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Video game music goes to next level at Grammys

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Video game music goes to next level at Grammys

Whether it is the catchy chime of a chiptune, the melodies of the metaverse or the latest trending “Super Mario Bros” remix — video game music is seemingly boundless.

Now the growing popularity of the video game industry and years of advocacy from game composers will be reflected in the 2023 Grammy Awards as the Recording Academy announced its inaugural “Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media” category.
Five nominees will compete at Sunday’s Grammys, out of the 70 original scores submitted for the category’s maiden year. The nominees are composers Austin Wintory for “Aliens: Fireteam Elite,” Stephanie Economou for “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok,” Bear McCreary for “Call of Duty: Vanguard,” Richard Jacques for “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” and Christopher Tin for “Old World.”

The success of video game music coincides with the overall growth of the global games market, which in 2022 generated total revenues of $184.4 billion and is expected to reach $211.2 billion revenue by 2025, according to data analytics firm Newzoo.

The video game industry also flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic as people increasingly turned to digital entertainment during lockdowns. “It was only a matter of time before the Grammys recognized that there were a lot of soundtracks being produced for video games and they’re all very good,” Tin told Reuters.

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Tin’s “Baba Yetu” theme for the game “Civilization IV” won the “Best Instrumental Arrangement” Grammy in 2011, making him the first video game nominee and winner, while Wintory’s soundtrack for the game “Journey” was nominated in the “Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media” in 2012.

“Video games have been making waves with new revenue streams for some time,” Uziel Colon, who helped develop the new category, told the Grammys. “In the future, video games and music will merge — it’s already happening.”

However, video game music has not always hit all the right notes to be specifically recognized at the Grammys.

“Video game music has been eligible for the Grammys since 1999, and only one score had ever been nominated before, which was ten years ago. There are people who I think were dissatisfied with that,” Wintory told Reuters.

Wintory said video games were not being nominated at all when the category they fell under was “Best Score Soundtrack for Film, Television, and Other Media” because being labeled “Other Media” was “marginalizing” them as a sort of miscellaneous category.

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But game music is breaking ground through technological innovation and new avenues for consumers to experience it.

This includes live immersive video game concerts, video game scores across platforms like YouTube,Twitch, TikTok and Fortnite, remixes and collaborations, augmented and virtual reality and even eye-tracking technology.

Economou told Reuters that having Grammys recognition provides validation that video game music is shaping “the musical landscape of society.”

McCreary, who has composed music for popular shows like “Battlestar Galactica,” “The Walking Dead,” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” believes composing for games, movies and TV shows is not so different.

“For me, story and theme are universal,” he told Reuters.

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Yet, he said video games have unique challenges for composers because they are interactive experiences versus only being witnessed by the audience.

The music must “work in a unique technical capacity, beyond simply supporting narrative,” he added.

Collaborating with game developers and audio teams informs his ability to write music that can be smoothly integrated into a video game.

“It’s a close collaboration unlike anything else in the entertainment industry,” McCreary said.

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Sania Mirza performs Umrah, shares photos on Instagram

Sania Mirza performs Umrah, shares photos on Instagram

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Sania Mirza performs Umrah, shares photos on Instagram

Former India tennis player Sania Mirza, the wife of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, has performed Umrah along with his son.

Ms. Mirza took to Instagram where she shared a slew of photos captured in Makkah and Madina, the holiest places for Muslims in the world.

“Allhamdulillah May Allah accept our prayers,” she captioned the photos as she can we seen wearing black “Abaya” while posing for the clicks.

Last month, Sania Mirza retired from the game after suffering a shock defeat in final game of the career.
She played along with Madison Keys of the US when the pair was defeated by Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in the women’s doubles match at the Dubai Open. The 36-year-old was playing the last tournament of her glorious career after announcing her retirement plans.

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The former women’s doubles world number one was ranked at 28 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She had won six Grand Slam titles and 43 major titles in the celebrated career spanning over wo decades.

She is the only Indian woman to top doubles rankings, and achieve a career-high singles ranking of 27.

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Food poisoning lands Alizeh Shah in hospital

Food poisoning lands Alizeh Shah in hospital

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Food poisoning lands Alizeh Shah in hospital

Lollywood diva Alizeh Shah has proved her mettle in the showbiz industry with her exceptional acting skills and reached the heights of stardom

She used to treat the fans with her beautiful clicks and videos on Instagram. This time around, the Ehd-e-Wafa famed star has fallen ill as she posted her photo from the hospital bed.

She can be seen lying on a hospital bid where she is receiving IV treatment. Taking to Instagram stories, she wrote: “Pls pray for me. I got food poisoned”.

Alizeh Shah debuted her acting career in 2016, with a supporting role Alina in Choti Si Zindagi. Later, she performed roles in Ishq Tamasha, Ehd-e-Wafa, Hoor Pari, Jo Tu Chahey, Mera Dil Mera Dushman, Bebessi and Taqdeer.

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Taylor Swift kicks off US Eras Tour at Super Bowl stadium

Taylor Swift kicks off US Eras Tour at Super Bowl stadium

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Taylor Swift kicks off US Eras Tour at Super Bowl stadium

Taylor Swift opened her U.S. concert series with a three-hour tour of her career.

Swift kicked off the first concert of the 52-date Eras Tour with a six-song set from her album “Lover” on Friday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the Super Bowl was played a month ago.

“I don’t know how to address the way this is making me feel right now,” Swift, who hasn’t toured since 2018, said early in the show.

She ended the concert with a seven-song set from her latest album “Midnights,” closing with the song “Karma.”

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In between she played clusters of songs from most of her albums — and just one, “Tim McGraw,” from her 2006 self-titled debut. In the end it took 44 songs and just over three hours for her to span her 17-year career.

Having not toured for her previous three albums, this concert series is intended to play catchup by providing the live debut of many of those songs. When Swift announced the tour in November she called it “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!).”

Swift seemed to acknowledge the Ticketmaster furor that sullied the run-up to the tour when she told the crowd of more than 70,000 that she understands it took “considerable effort” for them to be there.

After another show at the same venue Saturday night, the tour moves on to Allegiant Stadium outside Las Vegas and then AT&T Stadium near Dallas.

It concludes with two Los Angeles-area shows in August.

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