music-brief

name	music-brief
description	Create a composer-ready music brief defining emotional arc, narrative or gameplay function, structure, adaptive states, instrumentation direction, references, deliverables, and implementation constraints.

Music Brief

Use when music must be commissioned, generated, selected, or composed for a product, scene, campaign, or adaptive system.

Procedure

1. Define where the music appears, what the user or player should feel or understand, and how the cue supports narrative, brand, pacing, or gameplay.
2. Describe the emotional arc and structural moments rather than prescribing melody notes unless a motif already exists.
3. Specify duration range, loopability, intro or outro, stems, transitions, adaptive layers, intensity states, or synchronization needs where relevant.
4. Describe instrumentation, texture, tempo or energy range, tonal language, and production character with enough freedom for composition.
5. Provide annotated references that explain which qualities are useful and which should not be copied.
6. State dialogue or SFX masking constraints, platform or loudness expectations, and any accessibility or user-control requirements.
7. List deliverables and technical format: full mix, stems, loop points, sample rate, bit depth, alternate versions, metadata, and source or session requirements where applicable.
8. Define review criteria around function and emotional fit so feedback does not collapse into subjective taste.

Decision rules

• Brief the intended effect and function, not a clone of a reference track.
• Adaptive music needs implementation states and transition requirements in the brief.
• Composer freedom is valuable where the product requirement does not dictate a choice.
• Technical deliverables should be decided before final mastering.

Quality gate

The brief is ready when a composer can understand function, emotional arc, structural or adaptive needs, technical deliverables, and review criteria without guessing, while references clarify qualities rather than invite imitation.