About
About
A contest built for people who are still learning
The Indie Game Music Contest exists because entering a competition feels pointless when you know professionals with twenty years of experience are entering too. So we built one where that matters less.
Why this contest exists
Technique can be learned with time and practice: orchestration, mixing, mastering, a clean production. Musical ideas are a different thing, and they are what a game actually needs. So we ignore production quality when we evaluate. A piece recorded on one piano has the same chance as a fully produced orchestral score.
Professionals still have an advantage, of course, we cannot change that. But one hurdle is gone, and someone who has never opened a DAW has a real chance to place, and a reason to keep learning.
How we keep it fair
Every entry is judged by the jury
Not a pre-panel. In most competitions the experienced judges only see the last 10 to 20 entries. Here they see all of them.
Judging is blind
Judges see your video and your notes. No name, no age, no country, nothing else. That rules out bias, conscious or not.
Craft over gear
Production quality does not affect the score. Your ideas do.
What "indie" means here
Independently organized. There is no big company behind this contest and no sponsor paying for it; our sponsors provide prizes for the winners, nothing else. That independence is also the honest reason for the registration fee: it is what pays for running the contest and for the judges' time.
Personal feedback, if you want it
You can add individual feedback when you register. One of the judges then takes extra time to write personally about your submission: what works, what does not, and what to do about it. You can read real examples here.
It costs extra because it costs the judge real hours, and these are professionals whose time we pay for properly. For the same reason the feedback comes from one judge, not from all of them. Outside of a university course or knowing the right people, this kind of feedback is hard to get at all.
Who we are
We are FalkenMedia, a small company of filmmakers and composers based in Germany. We started with the Indie Film Music Contest, and the Indie Game Music Contest is our second one, built on everything we learned running the first.
Small also means you are talking to the people who run this, not to a support department. If something is unclear, or if you think we got something wrong, write to support@indiegamemusiccontest.com. We read every message and quite a few things on this site exist because a participant suggested them.
The jury
The composers who evaluate your submission. Every one of them works in the industry, and every one of them sees every entry. Take a moment with them, they are the reason the feedback here is worth something.
Tobi Weiss
Game composer & music producer, Germany
Tobi Weiss is a talented composer and music producer who has carved out a niche in the world of video game scoring. His musical journey began early, with foundational lessons in guitar and piano, which soon expanded into a broader exploration of sound. However, it was his work with Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) starting in 2006 that truly set the stage for his career in music production.
After earning a diploma in Sound Engineering from SAE in 2015 and a Bachelor of Science in Music Production in 2016, Tobi turned his focus to composing music for video games. What began as a side project in 2013 quickly evolved into a full-time career by 2017. His ability to create immersive and dynamic soundscapes has made him a sought-after composer in the gaming industry.
Tobi’s recent work in 2023 and 2024 highlights his expertise in video game scoring. He has composed soundtracks for several games, including “Green Again,” “Maverick,” and “About Cannons and Sparrows,” each project showcasing his ability to enhance the gaming experience through music. His contributions to “Greyskin,” which was featured at Gamescom 2023, and additional work on “Idle Heroes” further demonstrate his versatility and commitment to the craft. Additionally, he has produced demo tracks for industry giants like Native Instruments, Spitfire Audio, and Eastwest Sounds, solidifying his reputation as a leading composer in the world of video game music.
D'Anthoni Wooten
Game & film composer, Dave the Diver
D’Anthoni Wooten, originally from Kansas City, Kansas, is a video game and film composer based out of Los Angeles. He is best known for his work on the hit video game title, Dave the Diver in 2023 which has received numerous accoladed and awards and was released internationally on consoles such as Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, and other platforms in 2023. His music from the game also landed him a nomination for Video Game Score of the Year in the 2024 ASCAP Composer’s Choice Awards. He has also extensively worked alongside other video game composers such as premiering on Celeste and Minecraft composer Lena Raine’s Remix album, Reknowing, where he rearranged her song Tsukuyomi alongside a collection of various big name video game composers. He also played a pivotal role as the lead vocalist for Wilbert Roget’s score for Pacific Drive.
Outside of video game scores, he has also worked extensively in the Film and Commercial music industries, landing a national TV commercial jingle in Japan and have scored for films and documentaries directed by English director Leon Oldstrong such as horror film ‘Lies of Our Confines’ (2022) and The Uncertain Kingdom (2020).
D’Anthoni studies at Berklee College of Music where he majored and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring and Electronic Production and Design and a minor in Video Game Scoring with high honors in 2017
Jeff Tinsley
Composer, orchestrator & conductor, Los Angeles
Jeff Tinsley composes music for film, television, and video games. He is also constantly in demand as an orchestrator and conductor. Jeff graduated in 2012 from the prestigious USC Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television Program, and is an alumnus of the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis.
Jeff has enjoyed numerous opportunities as a composer to collaborate on a wide variety of notable projects, including The Nanny (2022), The Kids Table (2019), and Superior (2014). As an orchestrator, he is best known for his work on the Emmy-nominated score for Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, as well as Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Corey Wallace
Film, TV & game composer, 100+ credits
Corey Wallace is an LA based film, television, and video game composer with 20 years of experience & nearly 100 credits to his name. His thematic, orchestral score to Jamie Winterstern’s storm-chasing adventure film SUPERCELL was touted as one of the best films of the year by the International Film Music Critic’s Association (IFMCA), receiving multiple nominations including ‘Breakthrough Composer of the Year’.
Other accolades include Best Original Score-Animated film at the 2020 Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) for MIME YOUR MANNERS, and 4 festival Best Score wins, including Grimmfest 2019, for the horror film ARTIK – a “symphony of broken instruments”. Wallace’s orchestral fantasy score to THE HYBRIDS FAMILY earned him Best Soundtrack honors at the 2018 Onerous Film Awards.
Wallace has also contributed additional music to Blumhouse’s THE FIRST PURGE, and he has worked on AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, TNT’s SNOWPIERCER, ABC’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., Apple TV+’s SEE, ABC’s QUANTICO, Netflix’ VIKINGS: VALHALLA, the Netflix film WE HAVE A GHOST,, as well as the AAA Grammy nominated video game CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD,
Wallace graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008) and the University of Southern California’s prestigious Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television (SMPTV) program in 2009, going on to assist film scoring icon Christopher Young. Wallace was honored as a participant in the 2010 ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop where he received the David Rose Scholarship. After scoring the indie hit SHADOW PEOPLE in 2012 for director Matthew Arnold, the pair made their network television debut on the critically acclaimed NBC thriller/drama SIBERIA.
Other recent films include the Comedy Central original comedy-horror CURSED FRIENDS, starring Harvey Guillen, Jessica Lowe, and Nicole Byer, with Will Arnett, Ken Marino, Nikki Glaser, and Nicole Richie, now streaming on Paramount+.
Contact us any time: support@indiegamemusiccontest.com