UPDATE: Dereck Higgins has removed his original social media posts and YouTube video, sharing new information that it was unfortunately a prank designed to humiliate and embarrass him. Dereck’s updated videos have been shared below.
Music producer Dereck Higgins has caught the attention of the Gran Turismo fan base today, after sharing that he has been contacted about featuring his music in an “upcoming video game” by someone who appears to be a representative of Polyphony Digital.
Dereck first confirmed the news in a Facebook post before sharing more information in a YouTube video. It quickly made its way into our forums via GTPlanet user CTznOfTime.
“For years, music friends of mine have said to me that they thought that my music would be perfect in video games, which I take as a compliment,” Dereck says as he begins the video. “I got an email yesterday — and it took me a while to really kind of process it — a video game company wants a license to use one of my songs.”
Dereck goes on to share parts of the email, which is from someone “writing on behalf of their company’s Sound and Music Department” who works at a “prominent video game development studio best known for our work on the Gran Turismo series”.
“As part of our efforts to continually enhance the audio experience for our games, we are always looking to collaborate with talented artists like yourself. We are reaching out to inquire if you would be interested in allowing us to feature one of your songs in our upcoming project,” the email says.
Although this is what you would expect such an email to say, it takes a somewhat surprising turn (by Polyphony Digital’s typically highly-secretive standards) by asking Dereck to share the news.
“In order to gauge your community’s reaction and gauge interest, we would greatly appreciate it if you would create a short video sharing your thoughts about this opportunity. This video would be shared with your audience to get their feedback and we would be very excited to see how they respond,” the message reads.
Dereck says he has done research into the legitimacy of the message and was confident enough to proceed with the deal.
“I’ve never had anybody offer me this much money for one [track] of mine,” Dereck shares in the video. “I would get an amount up front and the rest when the game is officially released.”
Although Dereck does not mention which track the company has asked to use, he does confirm it is from his 2019 Sonicity album. The remastered album is available on Bandcamp, and it’s clear that some of the tracks would be a perfect fit for a Gran Turismo game.
Although Gran Turismo 8 is never specifically mentioned, it’s clearly the “upcoming video game” referenced in the email.
Polyphony Digital has been working diligently on the musical aspects of its next title. In addition to Dereck’s work, there is also likely some type of collaboration happening with music superstar Pharrell Williams, who visited Polyphony Digital’s Tokyo studio in April of last year.
See more articles on music and Polyphony Digital.
