Music it's in the game Welcome to Madden

When you mention the name Madden you think of two things, partly depending on your age. You may think of Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, who in 1969 became NFL’s youngest head coach at the age of 32. Madden retired as a Super Bowl winning head coach and was the youngest coach ever to reach 100 career regular season victories, a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42. Madden was also a NFL color commentator.

When you hear the name Madden, you also think of the second largest source of licensing revenue after apparel, which is EA Sports Madden NFL video game. This game series was released in 1988 as John Madden, by 1993 the name of the game changed to Madden NFL after EA acquired the rights to use NFL teams and players. Madden NFL has become the second most sold game by EA sports behind FIFA, 23 versions have been made and this year Madden 13 sold 900,000 copies during its first 24 hours of sale.

Both coaches and players have said that Madden has influenced their game skills, which makes sense when the players and coaches are generated as part of the game. It’s kind of forcing the league to step up its game skills so they game can continue to be as realistic as possible. Madden definitely plays an important role with the league’s recruitment of children as new football fans because it gives kids the ability to not only grow with their favorite team but follow a positive lifestyle. Most children and adults who play and have played the game understand the game of football better, whether it be by playing in a little league, high school or college team or even just being exposed to it by their circle of influence.

Madden is not only known for its realistic player stats and skills, but it’s been known to have a strong music presences from popular music genres. EA trax are responsible for the music content of Madden they used to feature up-and-coming , hard-rock, and rap artist who were radio friendly but over the years it has done a 180.

In 2007 EA trax decided to add 37 songs to the Madden soundtrack. Some of the artist who are featured on the game are Lupe Fiasco, Beastie Boys,2Pac, 30 Seconds to Mars, Taking Back Sunday, Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Wayne, Killer Mike, Trae, Swizz Beatz, Paul Wall, and Talib Kweli just to name a few. The minds behind EA trax have figured out how to find a happy medium and cater to every kind of player from new school to old school with a combination of Hip-Hop, Rock and Alternative to create the perfect blend of zone music.

Unfourtanetly this years Madden doesn’t have the same main stream music luxury as it did in the past. According to Matt Bialosuknia who’s the Audio Producer states that “Audio is such a huge part of the gaming experience and we’ve blown it out.” EA Trax was replaced by E.A.R.S. EA TM Recording label, and this years 20 audio soundtrack was composed by Colin O’Malley who is a well know composer who has worked with CNN, the Walt Disney Company , Universal Studios, DC Comics and Electronic Arts.He was the main composer of the Tomb Raider : Underworld video game. Madden’s current soundtrack includes Madden Main Theme, Pregame, Gridiron Smash, Quarter Variation 1, Legacy ,Quarter Variation 2 , War Chant, End Game For Halftime , Halftime segment, Quarter Variation 3, Lineage, Bring the Pain, Quarter Variation 4, Glory, ucm, Ucm Heritage, Ucm the Game, Ucm Victory, End Game,Pageantry Of Football.

Once again The NFL and the Music industry meet, but on different terms. When you combine two popular American pastimes you create an unstoppable force. One can’t really become as successful as it can be without the other.

Here are a few videos from Madden’s past Featured Artist

Lil Wayne -6 Foot 7 Foot ft. Cory Gunz