Nintendo recently surprised its fans with the launch of Nintendo Music, a streaming app for Android and iOS dedicated to their extensive library of game soundtracks. This comes not long after they unveiled Nintendo Alarmo, an alarm clock app with a Nintendo theme. Meanwhile, the gaming community has eagerly awaited any official word about the much-speculated Switch 2, especially given the leaks regarding its potential specs and release date.
A quick look at Nintendo Music shows a user interface similar to popular platforms like Spotify. It retains many familiar features, such as Nintendo-curated playlists, while also introducing some unique options. For instance, users can filter out potential spoilers in songs from specific games or extend tracks up to an hour, negating the need for constant looping.
Chances are, many of you are intrigued by this new app and are considering downloading it on your Apple or Android device. If you have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, even a trial one, you’ll be able to fully explore everything Nintendo Music offers whenever you wish.
However, there are a few points worth discussing here.
Firstly, it’s curious that Nintendo opted for a standalone music app rather than simply adding their soundtracks to established platforms like Spotify. Other game developers and publishers have done so, which appeals to listeners who prefer to keep all their music in one place. Having separate apps and subscription fees for Nintendo music might not be particularly enticing for those who enjoy the social and diversified library features of mainstream music apps.
Secondly, there’s been an ongoing effort by Nintendo fans to share game soundtracks online, on platforms such as YouTube, for over twenty years now. Nintendo’s lateness to this streaming service game seems odd, especially considering they’ve omitted composer and artist details in their app—a feature fan uploads have traditionally included. Now that Nintendo Music is available, their previous copyright strikes on fan uploads make a bit more sense. Yet, the opportunity to enhance game preservation by including comprehensive track information has been surprisingly overlooked.
Finally, the lineup of available soundtracks is rather limited at launch. While they cover music from across Nintendo’s console history, the app only offers 23 soundtracks at the moment, leaving many iconic collections absent. Even the Super Mario 64 soundtrack, seemingly suggested in the announcement trailer, is missing, which is a bit of a letdown.
Considering the vast array of classic games and music in Nintendo’s collection, the time it took them to release such an app, and the choice to make it a separate application, fans understandably expected a richer selection right out of the gate.
Ultimately, this raises the question: when can we expect to see the Legend of the Seven Stars soundtrack available on Nintendo Music?
