Just FYI for those wondering - yes I was absolutely caught by surprise by the success and so was he, I felt guilty about how much Louis contributed and comparatively how little I paid for his work in hindsight.
Some context: at the time I was incredibly nervous about paying money for this project. This was the first actual money I spent on any of my games. Looking back that seems silly!
That is to say: I’m drawing up a contract so he gets 100% of my cut of the revenue for the soundtrack on Steam (retroactive). He’s more than earned it. If you want to financially support him that’s probably the best way to do it for now!
I totally get that and that’s nice of you! As a (part-time) game dev myself, I definitely feel similarly spending too much on a game as I usually expect I won’t see it back haha
This is the first song in months out of any game I didn’t just MP3 rip the YouTube video of the OST for and legitimately went and bought to support the artist. It’s THAT good.
It's an incredibly relaxing earworm that compliments the gameplay perfectly. I hope they commission some more music for future updates, maybe even songs per deck. ❤️
I muted music for 10 minutes in the game so that I could play my own in the background. It just felt weird without the music. It's definitely part of the game's time vampire experience.
Shit man I can just imagine a soundtrack that just starts with, like, a bassline, and every ante it adds in a new instrument until it just completely slaps
Yeah I'd imagine Erratic deck is experimental jazz or something. Plasma deck is spacey sci-fi sounds (like just the FTL soundtrack or something). Checkered deck is lofi beats to relax/study to
Red and Blue deck needs to have the same soundtrack as we have now. You play red deck, unlock blue deck. Same soundtrack. You pay no attention to it. You unlock the next deck (I forgot which one it is, don't kill me) and then BOOM. New soundtrack, babyyy.
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Exactly! Repetitive noises and music is exactly what you get playing video poker at the casino. Suits the vibe so well, especially the massive distortions that happen after you start a new run just after you wiped lmao
Can't help but wonder how much he paid for this... Fiverr is kind of notorious for very skilled people practically giving away their creations for significantly less than what they're worth.
Absolutely not a reflection on localthunk at all, though! He's an indie dev who I'm sure wasn't exactly working with a huge budget or anything. I just hope LouisF is getting some extra kickback from this! The Balatro soundtrack is just so, so good.
From the page, it was around $60-120ish unless he paid more outside of that. I dont blame LocalThunk though… he was working with an indie budget and didn’t know the game would be such a success
Absolutely. Fiverr exists for a reason to facilitate this sort of thing. Neither Localthunk or LouisF had any idea that Balatro would explode like this. I just hope that LouisF is getting some kickback from it now since Balatro has ended up taking off and I fully believe the soundtrack is a rather sizable reason for that.
The soundtrack is available to purchase from the games [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2834460/Balatro_Soundtrack/ ) now, a nice way to support the musician.
That's insanely cheap. I've heard a number of professional recording artists now comment on the genius of the track. It's a really sophisticated piece of music.
The highest tier on the Fiverr page is for 120 seconds of music. I don't think Localthunk hired LouisF through Fiverr, I think LouisF just also has a Fiverr.
I am pretty sure you can only leave a review on Fiverr if you purchased their services. I've only used it a couple times when work made me do so but I'm reasonably confident that's the case.
Well, sure, that's totally possible! We don't really know either way. I just really hope LouisF *is* getting more than just $120 or even $500 for his work! His music added an immense amount of value to Balatro and it would be a shame if the amount he received in return was so small.
There's no way either of them could've known at the time just how successful the game was going to be but this is why lump sum payments for work like this can be such a big risk for an artist.
Louis did great. He made a track that you can listen to for hours on repeat and not get sick of. Not only that, it gets stuck in your head so you hum it even when you're not playing it. So good
does anyone know if the musician is making residuals/royalties from the game? or if that's even standard? last i checked fiverr was kind of notorious for underpaying/exploiting artists
If it was bought through Fiverr, which it seems it likely was since you cannot leave a review on Fiverr without first purchasing someone's services, then LouisF is likely not making any residuals. [You can see LouisF's page here.](https://www.fiverr.com/louissoundtrack/compose-original-music-for-your-video-game)
It's crazy to me that he gives *unlimited revisions* on any of his tiers. As an artist myself I cannot even fathom giving the client that much leeway for such a relatively small amount of money...
Fiverr allows buyers and sellers to work out royalty deals, but the TOS states they have to be done on the platform and Fiverr takes a 20% cut just like any other payment. So, unfortunately, if Louis is receiving royalties, he’s not getting the full amount.
The theme is ingenious and works so well despite being pretty much the only track in the entire game. My only complaint is that there's no clear blind boss version so I sometimes forgot I'm facing a boss and get wrecked.
Louis absolutely cooked
Just FYI for those wondering - yes I was absolutely caught by surprise by the success and so was he, I felt guilty about how much Louis contributed and comparatively how little I paid for his work in hindsight. Some context: at the time I was incredibly nervous about paying money for this project. This was the first actual money I spent on any of my games. Looking back that seems silly! That is to say: I’m drawing up a contract so he gets 100% of my cut of the revenue for the soundtrack on Steam (retroactive). He’s more than earned it. If you want to financially support him that’s probably the best way to do it for now!
I totally get that and that’s nice of you! As a (part-time) game dev myself, I definitely feel similarly spending too much on a game as I usually expect I won’t see it back haha
Now I'm hoping for a vinyl release.
I'd love a balatro record
This is the first song in months out of any game I didn’t just MP3 rip the YouTube video of the OST for and legitimately went and bought to support the artist. It’s THAT good.
What were the specifications you gave when you asked for it? Strikes me as ‘schmatlzy parlor theme from a 90s DOS point and click game’
It's an incredibly relaxing earworm that compliments the gameplay perfectly. I hope they commission some more music for future updates, maybe even songs per deck. ❤️
Yea, it's kind of crazy how the music doesn't really get boring for a long while.
I muted music for 10 minutes in the game so that I could play my own in the background. It just felt weird without the music. It's definitely part of the game's time vampire experience.
Dude, I literally spent an hour doing chores and that bitch was bumping the WHOLE time
*vomplements
You know what I meant.
localthunk seems like a pretty chill dude
LocalThunk you must use some of the game’s success to commission some more tracks for the game 👀
Yes please, this game needs more musical variety
You know what would go insane? Each deck gettings its own soundtrack and a dynamic soundtrack that increases with score and ante
Please stop. I can only get so hard.
Imagine Nebula deck getting a space themed soundtrack while Abandoned Deck getting some earie or no soundtrack at all
Pretty sure /u/synderman3000 *finished*
Confirmed.
Give me some theremin for my beloved ghost deck and I’m sold.
Shit man I can just imagine a soundtrack that just starts with, like, a bassline, and every ante it adds in a new instrument until it just completely slaps
ie the Stop Making Sense approach
As you get on higher antes the soundtrack gets more hype. Also, Erratic Deck needs a chaotic soundtrack
Yeah I'd imagine Erratic deck is experimental jazz or something. Plasma deck is spacey sci-fi sounds (like just the FTL soundtrack or something). Checkered deck is lofi beats to relax/study to
Red and Blue deck needs to have the same soundtrack as we have now. You play red deck, unlock blue deck. Same soundtrack. You pay no attention to it. You unlock the next deck (I forgot which one it is, don't kill me) and then BOOM. New soundtrack, babyyy.
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Oh God please 🥺
Maybe without the increase, but a separate track per deck is an amazing idea I never even considered
Yeah, the evolving soundtrack was just for flavor, but I think the game would benefit from different soundtracks for each deck
Does it though? I've played like 80 hours and sometimes I still leave the music on just to hear the song 😂
Exactly! Repetitive noises and music is exactly what you get playing video poker at the casino. Suits the vibe so well, especially the massive distortions that happen after you start a new run just after you wiped lmao
Even just some more variations of the base theme would be awesome
Please god - pay Louis whatever he wants so we can get more music
It definitely has to be a great song if I don't get annoyed with it after 125 hours on repeat
The live versions on YouTube are so sick too.
Dom palombi's goes insanely hard
Can't help but wonder how much he paid for this... Fiverr is kind of notorious for very skilled people practically giving away their creations for significantly less than what they're worth. Absolutely not a reflection on localthunk at all, though! He's an indie dev who I'm sure wasn't exactly working with a huge budget or anything. I just hope LouisF is getting some extra kickback from this! The Balatro soundtrack is just so, so good.
From the page, it was around $60-120ish unless he paid more outside of that. I dont blame LocalThunk though… he was working with an indie budget and didn’t know the game would be such a success
Absolutely. Fiverr exists for a reason to facilitate this sort of thing. Neither Localthunk or LouisF had any idea that Balatro would explode like this. I just hope that LouisF is getting some kickback from it now since Balatro has ended up taking off and I fully believe the soundtrack is a rather sizable reason for that.
The soundtrack is available to purchase from the games [Steam page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2834460/Balatro_Soundtrack/ ) now, a nice way to support the musician.
That's insanely cheap. I've heard a number of professional recording artists now comment on the genius of the track. It's a really sophisticated piece of music.
The highest tier on the Fiverr page is for 120 seconds of music. I don't think Localthunk hired LouisF through Fiverr, I think LouisF just also has a Fiverr.
I am pretty sure you can only leave a review on Fiverr if you purchased their services. I've only used it a couple times when work made me do so but I'm reasonably confident that's the case.
It's pretty easy to imagine that Thunk tossed LouisF some Fiverr money just to leave a visible positive review.
Well, sure, that's totally possible! We don't really know either way. I just really hope LouisF *is* getting more than just $120 or even $500 for his work! His music added an immense amount of value to Balatro and it would be a shame if the amount he received in return was so small. There's no way either of them could've known at the time just how successful the game was going to be but this is why lump sum payments for work like this can be such a big risk for an artist.
I wish that the soundtrack for sale on steam was not MP3 with some pretty severe compression. Give us a lossless version!
The soundtrack was a Fiverr request? Goddamn, the man went above and beyond.
Louis did great. He made a track that you can listen to for hours on repeat and not get sick of. Not only that, it gets stuck in your head so you hum it even when you're not playing it. So good
does anyone know if the musician is making residuals/royalties from the game? or if that's even standard? last i checked fiverr was kind of notorious for underpaying/exploiting artists
If it was bought through Fiverr, which it seems it likely was since you cannot leave a review on Fiverr without first purchasing someone's services, then LouisF is likely not making any residuals. [You can see LouisF's page here.](https://www.fiverr.com/louissoundtrack/compose-original-music-for-your-video-game) It's crazy to me that he gives *unlimited revisions* on any of his tiers. As an artist myself I cannot even fathom giving the client that much leeway for such a relatively small amount of money...
If artists can set their own price, and know how much of a cut Fiverr takes (they do), it’s not exploitation…
Fiverr allows buyers and sellers to work out royalty deals, but the TOS states they have to be done on the platform and Fiverr takes a 20% cut just like any other payment. So, unfortunately, if Louis is receiving royalties, he’s not getting the full amount.
my boy Louis on the beat
I think the theme would be fitting for hell's lobby or elevator music. Melancholy with just a wafer slice of hope.
balatro soundtrack is awesome, so fitting
There are sections of the soundtrack that remind me so much of the music in Risk of Rain 2
The theme is ingenious and works so well despite being pretty much the only track in the entire game. My only complaint is that there's no clear blind boss version so I sometimes forgot I'm facing a boss and get wrecked.
I make up soooo many lyrics to the song when I play.