2021 Year-End Roundup and a Look Ahead
Hello from 2022!
We have made it to the end of 2021. Congrats! In the big wide (real) world, there have been all sorts of challenges and developments. Some things have stuck around a bit longer than desired (go away 2020), but we have all made it work. Despite this, music, as a truly international language, has continued to bridge gaps and spread joy, wherever it should arise. Although the Utopia community is small, I am ever happy to see more and more people enjoying the music and enriching their gameplay experiences.
2021 Highlights
2021 marked the first full year of Utopia. It started with the release of the Scandinavia Music Pack on Spotify, but otherwise the first half of the year was relatively quiet as I found my feet and connected with the community. In the second half of the year things began to pick up: we saw the release of main themes for Anbennar and Atlas Novum, the Acoustic August event happened, and a full original soundtrack was announced for Ante Bellum. In addition to all of this, and unknown to you, were a couple of private/business commissions for things like advertising/podcast jingles. And, as a year-end gift from Youtube, Utopia is now an official artist channel!
I am pleased with the music completed this year and how it has been received by you, the community. Being one of the few composers floating around the Paradox sphere of influence there are a lot of opportunities and a lot of tough choices to consider when deciding which projects to prioritise for your enjoyment! In fact, my to-do list of songs to write has grown to around 120 songs, despite the music released/announced over the course of the year. Nevertheless, I would have liked to be more consistent with releases so that we do not end up with long stretches of time with no official new music! This is something I am hoping to improve on in 2022.
It has been incredible to see Themes of the Old World grow to be the most-subscribed original music mod for EU4 and the third-most subscribed music mod overall. There has been a flurry of excitement since the announcement of the Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack and the additional update details revealed alongside it. I expect 2022 will kick off to an amazing start with this new album of music. Interestingly though, the most popular link to the Ante Bellum - Christmas Theme is from Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You. It’s good to see people introducing their families to the truly good stuff!
The number of heartwarming comments I get on my music has increased during the year, which is so wholesome for me to read. Seeing how much the community enjoys the music is the sole reason I’m still here making it. Go you!
Plans for 2022
So there are three major things to talk about for 2022:
Of course, is the Ante Bellum Original Soundtrack coming on February 4! January will be packed full of fun and interesting insights and other teasers for the upcoming music. There is nothing quite like hearing that Ante Bellum theme parading through the streets of Valencia after a hard-earned Francia victory.
The bad news. Due to personal circumstances I will be a little less productive through the first half of the year and will only be focussing on a couple of smaller projects. I still do intend to keep with the fortnightly updates and attempt some more regular releases.
At no surprise to anybody, my focus in the second half of the year will be the Extended Timeline Original Soundtrack. Whilst I’ve started some outlines this year, I really want to get fully into it next year. However, it’s a massive project, which I expect will take longer than a year. So quite possibly I will release it in chunks (see no. 2 above).
In 2022 I will be aiming to publish a second album (ET OST #1?) late in the year. I also want to engage more with you and share my knowledge and expertise further throughout the PDX modding community. Expect to see me popping up with more themes for your favourite mods around the place!
Thank you so much for joining and staying through 2021. I love having you all here and enjoying the music; I hope you find all the new music in 2022 just as amazing! Your support has been fantastic so far and I look forward to whatever the future will bring.
Thank you so much for joining and staying through 2021. I hope you find all the new music in 2022 just as amazing! I love having you all here and enjoying the music. Your support has been fantastic so far and I look forward to whatever the future will bring.
I’m always down for a chat, I love reading your comments and your feedback is invaluable. Keep being such awesome people and never stop enjoying your Utopia experience!
Thank you.
- Utopia