PvZ Soundtrack Release Date: Monday, November 22nd!!
November 18, 2010 at 12:11 pm | Posted in Video Games | 40 CommentsTags: plants vs zombies soundtrack, pvz, video games
Hi everyone! I hope you’ve been doing well… this past month has been very busy, but I wanted to let you guys know of some exciting news… After 1.5 years of waiting (and many many emails to PopCap), I’ve finally been given permission to release a Plants vs. Zombies soundtrack! I’m so excited about it, and so thankful that folks have been supportive and patient. I’ve decided to release it this coming Monday (November the 22nd) on my bandcamp page, and it will include all of the original music as well as the music you hear in-game. Additionally, George Fan will be drawing some awesome cover art! So if you can, please help us spread the word!
For those who don’t know, prior to implementing the music into the game, I composed MIDI tracks that were mixed with higher quality samples and instruments… but due to both space limitations and the need to make the music dynamic, my original midis were modded and lower quality samples were used. In the original tracks, the calm and intense versions are blended seamlessly because those versions were meant to be standalone musical pieces as opposed to blocks for dynamic usage (with the exception of Watery Graves, which has both a slow and a fast version). I really wanted to share these original tracks because this was how they were meant to sound, but I also wanted folks to be able to get the in-game music.
So… this week I’ve been trying my best to prepare! Over the past 1.5 years I’ve gotten thousands of inquiries about a soundtrack and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to contact everyone. Gmail doesn’t let you send emails with a BCC field of over 50 recipients, and there is a limit to how many BCCs you can send per day. I’ve also noticed that even if you’re using a mail client that allows for unlimited BCCs, the most common mail services will either spam or reject emails with large BCC fields. So folks have been telling me I should use a mailing list service… Someone also recommended Google Groups. Unfortunately, Google Groups has the same limitations, so I was only able to add about 80 people out of thousands. I tried sending out invitations once my “direct add” capacity was filled, but I’m not sure if they all got through. Shortly after sending out all these invites, Derek Yu told me (via Matt Wegner) about this mailing list service which seems really affordable and solid. So I might end up using it as my mailing list from here on out… it’s about time I got around to doing this!
There’s so much more to talk about, but this entry is already pretty lengthy so I’ll save those things for a future post. Again, thank-you guys for all your support, I’m so glad I’ll finally be able to release this soundtrack! And if you can help me let folks know that the soundtrack is coming out on November 22nd (this coming Monday), I would really appreciate it ^_^
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mybluedream 
That is AWESOME to hear! I can’t believe Popcap finally gave in 😀
Comment by Atreus— November 18, 2010 #
Thanks Atreus! I can’t believe it either… after a year went by I just thought it was never going to happen. But one of the people there (Ed Allard) was very helpful with getting the ball rolling on the legal front, so I’m glad for that!
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
By the way, I don’t know if you’d want to advertise it or not, but WordPress does have a system for notifying people of new posts via email. That’s what I use!
Comment by Atreus— November 18, 2010 #
How does it work?
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
I get emails when you post new blogs if I subscribe to your blog (: That’s a really good way to keep up too!
But anyways, Congrats on the soundtrack release! I can’t wait to hear it!
Comment by Puddinguin— November 18, 2010 #
I’m not sure what more I can tell besides the above – it sends an email when you make a post, and it includes the post in it as well. If you want, I can send you a copy of one – just toss me an email at the address included in this and I can forward it to you if you’d like!
Comment by Atreus— November 22, 2010 #
This is such exciting news! Congratulations Laura! I can’t wait to get my copy. Will we be able to just download it?
Comment by Sheila— November 18, 2010 #
Thanks Shiela ^_^ Yup! You’ll be able to download it directly from Bandcamp. Bandcamp is cool because it lets folks download the music in any format they want (even including FLAC).
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
I’m so glad they finally let you release it! I still remember sending an email to PopCap’s customer service about a year ago asking if there was a soundtrack for sale. I’ll make sure to spread this via twitter, facebook, all that jazz. Go go shigi!
Comment by Arthur— November 18, 2010 #
Thanks so much for letting them know that you wanted to get a soundtrack! And I really appreciate that you’re helping to let folks know about the release date ^_^
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
I’m so excited!!!! So can’t wait for the PVZ soundtrack next week. Thanks heaps Laura for doing the hard work to get past all the red tape lol.
Well, no need to think bout what I’m gonna listen to on my playlist for next week XD
Take care 🙂
Comment by Dean— November 18, 2010 #
Thanks Dean! I’m really glad that the persistence paid off in the end ^_^ I was getting discouraged there for a while, but now I’m really happy!
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
I am so excited about this! I’ll notify everyone I know prodigously through Twitter and Facebook! Also my coworkers may start to worry I’m just playing PvZ at work with the soundtrack playing all day long come Monday!
Comment by David K.— November 18, 2010 #
Hahaha, that would be so funny if your boss thought you were playing PvZ 😛 Thank-you David for letting folks know, I really appreciate it!
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SeiferTim, Atreus. Atreus said: After 1.5 years of waiting, the Plants vs Zombies composer has finally been given permission to release the soundtrack 😀 http://j.mp/aFLtaV […]
Pingback by Tweets that mention PvZ Soundtrack Release Date: Monday, November 22nd!! « mybluedream -- Topsy.com— November 18, 2010 #
uh thats what facebook fan pages are for no?
Comment by krz9000— November 18, 2010 #
I actually don’t have a Facebook… I noticed there is a Laura Shigihara Facebook fanpage, but it’s not mine (I don’t know who started it or how to contact them, hehe).
Comment by shigi— November 18, 2010 #
I think you should start using Facebook, it helps spread information faster and more people will join. Plus, I think if you have a Facebook, many people here will be so happy 😉 Oh, and Twitter too. I still like the idea that you’ll be using WordPress, and the Facebook and Twitter to put links on, and there you have a system 😛
Comment by Ken— November 18, 2010 #
This is great news!! I’ve been wanting this soundtrack ever since the game came out like 2 years ago. This is going on my facebook and getting emailed to all my friends (who are also major PvZ and PvZ Music fans!) Congratulations Laura!
Comment by Don— November 18, 2010 #
Thanks Don! I really appreciate that… Hopefully folks will still remember the soundtrack even though the game was released such a long time ago!
Comment by shigi— November 19, 2010 #
Has it really been 1.5 years? Definitely looking forward to the soundtrack 🙂 Always liked it for it’s unique and varied styles. What’s the story behind Popcap letting you release the songs?
Comment by Davixus— November 18, 2010 #
Yup, I can’t believe that much time has already gone by! I’m glad that you liked the style ^_^ The story behind PopCap letting me release the songs: Normally when I work with companies I request that the right to release a soundtrack be worked into my contract (the contract is also usually written up and signed before the bulk of the work is even started). Unfortunately, due to some random issues PopCap wasn’t able to get me the contract until the week before the game was set to be released (even though I had started on the music 3 years prior), so there was no time to discuss the contract or negotiate the soundtrack issue. I wasn’t very happy about this, but I felt obligated to sign so as not to delay the game’s release. But ever since then I’ve been working to retroactively add something to the contract that would allow me to release the soundtrack. Thankfully, one of the folks there was really helpful and made sure the soundtrack contract got written and sent to me. So I’m really thankful that I’m finally able to do this!
Comment by shigi— November 19, 2010 #
I am SO excited, you have no idea! I’m telling everyone I know, and even some I don’t!
Comment by Solcade— November 18, 2010 #
Hehe, thank-you Solcade! I really appreciate that ^_^
Comment by shigi— November 19, 2010 #
This is FANTASTIC news! How is Melolune coming along?
Comment by Piccolo— November 19, 2010 #
Thanks Piccolo! Melolune is coming along pretty well… the last part of the game is proving to be kind of complicated though (both in terms of story resolution and gameplay). The story was written a long time ago, but I’ve changed a few things since then and I’m having trouble resolving those things… but hopefully it’ll work itself out soon! I want the ending to be really cool XD (wish me luck)
Comment by shigi— November 19, 2010 #
You don’t need luck, you have all the skills necessary to make a cool ending 😀
Comment by Piccolo— November 19, 2010 #
Ow yeah!! =D I’m glad our e-mails got through; Kudos to Popcap for adjusting/adding to the contract. ^_^
I’ll be looking forward to the cover art too. XD
Comment by Rob The— November 19, 2010 #
Thank-you for emailing them, it really helped a lot ^_^ And George is actually working on the cover art right now… the chomper looks so cool, hehe 😛
Comment by shigi— November 20, 2010 #
yay finally i can get a copy of pvz soundtracks . I’ll will help to spread this great news ! uhmm . . laura , do you plan to make three endings on melolune? [ bad ending , normal ending , happy ending 🙂 ] .
Comment by keito— November 19, 2010 #
Thanks Keito! I really appreciate your help with spreading the news! Hmm… I don’t think it’s going to be like Chrono Trigger where there are multiple endings (the story was written kind of as a novel, so the ending is very concrete)… but if there’s time I might add in some extra stuff 😉
Comment by shigi— November 20, 2010 #
Wow congratulations!! how exciting! I can’t wait to download your soundtrack! I’ll make sure to tell everyone I know ^^
Comment by Chiri— November 19, 2010 #
Thanks so much for telling folks about it Chiri!
Comment by shigi— November 20, 2010 #
InsaniquariumGuide.com’s reaction to the news has been quite positive. For once, we are looking forward to a Monday. 😀
Comment by Pikadude No. 1— November 19, 2010 #
Thanks Pikadude! I’m happy to hear that the folks at InsaniquariumGuide.com are looking forward to the soundtrack coming out! I’m really excited about sharing George (flyingbear)’s new cover art too, it’s looking really cool so far ^_^
Comment by shigi— November 20, 2010 #
yay u came back
Comment by Vincent Gavin S. Espanol— November 20, 2010 #
Hehe, thanks Vincent ^_^ Even though I get wrapped up in work, I’ll always try to make a point to update the website!
Comment by shigi— November 20, 2010 #
Don’t want to echo what others have said too much, but this is fantastic news! It’ll be great to have a complete PvZ soundtrack (in lossless, no less) and awesome cover art too.
Can we expect any bonus tracks?
I think this just took monetary priority over Donkey Kong Country Returns…
Comment by JoetheArachnid— November 21, 2010 #
And, it’s out! See: http://laurashigihara.bandcamp.com/album/plants-vs-zombies-soundtrack
Purchasing time 😀
Comment by Atreus— November 22, 2010 #
ps. This would be a great time to have a Twitter, even if it only put out tweets for the new blog posts you put up! Just sayin’ 🙂
Comment by Atreus— November 22, 2010 #