The Magic of EA Sports’ FIFA Soundtracks
It’s the year 2014 and you boot up your Playstation, you pick your most played game; FIFA 14, the latest edition of the EA Sports football series. The game loads and the first thing your hear is “EA Sports…it’s in the game” followed by some random in-game soundtrack.
You bop your head to the tune as you set up your FIFA Manager career Mode. You decide to spice it up by starting with a division 4 team in England with your grand plan to get them promoted to the Premier league within 5 seasons and your choices are either Preston North End or Northampton. You weigh your options as the next song plays and you pick Northampton just because.
The Career mode’s gameplay is not the centre of the conversation rather it is the music. Songs like John Newman’s “Love me again” and Olympic Ayres’ “Magic” keep you motivated and you start to fall in love with the game’s official soundtrack and then you dive into the rabbit hole. Why are these songs so good? Who picks them? What is the criteria? It’s a very deep rabbit hole but finally you start to get some answers.
According to Steve Schnur, EA’s worldwide executive and president of music, the songs were specifically chosen to attract and resonate well among their target market between ages 12–24 because it is at that age music is very impactful to young adults. (Finally, some answers!)
These songs have continued to shape my taste in music and has made me more open minded to artistes from totally different cultures and I have discovered so many through FIFA and its more recent editions.
These soundtracks have now become cultural tastemakers and with so many young adults playing the game, it is definitely setting a trend for the future of music and giving relatively obscure and unknown artists a platform to share their art with a wider audience. Bands like Jungle, Young Fathers and ISLAND have had songs off their album lead audiences to their Spotify and Apple Music discographies where they get to listen to more of their songs.
These songs have also become features on playlists that help game players get through chores, work and life itself. Imagine powering through a strategy document while a FIFA song blasts out of the office sound system or your Airpods while you work from home. I’ve cracked tough briefs and created ad copy with a FIFA playlist playing in the background more times than I care to remember
For me, I think getting your song on any of the FIFA editions as an artist is one of the best ways to get noticed by a global audience and for the players, we can’t say no to good music while we compete. Before I leave, here’s a link to a FIFA playlist that helps me get through the day.
https://music.apple.com/ng/playlist/fifa/pl.u-qxylK2xT2X3D60R
