Best Video Game Soundtrack Will be a New Category at the GRAMMY Awards

The official GRAMMY Twitter account recently announced that the GRAMMY Awards’ 65th edition, which will take place in 2023, will include 5 brand-new categories: Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical), Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Americana Performance, Best-Spoken Word Poetry Album and Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media. These new entries in the Recording Academy’s iconic ceremony will bring the total number of categories up to a whopping 91.

The Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media award

But the award we’re most interested in is the one regarding the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media. About that, the tweet posted by the account Recording Academy / GRAMMYs reads:

“[the award] recognizes excellence in score soundtrack albums comprised predominately of original scores and created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current videogame or other interactive media released within the qualification period”

What this category means to the gaming industry

It’s safe to say that having a GRAMMY category specifically created to reward the work of video game composers is a historic event.

The GRAMMY Awards is one of, if not the most important event for celebrating “Outstanding Achievement in the music industry”. The first ceremony was held on May 4th, 1959, and from that moment onward the GRAMMYs kept on solidifying itself as one of the most influential events in pop culture even to this day, with the latest sixty-fourth edition held on April 3rd 2022.

Being acknowledged by such a staple of mainstream culture is an amazing victory for the gaming industry. An industry that has been fighting constantly throughout the decades against die-hard biases, which have always perpetuated the idea that the video game medium is a mere childish, frivolous hobby that doesn’t deserve any respect.

The institution of this new GRAMMY Awards category dedicated to rewarding the musical excellence within the gaming sphere demonstrates that the perception of society around video games is finally changing for the better. It is a way of validating this form of art — music in video games, but also video games as a whole — to the eyes of a wider, mainstream audience.

The importance of music in video games

The soundtrack is an incredibly important element of a video game that is capable of elevating your experience. Being accompanied by a masterful, emotional, immersive set of musical pieces while playing is an adventure that can even define your feelings towards a certain title. You might come across a mediocre game that has weak characters and gameplay, but these negative aspects will become almost negligible if the game’s soundtrack is superbly done.

There are so many composers that shaped the video game industry and contributed to creating a game’s identity with their work. Nobuo Uematsu, Koji Kondo, Jeremy Soule, Yoko Shimomura, Harry Gregson-Williams… the list of genius artists who crafted the music within the gaming medium goes on and on.