Nintendo’s new music venture shows why Nintendo is thriving while the rest of the industry sinks
Last week, Nintendo revealed two huge announcements seemingly out of nowhere. The first was a remastered version of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which officially brings every entry of the fan-favorite franchise onto the Switch. The second was even more massive: Nintendo essentially launched its own music streaming service.
Nintendo Music can be downloaded from any app store. What’s more, anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription can use it. The app allows users to listen to an assortment of Nintendo soundtracks from throughout the company’s history, from Mario Kart 8 to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, down to older classics like the original Super Mario Bros., Metroid Prime, and Ocarina of Time. The library isn’t too extensive yet (Pokémon Red and Blue now, please), but Nintendo is already slowly adding soundtracks onto the platform.
Something like Nintendo Music has been desired for a long time, to say the least. Nintendo has arguably the best music library in all of gaming, but actually listening to it outside of the games can be tricky. The company has refused to release its music on Spotify and Apple Music, and it’s quite famous for cracking down on fan uploads on YouTube. Hard copies of Nintendo soundtracks are available for purchase, but they’re expensive (worth it, but expensive) and difficult to find outside of Japan.
Given all that, suddenly having one place to listen to the many decades of Nintendo games’ incredible music is incredibly exciting. It would be even more ideal if the game’s composers were credited in the app, but considering Nintendo Music just launched, I’m hoping this will change in time.
Beyond the joy Nintendo Music brings fans, from a business perspective, Nintendo’s decision to release its own music app instead of streaming on Spotify or Apple Music is kind of genius.
Under their own umbrella
The video game industry is currently in a rough spot. Between 2023 and 2024, over 20,000 people lost their jobs across the industry. Mega companies like Microsoft have been purchasing large companies like Activision Blizzard and then shuttering smaller ones to make up for the purchases’ price tag. Nintendo alone seems to not only be avoiding layoffs, but actively hiring.
There are a couple of reasons why this could be the case. But one is that Nintendo excels at keeping its properties under its control. Historically speaking, around 50% of Nintendo’s biggest games are first-party (compared to around 10% of its competitors), meaning they were made under Nintendo’s roof or the roofs of direct subsidiaries. And those games are only sold on Nintendo hardware.
Now, take that ethos into music streaming. Streamers like Spotify famously take a large portion of streaming profits, where even successful artists make a fraction of a cent per stream. Nintendo Music allows those already in Nintendo’s most dedicated fandom access to music while providing a controlled, closed environment for Nintendo. It’s like selling a game in your own e-shop, versus selling it on Steam, where Steam will take a cut of the sale.
This kind of business savvy is a huge reason why Nintendo is doing well while the rest of the gaming industry is having record layoffs. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to “Lost Woods” on repeat.
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