MCB Interviews Sean Beeson
While many composers pack up and head to Los Angeles in search of work, Sean Beeson has defied the odds and built an award winning career in his home state of Ohio, thanks in part to a strong online presence and client referrals. Beeson has scored over 50 games, dozens of films, and has written concert works that are being performed worldwide.
"Most of my new clients this year were referrals from other clients," says Beeson.
"Word of mouth has worked really well for me, and I am very grateful for that. I am a firm believer that if you truly work for someone, treat them ethically, and take pride in the work you are doing with them, that they will work for you.""For the kind of music that I am hired to write, there really isn't much of a difference in the compositions, the process of composing, or the quality of the scores," says Beeson. "The biggest problem I encounter when working on mobile games is the lack of resources dedicated to music. Unfortunately, music is one of the last things added to a game and so even if clients want 10 minutes of music, they don't have the space budgeted for it." Developers try to keep game sizes small so they can be downloaded to mobile devices. Games requiring wi-fi connections often lose out on potential sales.
"Almost all of the game music I write has no natural ending and is designed to loop for the duration of a level/stage/puzzle," Beeson explains. "Recently, I am composing a lot of layered scores that are being dynamically mixed based on certain variables in the games."