Who was Bob Rice? Trailblazing Agent for Video Games Music Dead at 79

Bob Rice was a video game music executive and producer who reportedly produced one of the first rock video games Journey Escape, released by Data Age in 1982 for the Atari 26000 console.

He died of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) at age 79, on Wednesday night, June 7, 2023, at an assisted living facility in Santa Clara, California.

Rice began his career in the entertainment industry as a concert promoter in Cleveland when he was just 15 years old. At age 16, he was running his own record label and publishing company.

He founded Four Bars in 1992, which focused more on video game music as a both creative and commercial art form. His composer clients included several top game composers including Cris Velasco (God of War), Dikiciyan (Borderlands), Ouimette (Guitar Hero), Tom Salta (Ghost Recon), Zur (Fallout), and more.

Rice was referred to by many as “the first agent to see a future in music in games.”