You can use free synthwave in a game, but only if its licence lets you ship it, and most of the tracks in our radio pool do not. A Creative Commons track with a plain attribution licence (CC BY) can go into a game, free or paid, if you credit the artist. A track with a non-commercial (NC) licence is not for a commercial game. A no-derivatives (ND) track cannot be looped, cut or mixed into your own cues. This page explains each case with our pool's real numbers. It is not legal advice, and we cannot promise any track is safe for your project.
The short answer
Three letters decide it. BY asks for credit. NC bans commercial use. ND bans sharing adapted versions. Our radio pool has 17,463 Creative Commons tracks from Jamendo, and the mix is not friendly to developers: 73% carry an NC condition and 67.5% carry ND. Only 2,812 tracks (about 16%) are plain CC BY 3.0, with another 1,140 under CC BY-SA 3.0, which lets you use the track commercially but asks you to share what you build from it under the same terms. That is the share-alike catch for a game: whether it applies to the whole game or only to the adapted track is a legal question to ask before shipping, not one we can answer.
| Licence | Tracks in our pool | In a game build |
|---|---|---|
| CC BY 3.0 | 2,812 | Allowed with credit |
| CC BY-SA 3.0 | 1,140 | Allowed with credit; share-alike applies to adaptations |
| CC BY-NC 3.0 | 280 | Not for commercial games |
| CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 | 1,349 | Not for commercial games |
| CC BY-ND 3.0 | 733 | Unedited only; ask for sync or loops |
| CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 | 11,015 | Not for commercial games, no edits |
What do the licences mean inside a game?
The Creative Commons deed defines a commercial use as one "primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation".[2] The 3.0 legal code puts it as use "primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation".[1] A game you sell, or fill with in-app purchases or ads, is the clear case. A free hobby game with no ads is the case where NC is least likely to be a problem, but "least likely" is not a guarantee, and a game that later adds a shop becomes commercial.
If you are unsure, ask. Most artists on a Creative Commons platform can be reached through their profile, and a written yes is worth more than a guess about a licence's edge.
Loops, edits and no-derivatives
This is the point where ND tracks stop working for games. Games rarely play a track once and straight through. They loop, fade between layers, cut a section for a menu, and sync cues to action.
The legal code explains the problem in one line: under the 3.0 licence, the synchronisation of a work "in timed-relation with a moving image" is considered an Adaptation.[1] The 4.0 legal code says the same of music synced to video, and defines adapted material as anything derived from the original in a way that needs the licensor's permission.[2] Cutscenes and trailers are moving images, so an ND track used in them is an adaptation by the licence's own terms. An ND licence forbids sharing adaptations, and a game build is something you share.
For loops and edits in gameplay, the text does not say "loops" and we will not pretend it does. In ordinary reading, trimming a track to loop, layering stems or fading it in and out changes it. Treat any change as an adaptation, and any ND track as unusable unless the artist agrees in writing.
How real teams got their synthwave
The most famous cases did not rely on free licences. The makers of Hotline Miami (released 23 October 2012) wanted a score that sounded like a film soundtrack, failed to get licences for a temporary soundtrack, and then searched Bandcamp for tracks available to download; Wikipedia reports a statement from developer Jonatan Söderström that the team listened to as many as two thousand. The final 22-track soundtrack includes M.O.O.N. and Perturbator, and one artist, Scattle, contacted the developers and was commissioned to write original music.[4] Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon took another route. The Australian duo Power Glove told Gamereactor that Ubisoft emailed them while developing the game and asked to use a song; the band sent a medley, and the work grew from there.[6] The Katana ZERO score was composed by Bill Kiley and LudoWic; Bandcamp Daily describes its roots in Chicago house, early electro and synthpop, and has Kiley naming Gary Numan, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Vangelis as listening.[5]
The lesson is the same: the successful synthwave scores in games were licensed or commissioned, with a person at the other end.
Commissioning an artist
If you need loops, stems or a custom cue, ask for them. A short, clear request works best:
- Say what the game is, its platform and whether it is free or paid.
- Say where the music will play (menu, levels, trailer) and whether you need loops or stems.
- Ask for a licence in writing that names your game and your territory, and says whether the artist will keep the rights to the track.
- Offer credit, a fee, or a revenue share, and be honest about your budget.
Artists on the Frekvenci Synthwave list can often be reached through the links on their artist pages. The Night Drive station (92.0 FM) is the best place to hear what fits a racing game, and the Dark station (94.6 FM) has 124 tracks in the pool for something heavier.
Crediting in-game
Credit is required by every licence in our pool. Creative Commons recommends four elements: title, author, source link and licence name with a link; the title is required under version 3.0 and earlier.[3] The guidance allows any reasonable form for the medium, and a vague note like "Creative Commons music" is not enough.[3] For a game, a credits screen listing title, artist, source URL and licence is the usual answer, and a web page with the same details is the safe extra.
Keep a file in your project with each track's licence, its link and the date you downloaded it. If a licence changes or a claim arrives, that record is your evidence.
Related reading: how to write the credit line, where to find free Creative Commons synthwave, the same licence questions for video and streaming, and synthwave in games, as a genre.
Sources
- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported (legal code) · Creative Commons
- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (deed) · Creative Commons
- Recommended practices for attribution · Creative Commons wiki
- Hotline Miami (used as a map to its references) · Wikipedia
- On the "Katana ZERO" Score, Synthwave Goes Neo-Noir · Bandcamp Daily, 13 May 2019
- The Music of Blood Dragon (interview with Power Glove) · Gamereactor, 1 May 2013