It’s unprecedented: to mark the theatrical release of the Super Mario Galaxy movie and the 40th anniversary of the famous plumber, Nintendo is partnering with the streaming giant to release the original soundtracks for Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Here's the official announcement.
Through official soundtracks from these beloved games, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, listeners can relive memories of adventures, characters, and stages on this playlist, experiencing the world of the games on Spotify.
This is the first time Nintendo has authorized the release of one of its OSTs on a streaming platform—since last year, the Japanese company has launched its own service, Nintendo Music, where it releases new tracks and albums from its back catalog every week.
Spotify is sharing a playlist featuring all 130 tracks (4 hours of music) from both OSTs. The soundtrack to the latest movie, featuring arrangements by Brian Tyler, is also streaming on Spotify (and more).
It’s almost hard to believe, and it paves the way for potential future collaborations between the Swedish platform, the leader in music streaming, and the gaming giant Nintendo. I can't wait to dive into these legendary OSTs, but I can't help but regret that the Japanese giant still doesn't take the trouble to properly credit its composers. As usual, a huge thank you to the VGMdb archivists who do an amazing job of doing justice to the musicians' work.
A few months ago, Nintendo already showed signs of opening up by collaborating with the Laced Records label for the upcoming vinyl release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s OST. One can legitimately wonder what this means for the future of Nintendo game soundtracks. Should we expect to see more of them appearing on Spotify? Will they also arrive on other streaming platforms? And what place will Nintendo Music maintain if that happens? This move raises many questions that are currently impossible to answer.
I would be cautious, however. When you click on the artist name, "Super Mario Galaxy," the description specifies that the music will only be available "for a limited time." (thanks Jérémie for the heads up!)
