The Growl FM music contest dorked me up.

[UpHighLowDown]

Hey you all, first, sorry for any bad english, I'm trying my best.

As probably some others around here, I was one of the thousands who sent in a piece of music for the official music contest a long time ago. I knew chances of winning were slim from the beginning, but when it was certain that my music would not be a part of the new radio station, it really put me down. I never won anything, was never part of anything, my music never had any impact on anything.

Time moved on and I got over the initial feeling of grief, but now with the hypetrain rolling again for the soon-to-come release, I can't help but still feel seriously bad. This also killed all my interest for the upcoming DLC, I used to absolutely LOVE everything about cyberpunk, but since the contest went down, I don't have any positive connection to all of this any more. Whenever I hear or see anything regarding growl fm or the upcoming expansion, I just have to think about why I couldn't make it in. I wanted it so bad, I gave it my best, seems like it wasn't enough.

I know this is irrational and stupid, I know that every musician who took part in the contest deserved to win equally, still I can't help it. It feels like this was my once in a lifetime chance to be part of something I really admire, something to be proud of, and I blew it. People say that you should always try, even if you fail you took your chance etc. but I found that to be untrue. The dream of what could have been would feel way better than the certain knowledge that I failed and missed my only chance to become a part of CP77. So yeah, I believe that I should have never submitted my entry. Well, that's it, unfortunately not excited for the DLC and just wanted to share some feels...

 

[ShinAkira00]

If you like the game you should still enjoy it regardless of the outcome of the contest. I understand the disappointment but there will be other opportunities. There will be more Cyberpunk 2077 games in the future so just think of it as time to refine your art and who knows, maybe you'll even get inspiration from some of the songs/artists that did make it. Anyhow best of luck mate

 

[AikoHayashi]

Feel free to share your submission with us . It is normal to be disappointed that your music was not accepted, but this shouldn't be a reason to not enjoy PL.

 

[GrimReaper801]

That sucks man, it really does but you have to keep your head held high and keep pushing.

First of all, keep in mind you didn't fail. You didn't win but you didn't fail. Your song might have been friggin awesome, maybe it was head to head with another one for that last spot and they just chose the other one. Not making it does not mean you failed or that your work isn't good enough. This type of contest isn't about winning or failing.

You should keep trying. You should always keep trying. Success stories are full of ups and downs but mostly downs. You will fail, get rejected and be told no a billion times but someday you may make it. You may also never make it but at least you tried. People on their death beds regret the things they didn't try, not the things they tried.

Keep doing what you love and keep enjoying games. There will be other occasions. Perhaps even more interesting ones. Keep working on your art. Give yourself a pat on the back for creating something and having the guts to submit it, most people would never get to that point - always be proud of what you've accomplished even if it didn't turn out exactly the way you thought/hoped it would. Right now you may feel like shit because you look at it as what could have been but try focusing on what could still be. It's easier said than done, I know, believe me, I know, but it will do you a load of good.

 

[Tvaroog]

This is the world of commercial art. Computers made recording super easy so there are literally millions of music "producers" out there. In the "behind the scenes" video CDPR mentions that there were hundreds of submissions on the first day. Obviously those tracks were not made with Cyberpunk in mind.

In retrospect I think it was obvious that they will pick tracks with vocals rather than instrumental, that at least some will have rap, and maybe since it was specified in the requirements, some tracks will be in Spanish and Japanese. Song had to be noisy enough. Przybyłowicz said in an interview that in Night City even pop music should have an edginess to it. But it can't have too much edginess, some of the tracks submitted were just pure noise.

In the end even if you are an experienced musician well versed in the arcana of modern music production you still had to beat hundreds of others.

 

[koalahugs]

I don't know if this will help, but I do think Bryan Cranston always has really good advice on this sorta thing:

I know a lot of people who had to try year-after-year-after-year just to get into drama school. It's not necessarily because they weren't good the 1st/2nd/3rd time or whatever. It just wasn't the right time for them (maybe they weren't the well fitted with the rest of the class for a given year).

Your work might be brilliant but not necessarily the best fit for that particular project. If you don't land the job/prize/whatever, it doesn't mean you weren't good enough. Kurt Russell didn't get to be in Star Wars - it wasn't because he wasn't a good actor. Harrison Ford isn't necessarily "better" than him. Does that make sense?

But also, like Cranston says in that first video, I think it's really important that you're doing your art mainly for the sake of doing it. Extra rewards on top of that is a wonderful bonus, but I think the main thing is that the art itself is hopefully what you find enriching.

 

[UpHighLowDown]

Thank you all for your kind words, even though we're all just strangers on the internet, it is sure nice to hear something positive and constructive rather than just "get over it and stop crying".

From a more reflected standpoint you guys are right - I should've approached the whole thing differently. Even though I actually do make music just for the sake of creating things and enjoying the process, I got caught up in wanting to make it too much. As a musician, I always liked the the references and connections to the musical scene within the game and sometimes arts of any kind, be it literature, music, drawings, movies or in this case games can really be impactful, for me CP77 fell into that category. When the contest came up, I felt like this was THE chance to become a part it, I never cared about the price money, "bragging rights" or fame, hell, I would've even paid something instead of receiving price money and have my stuff put in the game under a false name instead of using it to get recognition if that would've been an option. The feeling to be part of it was all I was interested in.

As I wrote before, I know that it doesn't make rational sense to be disappointed to the point where things I used to love are not enjoyable any more, but feelings are just feelings, sometimes we can't really fight it...