The insane reality of video game music composers episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 18, 2025 · 1H 19M

The insane reality of video game music composers

from Unpacking Japan · host Produced by ZenStudio

On today's episode we talk to James, a video game music composer, to talk all about his musical journey and how it lead him to composing music for games and anime in Japan. We go over what it's like working as a western composer in Japan, joining a big company vs being independent, what makes a good song, and all the things a composer thinks about when creating music for video games.Follow James & listen to his music:https://www.jameslandino.comhttps://www.instagram.com/jameslandinohttps://www.youtube.com/jameslandinohttps://www.twitch.tv/jameslandinohttps://X.com/jameslandinohttps://www.facebook.com/jameslandinomusic/https://music.apple.com/jp/artist/james-landino/677816776https://soundcloud.com/jameslandinohttps://open.spotify.com/artist/6xMMOflXnoIA3grU3seMjh?si=18L0en3qTUW_CkSl4FTbMwFollow Us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

On today's episode we talk to James, a video game music composer, to talk all about his musical journey and how it lead him to composing music for games and anime in Japan. We go over what it's like working as a western composer in Japan, joining a big company vs being independent, what makes a good song, and all the things a composer thinks about when creating music for video games.Follow James & listen to his music:https://www.jameslandino.comhttps://www.instagram.com/jameslandinohttps://www.youtube.com/jameslandinohttps://www.twitch.tv/jameslandinohttps://X.com/jameslandinohttps://www.facebook.com/jameslandinomusic/https://music.apple.com/jp/artist/james-landino/677816776https://soundcloud.com/jameslandinohttps://open.spotify.com/artist/6xMMOflXnoIA3grU3seMjh?si=18L0en3qTUW_CkSl4FTbMwFollow Us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

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The insane reality of video game music composers

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This episode is 1 hour and 19 minutes long.

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This episode was published on November 18, 2025.

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On today's episode we talk to James, a video game music composer, to talk all about his musical journey and how it lead him to composing music for games and anime in Japan. We go over what it's like working as a western composer in Japan, joining a...

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