NBA 2K is a basketball videogame franchise that was created and launched by Sega and its subsidiary Visual Concepts in 1999. The NBA 2K concept is to imitate the sport of basketball as realistically as possible through lifelike graphics, controls, and sounds. For most reading this you probably already know a lot about NBA 2K but for those that need a refresher, we go into a little more background.

The NBA 2K game series was first released by Sega under the banner Sega Sports and then later by 2K Sports. This game has been a huge success and has become one of the best-selling games of all time. In May 2014, NBA 2K sold 18 million copies globally, and in February 2017, it sold a whopping 68 million copies world-wide. Sales continue to skyrocket year over year, opening opportunities for independent musicians to get their music heard to an audience of tens of millions.

Your Goals For Your Music

Until now, the NBA 2K game series has produced several games, the most recent of which is NBA 2K23, launching fall of 2022 for PlayStation brand consoles, Xbox brand consoles, Microsoft Windows, Android, and iOS.

Bottom line is, if you enjoy basketball videogames then you probably own at least one version of the NBA 2K series.

You’re here to find out how you can tap into this massive audience of videogame basketball fans and promote your music in the next NBA2k soundtrack. Having myself gone through the steps of submitting music directly to videogame publishers, I can assure you that anyone can do this. The first step is making sure that your music is of the highest quality, mixed and mastered, and is radio friendly.

Following the steps outlined in this blog post is only part of your mission, so make sure you checkout the rest of our blog posts for more information on how to get your music ready for submissions.

NBA 2K Requirements For Submission

2K has launched their annual '2K Beats: The Search' in collaboration with SoundCloud to uncover fresh musical talent for the NBA 2K22 soundtrack.

The worldwide music search begins with the 2K Beats: The Search. This is the opportunity for musicians to submit original music to 2K via SoundCloud on the official 2K Beats: The Search website, while SoundCloud Repost artists can contribute via the Pitch to Partners option.

"In recent years, the NBA 2K soundtrack has matured into a genuine platform for music discovery, where players can enjoy songs from young and aspiring musicians to some of the greatest worldwide superstars out there."

NBA 2K teamed up with SoundCloud, a discovery tool for independent music, and a player in the artist submission and uploading platforms arena to help streamline the submission process. Being a music supervisor for a game the size of NBA 2K must be a nightmare and add to that sorting through tens of thousands of submissions (with their own music rights and licensing headaches) seems to be something the NBA 2K team are trying to avoid.

By collaborating with them, NBA 2K hopes to encourage musicians to create up to date music that has an impact, authenticity, and the potential to be heard by millions of gamers. According to the NBA 2K team “We've discovered some different and outstanding talent thanks to '2K Beats.'"

According to NBA 2K, the game has a Producer Series feature with a "beats pack," which "provide a chance for the community to record their greatest rhymes over the beats and showcase their ability."

Realistic Expectations

Throughout the submission process, its important that we keep our expectations realistic. There will be hundreds of thousands of submissions for approximately two dozen spots. However, that’s not to say it isn’t possible, what I’m saying is to not put all your eggs in one basket.

Do yourself a favor and reach out to small indie videogame studios as well. Start trying to land placements with them so you can start networking with influential videogame producers and music supervisors.

Always seek for smaller developers initially, since having previous placements undoubtedly helps with your chances with big studios such as 2K Sports. The recent growth into online social games with less rich and in-depth material has increased the chances of you scoring smaller games. Indie games are heavily soundtrack driven so you can expect a much friendly invitation to submit your music to them.

How To Submit Music in NBA 2K

Your song will be assessed and selected for placement in the music for 2K Sports NBA 2K games as detailed below.

To participate, go to the competition homepage at Soundcloud.com/NBA2KBeatsTheSearch and fill out the application form. There is always a cutoff time, most of the time at the end of the current year for next year’s NBA 2K release so make sure to submit your music in time. If they are currently accepting submission, all you do is follow the onscreen instructions and you’re done.

The submission process is very easy and straightforward when using the NBA 2K Beats: The Search process. It’s the official way, it’s free and easy to do, however, it’s not the only way to get your music in the game.

Starting with NBA 2K20 modders for the Microsoft Windows version of the game have enabled more customizable settings specific to that platform. Modders are computer programmers who edit games in a way to change core aspects of how they look and feel. For example, some NBA 2K modders have added in player models of the late great Kobe Bryant.

Why that is relevant to you is that the most recent mods have added the option to add original music to your PC edition of NBA 2K20 and beyond. In addition, the game appears to allow you to record your own music.

This opens an opportunity for you to reach out to the NBA 2K modding community and offer your music for their game mods. The modders would much rather stream your tracks than pay music licensing fees usually associated with large record labels or music publishing platforms. They are also more likely to listen to your music if you have a website or online catalog that they can use to easily browse your music.

Prepare Your Music For Submission

Do not just send out demos. Submit your finest quality work that is ready to be licensed whenever needed. One more thing, make sure you do your research about who owns the rights to your music. It’s not as simple as you think because you’re the writer of the lyrics or the performer that you own 100% of the song.

You must make sure you have proper split sheets created. Split sheets are simple one-page documents that identifies what percentage of ownership is given to each participant on the song (including the music producer who usually gets 50% ownership).

All the important publishing documents should be grouped into one easy to upload file or PDF document. Before you ever send out one demo or submission, you must have everything prepared to get licensed the very next day if your music is selected for placement.

Finding More Ways To Place Music In Videogames

So you see by utilizing the submission opportunities provided by 2K Beats: The Search, you get to submit your music free of charge. Yes the competition is fierce but anything worth getting is worth trying for.

I’m sure some are aware that they can utilize TuneCore, DistroKid or similar services to post their music on prominent music streaming sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and others. However, this does not address your needs of music placement into videogames.

In the world of audio/visual placements such as TV, Film, Videogames, it’s the music supervisor who is the top dog. They pick the music that plays on whatever it is you are watching so make sure you pay them your respects!

Take these valuable tips with you when trying to submit music for TV, film, or videogames:

• Build a list of music supervisor contacts. Music supervisors are the most important people for placing your music for sync placements.
• Use platforms such as LinkedIn, IMDB, or Variety Insights to find lists and contact information for music supervisors and videogame production companies.
• Start with smaller indie videogame studios. Use platforms such as Steam on PC to search for game publishers and reach out.
• Find a music manager or some form of representation that already have established relationships within the videogame or entertainment industry.
• Always make sure your music is radio ready. It must be mixed and mastered, and super polished.
• Make sure your paperwork is in order. Don't mess around with this part. Whoever helped create your song must be properly credited and done so in writing.
• Don't give up when you start hearing "not interested". Many famous artists got turned down more than you could imagine. Your goal is to submit your music to as many places as you possibly can. Never give up!

You should be spending a lot of your free time on platforms such as LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) to gather names and contact information of music supervisors. You can also use IMDB to see the list of major videogame releases and the music supervisor attached to that project. I suggest adding them to your list of music supervisors and finding their contact information online or calling the videogame production company directly to pitch your music.

There are online platforms that can also help facilitate your connection with music supervisors. One of those companies is SharePro (www.sharetopros.com), where you can save time and submit your music directly to a vetted list of music supervisors, who are waiting for artist submissions.