Soundtrack Question (Why so many disabled tracks?)

[Chubz]

Something I immediately noticed upon entering the "EA Music" menu is that of the 67 tracks included with the game, a whopping 34 of them are disabled (i.e. toggled off) by default.

This means more than half of the tracks will literally never play unless you just so happen to know to go into that menu and turn them on. There are some really cool ones hidden in there too, like Andrew WK's "Party Hard" which is a real throwback to Madden '03.

My question is: why on god's green earth is this the case? And has it always been this way, or is this a recent development?

I just can't fathom why you would stuff the game with nearly 70 tracks, and then 'hide' half of them from the majority of players since the average person will never even think to go into that menu.

Does anyone happen to have any insight into this?

I'm just so confused/perplexed right now.

[Unlucky 13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chubz

Something I immediately noticed upon entering the "EA Music" menu is that of the 67 tracks included with the game, a whopping 34 of them are disabled (i.e. toggled off) by default. This means more than half of the tracks will literally never play unless you just so happen to know to go into that menu and turn them on. There are some really cool ones hidden in there too, like Andrew WK's "Party Hard" which is a real throwback to Madden '03. My question is: why on god's green earth is this the case? And has it always been this way, or is this a recent development? I just can't fathom why you would stuff the game with nearly 70 tracks, and then 'hide' half of them from the majority of players since the average person will never even think to go into that menu. Does anyone happen to have any insight into this? I'm just so confused/perplexed right now.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I would have never, ever stumbled upon where its lurking now. There are a lot of past Madden Greatest Hits unchecked. Songs that I first heard through the game years ago. Also better than most of the default songs, by my tastes.

[ZachenFoot]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chubz

My question is: why on god's green earth is this the case? And has it always been this way, or is this a recent development? I just can't fathom why you would stuff the game with nearly 70 tracks, and then 'hide' half of them from the majority of players since the average person will never even think to go into that menu. Does anyone happen to have any insight into this? I'm just so confused/perplexed right now.

I really don't think it's that mysterious or confusing. It's almost certainly a rights issue. EA isn't a record label so all of these songs are licensed from different labels, which means there are going to be different agreements with different clauses. Because of streaming and stuff like that, it's probably no longer safe to auto play some songs they have a previous agreement with or they could be held liable for inappropriate use.

MLB The Show doesn't have to hide songs from its soundtrack, because Sony publishes the game and Sony also runs a label, for instance. Easier to maneuver all that.

It's convoluted, it's annoying, but I'd bet anything that's the reason. I don't think this is an EA or developer error or oversight. Music rights are a minefield and it's better to be safe than sorry.

[Unlucky 13]

Quote: Originally Posted by ZachenFoot

I really don't think it's that mysterious or confusing. It's almost certainly a rights issue. EA isn't a record label so all of these songs are licensed from different labels, which means there are going to be different agreements with different clauses. Because of streaming and stuff like that, it's probably no longer safe to auto play some songs they have a previous agreement with or they could be held liable for inappropriate use. MLB The Show doesn't have to hide songs from its soundtrack, because Sony publishes the game and Sony also runs a label, for instance. Easier to maneuver all that. It's convoluted, it's annoying, but I'd bet anything that's the reason. I don't think this is an EA or developer error or oversight. Music rights are a minefield and it's better to be safe than sorry.

There are aspects of our society that are really easy to hate.

[WiiMaster]

They are from the stadium soundtrack but have been added as an option in the menu soundtrack this year.