“Press Start!”: A Video Game Music Symposium
“Press Start!”: A Video Game Music Symposium is a hybrid event bringing together ludomusicology scholars, video game music industry professionals, and those interested in video game music and video game music history. We aim to provide a space where all areas of video game music research, study, and practice come together and interact through panel discussions, presentations, and interviews.
Check back for updates regarding our next “Press Start?”: A Video Game Music Symposium.
“Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium
“Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium is a yearly online symposium providing opportunities for notable and up-and-coming researchers, scholars, and peers to share their research on the topic of ludomusicology and other video game music studies through paper presentations.
Upcoming Event
“Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium 2026
The University of North Texas Music Library is pleased to announce and host “Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium to be held February 13, 2026, at 1:00 PM CST. This symposium is a part of the University of North Texas Music Library’s “Press Start” symposia series.
The theme for this online mini symposium is Soundscapes of Simulation: A Showcase of Research on the Music and Sounds of Simulation Video Games.
Call for Proposals
We are accepting proposals for paper presentations on various aspects of sound and music in video games with a preference of papers focusing on the use of sound and music in simulation video games. Interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged.
We accept proposals for the following formats:
- Presentation: Speakers will be given 30 minutes each - 20 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for discussion.
- Lighting Talk Presentation: Speakers will be given 15 minutes each - 10 minutes for presentation, 5 minutes for discussion.
- Posters: Posters will be published and presenters will be given 10 minutes for open discussion with the audience.
Please submit proposal abstracts of no more than 500 words in text submission or uploaded as a single PDF file or Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx) by November 21, 2025. Presenters will be notified of their acceptance into the program on December 5, 2025. Submissions will be reviewed anonymously, so please remove identifying information from the abstract itself.
Past Events
“Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium 2024
On May 3, 2024, “Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium was hosted by the University of Minnesota (UMN) Libraries and featured the latest research in horror in video game music and sound. It included scholars from across the world.
Program
- Phantom Frames: Crafting an Immersive Pseudo-Procedural - Kyle Worrall
- The Gothic Horror Soundscape as a Progression Device and Player Reward in Bloodborne - Cerys Eckersley
- The Curious Case of ‘Lavender Town’ – Towards an Intercultural Semiotics of Video Game Music – Thomas Yee
- Under the Yellow Raincoat: Timbral Change and Musical Metaphors in Video Game Music - Sylvia Hsu
Past Programs
“Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium 2023
On April 28, 2023, the inaugural “Play Again?”: An Online Mini-Symposium was hosted by the University of North Texas (UNT) Music Library and featured the latest research in multiplayer and massively multiplayer online games.
Program
- Bard Bands: A Digital Ethnography of the Concert Culture in Final Fantasy XIV Online - Cole Kirchenbauer
- MapleStory (Korean MMORPG) and Its Music - Myrna Layton
- Seasonal Affect in the Music of Stardew Valley - Adriana Ezekiel
Past Programs
“Press Start!”: A Video Game Music Symposium 2022
On March 26, 2022, the UNT Music Library held the inaugural “Press Start”: A Video Game Music Symposium conference hosted by the UNT College of Music.
