Will Savino
patreon
An Important Update from Music d20
🕑 Added 2021-09-29 20:40:29 +0000 UTCTL;DR: I'm stepping away from Music d20 to devote more of my time to my new Patreon Borough Bound.
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Hi all,
As of today, Music d20 will be entering into its dormant phase. I've spent over 2 years pouring my heart and soul into this project, and I'm extremely proud of what I've been able to create. I've released almost 300 tracks, 6 albums, 16 or so Foundry modules, and countless collaborations. My music has been heard on dozens of podcasts, YouTube videos, and twitch streams. I believe that most RPG parties should be able to score an entire level 1 - 20 campaign with just my library. That's... honestly really cool!
That said, I believe I've done what I want to do with Music d20. The more I've worked on this project, the more I've wanted to engage with more complex, collaborative projects. My two Arkus releases were by far the most satisfying projects I released here. As such, I was overjoyed when my buddy Cze pitched me the idea for what would eventually become Borough Bound. Acting as both composer and writer, plus getting to work so closely with a team I deeply respect has been a massive boon for my productivity, my enthusiasm, and—you may be surprised to hear—my income.
Right now Borough Bound is growing far faster than Music d20 ever did. As such, we've quickly reached our second patronage goal, triggering a bit of a shift in my workload. Now that I owe my Borough Bound patrons at least 4 tracks per month, it's simply not feasible to tackle the work of keeping Music d20 active while fulfilling my obligations to BB. I've decided the best course of action is to shift my priorities toward Borough Bound.
OKAY, SO... WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Well, first of all, it means please go subscribe to Borough Bound! You'll still be getting roughly the same amount of music over there as you do here, plus you'll get waaaay more goodies than that as well. If you have no interest in all the side content... well, the music will be released on our Bandcamp as well as Spotify and whatnot. I'll be releasing tunes for a long long time, so this won't be the end of my RPG music releases.
Second of all, it means I'll be pausing billing for October. I don't plan to release anything of my own on this Patreon next month, but I will be featuring a bunch of awesome other composers in this space that I think deserve your attention! Keep your eyes on this space!
Next, please feel free to cancel your pledge! I will be occasionally releasing new stuff here (playlists, albums, Foundry modules, the occasional new tune), but generally speaking: Music d20 is gonna go dark for a bit. I truly will not be offended if you read this update and say "cool, buh-bye." That said, if you want to keep supporting me or if you just want to keep having access to all of the tunes, I won't be "shuttering" the page or anything like that. Feel free to pop in and out if you just want to nab the new stuff. It's really up to you! Just know that I'm totally cool with you just peacing-out entirely.
Finally: if you have an annual subscription (which I stopped selling months ago once I realized this day might be coming), you can reach out to me for a prorated refund. If you feel as though you didn't get your money's worth from your annual subscription, I really don't want to leave you with a sour taste in your mouth. Hit me up, and we'll sort something out.
FAQ
Q. I have a podcast / twitch stream / YouTube channel! What happens to me?
A. Well, you certainly don't have to delete any old content. That said, if you want to continue having unlimited access to my music for use in your show, I ask that you stay subbed. I believe that $5 a month for unlimited commercial usage of almost 300 tracks is a pretty good deal. If you disagree, no hard feelings! I simply ask that you unsub and stop uploading new content with my music in it. I'd be happy to recommend some creators who release music with a totally free commercial license.
Q. Wait, so what's the deal with Borough Bound?
A. We make RPG cities. I write big ol' documents that flesh out the lore and characters and plot hooks and whatnot, plus I make music for each release. We have gorgeous maps, illustrations, tokens, and tons of side content. If you like Music d20, it's like that but more.
Q. What about the Music d20 Discord?
A. I don't know, I guess I'll keep that around. It's very solid crew! If it ever starts getting a bit quiet, I make tell everyone to mosey on over to the BB Discord. I honestly haven't thought about this one too much. If you want an invite, just hit me up and I'll send you a link.
Q. Any more albums coming out?
A. Hell yeah! I've got a combat album, a spooky / haunted / dungeon album, a sci-fi album, and maybe a "wildcard" album in the works. Plus, my wife and I are releasing an EP in a couple weeks with our three vocal tracks!
Q. Hold up, I have way more questions!
A. Just hit me up. I'm available everywhere. Shoot me a message on twitter or instagram or pinterest or reddit or discord or linkedin or anywhere else. I'm extremely not private, so seriously just reach out to me if you want to chat or have questions about this big ol' post.
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I'm extremely grateful for all of you. Just a couple years ago, I was in a tight space financially, and I was questioning whether I could make a creative career work in any meaningful way. I spent the bulk of the first 27 years of my life making weird jazz, poorly received comedy, and lots and lots of content that was barely consumed by anyone. I had very little income from my video game work, and I felt like the art I was making didn't have an audience. All of that has changed because of Music d20. Thank you.
P.S. The very first track I ever made for Music d20 was "Vonnedale Dawn," which is still one of my most popular tunes over on Spotify. I made "Vonnedale Dawn" as a bit of a test run for Music d20, just to see if it was possible for me to make fantasy RPG music that still felt like it was decidedly mine. I was happy with the result, and starting working on the first batch of tunes ASAP. That said, in the 2+ years since I made that track, I neve really revisited it until now. If you feel like getting another taste of the original germ of an idea for this Patreon, check out "Vonnedale Dawn (Deep Space)" attached below.
Comments
Daarka
Thank you so much for that insight!! And the valuable secret!! I'll definitely keep that in mind, that's way more viable for me. And please do let me know if some sort of music-only option becomes available, like the content I was getting here! Your work is phenomenal and an absolute staple in all my games, so I'd love to keep supporting it if possible <3
Will Savino
Hey Daarka! Couple things: 1) We are considering trying to figure out some sort of music situation for folks who just want that. I'm not sure yet what we'll end up doing, but that is on the table. I can shoot you a message if we ever decide that's what we want to do. 2) I've switched up how I handle the looping tracks. This time, the General Messenger tier gets the looping version of the *main* track, whereas the Chief Courier gets looping versions of both. 3) Here's a little Patreon secret that they don't want people to know: you can limit your pledge to "once per month" and still get all of the content. Even if we release 4 release in a month, you'll only pay for the first one but still get access to everything. So... yes, $10 is still more than you're paying here, but it would still only be TEN dollars, and not FORTY. Just keep your lips sealed, because Patreon doesn't really like it when folks understand that that's how it works.
Daarka
Hey! Thanks for the response--for some reason I didn't get the notification for the reply lmao. I'm a little hesitant to switch over to BB just because it looks like to get any music at all, I'd have to pay twice what I was paying here. Am I understanding that correctly? *Edit: Actually, to get track variants (which I'm assuming includes looping tracks) it'd be $10 per creation. It looks like BB puts out weekly creations. That's $40/month compared to my $5 here... is there no other way to get just looping tracks? I'm genuinely not interested in anything else from BB and I just... can't afford that jump in price.
Will Savino
Hey Daarka, Yes, Borough Bound has looping tracks as well! The general format for music releases over at BB is almost exactly the same as it is here: looping tacks, variants, and soon we'll have a spreadsheet and Minis as well. Hope to see you there!
Daarka
Hey! Sad to see one of my most treasured Patreons go dark, but I support you and your journey to new projects! That said, I do have a question: My main, and honestly sole, attraction here is the looping tracks. Are these going to be available for new releases moving forward via Borough Bound? Or posted on Bandcamp? Shared to the Discord even? Honestly wherever I have to go to continue gobbling up seamlessly looping tracks, just point me there and I'm on it <3
Dylan Angell
Well, this is the kick in the pants I needed to actually subscribe to Borough Bound. See you over there and good luck!
