Nintendo is opening its 40 years of video game soundtracks with the launch of Nintendo Music, a new music streaming app that lets users listen to classic gaming tunes from Nintendo games, including Splatoon, Animal Crossing, and The Legend of Zelda. However, the app is available only to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers and will be accessible on iOS and Android platforms in the US and Canada, among other markets and territories.
The app features top songs from specific game franchises, songs to match your mood, and tracks connected to characters such as Bowser, Yoshi, or K.K. Slider. Users can also loop songs or extend select tracks to 15, 30, or 60 minutes for uninterrupted listening. The app even allows you to filter out songs from a specific game to avoid spoilers in case you haven’t played or finished it yet.
With Nintendo Music, users can stream songs directly from the app or download them for offline listening. The app also lets you build personal playlists that you can share with others and features curated playlists created by Nintendo. The company stated that more music will be added and that it will continue to build the music catalog.
Nintendo Music is a brand-new initiative from the Kyoto-based company to diversify its business beyond making games and game consoles. With Nintendo Music, the iconic gaming company enters the music streaming market, taking on Spotify and Apple with a unique spin. The Japanese giant has indicated in recent months that it wants to be seen as an “entertainment” company, similar to Disney. Its recent moves give a preview of where the company’s future is headed.
It launched Super Nintendo World in Los Angeles, a theme park attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood (another one will be added in 2025 in Orlando, Florida; a similar attraction in Osaka, Japan, debuted in 2021). The company also released The Super Mario Bros. Movie, its first theatrical production, which went on to earn more than $1 billion, making it the second-biggest release of 2023, only surpassed by Barbie. Nintendo is already working on a second Hollywood project based on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which will be a live-action movie. Additionally, this year, it opened a museum in its hometown, Kyoto.
There is a growing sense that Nintendo is focusing on increasing its offerings to bring in more revenue per user from Switch Online, a paid membership service that gives users access to games, including classics from older consoles like the N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance, while unlocking special features. The company recently launched a smart alarm clock called Alarmo, which is available exclusively for Switch Online customers; it also tested a mysterious MMO (massively multiplayer online) style game similar to Minecraft with a select group of 10,000 gamers who had access to the paid service.
As Nintendo makes a transition to the next-generation console, which at this point isn’t clear if it will bring a brand-new experience or a successor to the Switch, experts say the role of Nintendo’s paid subscription might play a huge part in bringing existing Switch users to the new console.