Super Meat Boy may be releasing on Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita this Tuesday, October 6th; but it will be sounding markedly different than the versions people have come to know and love. Danny Baranowsky, original composer of Super Meat Boy, has denied the use of his original soundtrack to be used with the PS4 and Vita versions of the game. Baranowsky parted ways with Team Meat a few years back, and ended up not being the composer for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth despite being the composer of the original game. He cites the reason for the split as having nothing to do with creative differences, though declines to go into detail.
“I own all the rights to my music, and Team Meat approached me to license the music for the PS4 and Vita versions. I didn’t feel like the license fee and exposure through PSN they offered was enough to make me seriously consider accepting the deal. I decided to decline their offer. I wish them and the new artists the best of luck with the game.” – Danny B
Composition of the PS4 and Vita port will now be done by Ridiculon (The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth), David “Scattle” Scatliffe (Hotline Miami), and Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies). The game will be available on PSN for free for Playstation Plus members.
This lends a bit of timely weight to my recent article about game composer’s rights with regards to control over their music, and the need to be savvy with said control for the good of the composer and their livelihood. In this case, it sounds like Danny’s not out to screw Team Meat or fans, but is making the choice to keep a firm grip on his property for his own sake, which seems like a good call for indie composers these days.
Source: dannyBstyle
