About SSSMG

Mission

The Society for the Study of Sound and Music in Games (SSSMG) is an international organization dedicated to the development of sophisticated understandings of sound and music in games from any and all perspectives.

The SSSMG actively seeks to include both practitioners (such as composers and sound designers) and researchers. Designed to be a resource for diverse groups of scholars and practitioners, the society will maintain an actively updated bibliography on its website, award an annual prize for academic articles in the field, and provide communication between scholarly and professional organizations.

To build a large and diverse body of knowledge, membership in the SSSMG is inter-professional and interdisciplinary, open to anyone involved with sound and music in games. We welcome many approaches to the study of game audio, including (but not limited to) historical research, musical analysis, ethnographies, psychological studies of perception, cultural studies, media studies, reception, and practice-based inquiry.

The Society is a registered charity in the UK with charity number 1180483.

Key Policies

Privacy Policy | Code of Conduct | Misconduct Policy


The Society for the Study of Sound and Music in Games acts as a central hub for the emerging academic, and professional, communities of people working with video game audio. Currently, SSSMG comprises two core groups:

Ludomusicology Research Group

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The Ludomusicology Research Group was founded by Michiel Kamp, Tim Summers and Mark Sweeney in August 2011 as an inter-university research initiative dedicated to the study of game music. Based in the UK, our aim is to promote inter-university academic collaboration, act as a hub or point-of-contact to advertise the research of the group members (and of other academics working in the field) and serve as a general attempt to create a coherent direction and body of knowledge for this sub-discipline.

To achieve these aims, we organize an annual international conference on videogame music, provided the first widely accessible keyworded bibliography resource on our website, and host regular blog articles by guest contributors about videogame music and sound. We have also acted as a central hub in bringing together a number of publications including a double special issue of The Soundtrack and an edited volume of essays: Ludomusicology: Approaches to Video Game Music.

North American Conference on Video Game Music

NACVG Logo

The North American Conference on Video Game Music draws together scholars in the fields of musicology, music theory, ethnomusicology, media studies, sound studies, composition, and more to discuss all aspects of music in video games. Topics at past conferences have included case studies of influential games and composers, technology and its impact on game music, teaching game music, analyzing game music, and music’s relationship to game narratives.

The conference is spearheaded by Neil LernerSteven Reale, Elizabeth Medina-Gray and Karen Cook.


Affiliations and Sponsors

We are delighted to be associated with numerous organizations working in the same space as us, including:

Audio Mostly

The Ludomusicology Society of Australia

Ludum: Ludomusicology Research Group of Chile

Game Audio in Norway (GAiN)

Executive Committee

First NameSurnameRoleEmailSSSMG Profile
MichaelAustinExecutive Director (since 2023) & Trusteemichael-austin@sssmg.orgmichaelaustin
StephenBaystedTrustee
(Editor-in-chief -2022)
stephenbaysted@sssmg.orgstephenbaysted
KarenCookMember-at-large, Associate Editor (since 2024)karencook@sssmg.orgkarencook
MelanieFritschPress Officermelanie-fritsch@sssmg.orgmelaniefritsch
LidiaLópez GómezCommunications Officerlidia-lopez@sssmg.orglidia-lopezuab-cat
ElizabethMedina-GrayMember-at-large & Trustee
(Associate Editor -2022; Co Editor-in-chief, 2022-2024)
emedinagray@sssmg.orgemedinagray
AliaMiroshnichenkoDevelopment Editoralia-miroshnichenko@sssmg.org
DanaPlankEditor-in-chief (since 2024)musicologess
AaronPriceExecutive Officeraaron-price@sssmg.organp08001
TimothySummersMember-at-Large & Trustee
(Associate Editor -2020; Co Editor-in-chief, 2020-2024)
tim-summers@sssmg.orgtim-summers
MarkSweeneyTrusteemark-sweeney@sssmg.orgmark-sweeney
RyanThompsonIT Officerryan-thompson@sssmg.orgbardicknowledge
WeidaWangDevelopment Editorweida-wang@sssmg.org

Society & Journal Editorial Board

First NameSurnameRoleEmailSSSMG Profile
MichaelAustinExecutive Committee, Executive Director (since 2023) & Trusteemichael-austin@sssmg.orgmichaelaustin
WilliamAyersAssociate Editor (since 2024)williamrayers
StephenBaystedExecutive Committee, Member-at-large & Trustee
(Editor-in-chief -2022)
stephenbaysted@sssmg.orgstephenbaysted
GiannaCassidyBoard Membergiannacassidy
WilliamChengBoard Memberwilliamcheng
KarenCookExecutive Committee, Associate Editor (since 2024) & Member-at-largekarencook@sssmg.orgkarencook
KevinDonnellyBoard Memberkevindonnelly
MelanieFritschExecutive Committee, Communications Officermelanie-fritsch@sssmg.orgmelaniefritsch
KateGallowayBoard Member
WilliamGibbonsBoard Member
(Executive Committee, Member-at-large -2022)
william-gibbons@sssmg.orgwilliamgibbons
ArielGrez ValdenegroBoard Member
IainHartBoard Memberhartacus
AndraIvanescuBoard MemberAndra
MichielKampBoard Membermichiel-kamp
JesseKinneBoard Memberjessekinne
NeilLernerBoard Membernelerner
StephanieLindAssociate Editor (since 2024)linds
LidiaLópez GómezExecutive Committee, Communications Officerlidia-lopez@sssmg.orglidia-lopezuab-cat
ElizabethMedina-GrayExecutive Committee & Trustee
(Associate Editor -2020; Co Editor-in-chief, 2020-2024)
emedinagray@sssmg.orgemedinagray
AliaMiroshnichenkoExecutive Committee, Development Editoralia-miroshnichenko@sssmg.org
JamesNewmanBoard Memberjimmy
HyeonjinParkBoard Member
LeonardPaulBoard Member
DanaPlankBoard Member, Editor-in-chief (since 2024)musicologess
AaronPriceExecutive Committee, Executive Officeraaron-price@sssmg.organp08001
StevenRealeBoard Membersmreale
FannyRebillardBoard Member
DavidRoesnerBoard Memberdavidroesner
AndrewSchartmannBoard Membera-schartmann
BarnabasSmithBoard Member
JenniferSmithReviews Editor, Board Member, Executive Committee
RichardStevensBoard Memberrichardstevens
TimothySummersExecutive Committee & Trustee
(Associate Editor -2020, Co Editor-in-chief 2020-2024)
tim-summers@sssmg.orgtim-summers
MarkSweeneyTrustee (Executive Director 2018-2023)mark-sweeney@sssmg.orgmark-sweeney
RyanThompsonExecutive Committee & Board Memberbardicknowledge
HiroshiYoshidaBoard Member
WeidaWangExecutive Committee, Development Editorweida-wang@sssmg.org

Contact

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