  I’ve listed them alphabetically by game title.  For each nominated score, I’ve provided a biography of the composer at the top, followed by a Spotify playlist of their nominated soundtrack, and a no-commentary gameplay video demonstrating the game for which the music was composed.  Enjoy!!

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How I got my big break as a video game music composer

Posted by Winifred Phillips on

I had a wonderful time last week, speaking before a lively and enthusiastic audience at the Society of Composers & Lyricists seminar, “Inside the World of Game Music.”  Organized by Greg Pliska (board member of the SCL NY), the event was moderated by steering committee member Elizabeth Rose and attended by a diverse audience of composers and music professionals.  Also, steering committee member Tom Salta joined the discussion remotely from his studio via Skype.

SCL-GameMusic-Feb2015

Towards the beginning of the evening, I was asked how I got my first big break in the game industry.  While I’d related my “big break” experience in my book, A Composer’s Guide to Game Music, it was fun sharing those memories with such a great audience, and I’ve included a video clip from that portion of the seminar.

After the event, we all headed over to O’Flanagan’s Irish Pub for great networking and good times at the official NYC SCL/Game Audio Network Guild G.A.N.G. Hang.  I especially enjoyed sharing some stories and getting to know some great people there!  Thanks to everyone who attended the SCL NYC seminar!

 

Inside the World of Game Music: A Society of Composers & Lyricists Seminar

Posted by Winifred Phillips on

SCL-GameMusic-Jan2015

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be speaking in New York City on a panel entitled “Inside the World of Game Music.”  The event is hosted by the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and moderated the distinguished NY SCL Steering Committee member Elizabeth Rose.

The panel will consist of myself and game composer Tom Salta, well known for his work on the Ghost Recon and H.A.W.X. series of games.  We’ll be talking about our creative process as game composers.  Here’s the official description of the seminar from the event’s web site:

These days, many top music composers who have been scoring film and TV are lending their talents to our newest media: video games. Using everything from full orchestras to digital instruments, this is a fascinating new creative field which turns the rules of composing sideways. Video games have earned more in revenue than film and TV combined, according to some reports. It is a bright, highly creative and competitive field. Please join us for this entertaining panel led by two of our most successful game composers who will demonstrate how they make musical magic happen in this fascinating “one-click” digital world.

Hosted by the New York chapter of the Society of Composers & Lyricists, this event is part of their ongoing seminar series.  As an organization that supports and champions the interests of music creators, the society offers lots of informational resources that delve into the creative and business aspects of writing music and lyrics for film and television.  They also make efforts to improve workplace and working conditions for their members, encourage a sense of community through the establishment of online forums, and proactively reach out to producers to facilitate productive communication and collaboration with the society’s members.

In 2008, the Society of Composers & Lyricists released a short video describing the mission of the organization.  Here is television composer Dan Foliart, describing the society in his own words when he was the president of the organization:

It’s an honor to participate in the SCL’s seminar series and speak about game music to the New York Chapter!  The event will take place on February 9th, starting at 6:30pm.  If you’d like to attend, you can register here.