Riot hints at ‘very big’ music artist in Arcane’s second season—but one complication remains

It's an ongoing fight for the music.

Image via Netflix for Riot Games

Riot Games’ hit Netflix series Arcane was renowned by fans and critics alike for different reasons, from the enthralling story to incredibly detailed animations and its captivating characters. One huge aspect that many fans have continuously raved about, however, is the show’s soundtrack, and the amount of top artists that were brought on as talent.

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With names like Imagine Dragons, Sting, and Pusha T gracing the first edition of Arcane‘s OST, each song was beautifully made and struck a chord with viewers. Next year, however, supporters should expect even more greatness on the horizon, with creative director Christian “Praeco” Linke confirming a “very big” artist has written an incredible song for season two.

Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds in the ENEMY music video.
Imagine Dragons set the tone for Arcane. Screenshot by Dot Esports

There is an unfortunate catch that might hinder all of these plans, though. According to Praeco, the song might not even make it into the show in the first place due to complications with the artist’s record label.

“Because we cannot promise a marketing campaign to make it a ‘single release’ that stands out way above the rest of the soundtrack’s songs, the record label will likely not allow us to use the song,” Praeco said on the League subreddit. “This sucks, but it does happen. At the same time, I’m also not very concerned. Ultimately, it’ll be their loss, and we’ll just find something else.”

Praeco was very candid about the struggles faced when creating Arcane‘s first soundtrack, and he admitted that no record labels were taking them seriously since they were “an unproven story team developing a project with an unproven small boutique animation studio.”

In fact, the artists themselves had to fight to be part of the OST, including Imagine Dragons, who had to go to war against some of the top brass at Interscope Records and Universal Music Group. Luckily for them, Arcane‘s theme song, ENEMY, quickly became a hit that took over the charts with League fans and general music fans alike.

The only thing that fans can do now is hope for a resolution as Riot continues to work on the next season of one of the most-anticipated series of 2024.

Author
Image of Tyler Esguerra
Tyler Esguerra
Lead League of Legends writer for Dot Esports. Forever an LCS supporter, AD carry main, with more than five years in the industry. Sometimes I like clicking heads in Call of Duty or VALORANT. Creator of the Critical Strike Podcast.