[SotW] Song of the Week - Definition of "Professional VGM Composer"

I like the discretion method most.

Every time we install a rule that's meant to be hard and fast, something always comes along to stretch it. Because "obscurity" is so subjective, "legitimacy" becomes equally hazy.

You really need to look at the career. There's always nebulous issues. Perhaps a composer did some early PC-88 work, then produced a decade's worth of original music before announcing a commitment to return to proper VGM, but was met with an untimely death. (Just a hypothetical; I'm not thinking of anyone specific.)
Would the fact that this person never got the chance to return to VGM negate his works from the PC-98 because they were significantly fewer than his original material? Perhaps the composer had a very impressive repertoire and is known to have inspired others? Legacies count for something too.

Or maybe a composer worked on official albums for a short while but became disenchanted with the industry and chose to work on the doujin scene for the remainder of his career. Though the doujin tracks aren't eligible, the album work should be considered no matter how scant. The industry connections between accredited composition and doujin are too significant to fully ignore.

I think the sequence of their composing career is a far more significant factor and that issue will be addressed in the other poll.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

We already do this to some degree, aviness.

Refer to this list.

All albums on that list are off-limits for nomination for whatever length is listed alongside each. This is how we prevent a rapid onslaught of, say, Disgaea tracks, whenever a new OST is released. Whenever a track places, its respective album, gamerip or source is disqualified for X weeks, dependent upon which place the track earned.

What you're proposing is a temporary moratorium on all non-VGM works by that composer, though, correct? I can see why you'd say this, and from a newcomer's perspective, you're thinking well. But that problem often takes care of itself because we, as a group, seem to dislike repetitiveness.

If we see that one particular series or composer is being given a lot of nominations within a small span, you'll be able to observe the dissatisfaction in the voting. Where once a Sakuraba track may have done well, it will get overlooked if there's been too much Sakuraba recently. The same goes for just about any musical genre. I've seen people literally express their dissatisfaction: "Another Hulsbeck track?? The guy can compose. We know this, okay? There's other composers too." (Paraphrased to the best of my recollection, but essentially what was said.)


I've always liked the "independent work by established VGM artists" clause. SotW is like panning for gold and sometimes those indie tracks are akin to tapping into an entire vein. For those of us who have interests in particular artists, or are simply curious as to what composers do in their spare time, these independent works are a great discovery. I'd hate for them to go uncelebrated because there really isn't any other forum around here in which they can be critiqued or praised to any worthwhile effect.

The only true issue is deciding what "established" means. A case-by-case method still seems best suited for this.

But perhaps a short-term moratorium on any composer's non-VGM material isn't the worst idea. I wouldn't go any longer than a month, but that should be enough time to force others to nominate with more variety.

(Though I don't think it's that great of a problem in the first place. In the grand scheme of things, we don't get that many indie nominations. I think the most tend to come from me and DH.)

There's nowhere I can't reach.