Mike Ault The original soundtrack to
Rocket League was composed and produced by Psyonix audio director Mike Ault and his band Hollywood Principle, an EDM troupe started in 2013 by Ault with producer Elliott Sencan and vocalist Kayla Hope. Ault was hired by Psyonix in 2011 to lead the studio's new audio department, after having fulfilled a similar role as a contractor for
inXile Entertainment during development of the
dark fantasy game ''
Hunted: The Demon's Forge. Ault began work at the studio as the lead sound designer on the gothic fantasy game Nosgoth'', Psyonix's last project before
Rocket League. When Ault began work on
Rocket League in 2013, it marked a departure from six years of dark fantasy games; a change that Ault welcomed as he transitioned from "gory-type setting[s]" to "cars, boosts, and mechanical sounds." Ault oversaw the production of both the game's
sound design and music, with an adaptive creative process in which he consistently sought to improve upon ideas, reiterating on various components of the game's audio before settling on a final version. Without the financial resources to license popular music, the idea of sounding "big budget", à la
EA Sports titles, was a goal highlighted by Ault. For the game's menu music, Ault and the developers constantly cycled through inspirations from the "brassy, regal" sound of
SportsCenter and
Monday Night Football to
Nintendo 64 games, among other genres such as
heavy rock and
thrash punk. As development on the game progressed, the team felt that the single track used for the menu had become stale. As a solution, Ault created an in-game playlist consisting of a large number of tracks created by Ault and other members of the staff. The most popular music among the game's team were a number of Ault's personal tracks worked on before he arrived at Psyonix, including "Flying Forever", which was a 2011 collaboration with vocalist Morgan Perry. Ault never intended for the music to be used in a game soundtrack when creating them, though he and the developers felt comfortable with the tracks, and deemed that they "embodied the spirit of the game." For Ault, the diverse "playlist" feel of the soundtrack helped achieve his goal of a "big budget" sound for the game. This new soundtrack for
Rocket League was predominantly
electronic dance music (EDM), inspired by early-mid 2000s
progressive house artists such as
ATB,
deadmau5, and
Kaskade. The "Rocket League Theme" was composed and produced with the timing of the title screen in mind. Ault worked with UI artist Jared Adkins to time out the theme's opening build-up to anticipate the appearance of the title screen. Future tracks that were featured on the title screen were edited in a similar way, including Hollywood Principle's "Firework" and "Breathing Underwater (Ether Remix)", which were similarly shortened and edited to fit the opening cues. Five officially released tracks from the
Rocket League soundtrack were credited to Hollywood Principle. Ault describes the Hollywood Principle discography as a "sincere attempt to actually do something with music", in contrast to his earlier solo work. Music produced by Ault and Hollywood Principle for
Rocket League have been released on two
soundtrack albums published by Psyonix. The first album was released on July 1, 2015, and included the original eleven tracks included with the game upon its release a week later. The second album, consisting additional music Ault and Hollywood Principle produced for the game's
Supersonic Fury,
Revenge of the Battle-Cars, and
Chaos Run DLCs was released on
Rocket Leagues first anniversary on July 7, 2016. The album also included the tracks "Scorched Earth" by
Kevin Riepl and "Rocket League Throwback Anthem" by Adam B. Metal. A three-disc
vinyl record compilation album entitled
Rocket League: The Vinyl Collection was released by
Iam8bit in December 2016. The compilation included all tracks from the first two soundtrack albums and features
gatefold artwork by Dan Bronsema of Puddle & Splash. Iam8bit co-founder Jon Gibson described the idea for the picture discs, which was conceived during an email chain with Psyonix, as "such a simple thought", and that "connecting the fact that vinyl records spin and wheels spin [...] made for a really cool visual." The positive reception towards the track and the soundtrack change in general inspired Ault and Psyonix to make further changes to the soundtrack, and also recognized the potential for
independent artists, who were not involved with Ault or Psyonix, to gain exposure through music features in the game. A remix contest was held on
Indaba Music by Psyonix and Hollywood Principle in late 2015, challenging contestants to submit remixes of the band's track, "Seeing What's Next"; its winner, Kevin Frey, had his remix of the track featured on the title screen of the game's "Neo Tokyo" update. Other tracks by independent artists added through updates to the game include a remix of Hollywood Principle's "Breathing Underwater" by then-17-year-old
Baltimore artist Ether, and the "Rocket League Throwback Anthem" by
Warrnambool artist Adam B. Metal, who had previously composed the theme to
Rocket Leagues predecessor,
Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. All four aforementioned tracks were included on the second volume of the official
Rocket League soundtrack. He agreed, and a remixed version of his 2014 track "Infinite Power!" appeared in the game as the theme for the "Rumble" update. The track also appeared in trailers for the "Rumble" update. Afterwards, Ault entertained the possibility of "pushing someone that hasn't been exposed yet". The opportunity came after a friend of New Jersey artist Drunk Girl messaged Ault on
Reddit, recommending his music to be featured. After being impressed by the song that was sent to him, Drunk Girl's "Don't Stop the Party" featuring vocalist Deanna, it would be added to the game's soundtrack. "Infinite Power!", "Don't Stop the Party", remixes of Hollywood Principle's "Firework" by Edmonton producer Melad and "Spell" by California producer Sando, have not featured on an official album release, though do feature in Rocket League Radio as part of the "Unreleased Tracks" playlist.
Monstercat In June 2017, Canadian EDM label
Monstercat announced a collaboration with Psyonix to provide the soundtrack to
Rocket Leagues second anniversary update. Monstercat had identified the gaming community as an important part of its audience, having described itself in
Billboard as "synonymous with gaming since day one of its inception." Previous efforts by Monstercat to expand its gaming audience included licensing its music library for free use by streamers on
video game live streaming site
Twitch since the Twitch Music Library's launch in January 2015, and investing $1.1 million with
Y Combinator and Extreme Ventures in Revlo, a chat interaction and monetization service for Twitch.
Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 1, an eighteen-track album published as part of the collaboration, was released on July 5, 2017. It features contributions from
Aero Chord,
Conro,
Darren Styles,
Ephixa,
Notaker,
Slushii,
Vicetone, and other Monstercat artists. Its
cover art, depicting the Monstercat logo painted on the hood of an Octane, was designed by digital artist Thaira Bouhid, using
Cinema 4D. Conro's track, "All Me", was inspired by an eponymous affirmation towards his teammates in
Rocket League when they have possession of the ball. In January 2018, Monstercat established two imprints, Monstercat: Uncaged and Monstercat: Instinct, as part of a marketing refresh. The Uncaged imprint houses the label's bass-heavy artists, while Instinct houses the label's more melodic artists. The first Uncaged-themed EP,
Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 2, was released on April 2, 2018, to coincide with the game's "Tournaments" update. It featured music from Intercom,
Koven,
Pegboard Nerds, Protostar, Slippy, and
Stonebank. The first Instinct EP,
Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 3, was released on May 25, 2018, four days prior to the release of
Rocket Leagues
summer-themed "Salty Shores" update. The compilation featured complementary summer-themed music from Aiobahn, Bad Computer, Dion Timmer, Duumu, Inverness, Soupandreas, Stephen Walking, and Vin, and cover art by Monstercat artist Amanda Cha. The Uncaged-themed fourth compilation, released on September 13, 2018, to coincide with the game's Season Nine update, featured
electro house music from Bossfight,
Infected Mushroom,
Muzz, Pixel Terror, and Tokyo Machine.
Dougal,
Gammer, and
Darren Styles also collaborated once again, after "
Party Don't Stop" from
Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 2, for the compilation's third track, "Burning Up". On February 28, 2019, Psyonix announced that tracks from Rocket League x Monstercat Volumes 6 and 7 would be released throughout the year and available in-game on the same day as the individual song's release.
Albums ==Usage==