Nintendo has pulled a surprise move by unveiling Nintendo Music, a new streaming app available for Android and iOS. This announcement comes on the heels of the Nintendo Alarmo, a quirky Nintendo-themed alarm clock released earlier this month. These unexpected launches divert attention away from the much-anticipated Switch 2, whose rumored hardware specs and release date have been causing quite a stir among fans for months.
At first glance, the app’s design closely mirrors that of popular streaming services like Spotify, offering familiar features like curated playlists. But it doesn’t stop there. Nintendo Music introduces some unique functionalities, such as the option to filter out spoilers from game soundtracks and extend certain tracks for an hour instead of repeating them.
If you’re a die-hard Nintendo enthusiast, you’re likely already intrigued by this app and might be in the process of downloading it. With an active Nintendo Switch Online membership—even if you’re just using the free trial—you can dive in and explore everything Nintendo Music has to offer right away.
However, let’s address a couple of major issues.
Firstly, it’s puzzling why Nintendo chose to create a separate music app rather than simply uploading their soundtracks to existing platforms like Spotify. This might not sit well with those who prefer a consolidated music collection in one app, especially when streaming from multiple artists and taking advantage of social features. While having official Nintendo soundtracks is great, requiring a separate app and a subscription fee isn’t ideal.
Moreover, for years, fans have painstakingly uploaded Nintendo soundtracks across YouTube and various sites, trying to make these tunes available worldwide. Now, with Nintendo stepping in so late, it’s odd to see their tracks lacking detailed information like composer and artist names, showing only the game titles, unlike the comprehensive details fans would often provide.
The recent wave of copyright strikes ensuring the removal of fan-uploaded Nintendo soundtracks makes more sense now, following Nintendo Music’s release. However, it’s a missed opportunity in terms of preserving game history, and one would assume Nintendo could easily supply this crucial information better than anyone.
One more thing worth mentioning is the unexpectedly sparse selection of available soundtracks. Even though various Nintendo consoles are represented, there are only 23 soundtracks in total, leaving many classic scores absent from the library. Interestingly, the app’s trailer suggested the inclusion of iconic soundtracks, like that of Super Mario 64, although they’re conspicuously missing.
Given Nintendo’s vast catalog of legendary games and soundtracks, it’s somewhat disappointing that it took this long to launch, and that it warrants being a standalone app, fans rightfully anticipated a more extensive library from the get-go.
The big question that remains is: when will we finally see the Legend of the Seven Stars soundtrack on Nintendo Music?
