Nintendo launches Nintendo Music, an Android/iOS streaming app for paid Switch Online members

Nintendo recently shocked its fan communities by announcing Nintendo Music, a dedicated Android/iOS streaming app. This follows the Nintendo Alarmo, a Nintendo-themed alarm clock also released this month instead of Nintendo providing any comments on the Switch 2 and the seeming leaks of its hardware specs and release date that have been circulating for the past few months.

A glance at the application immediately recalls the UI of Spotify and other music-playing apps. Most of the functionality you would expect from those apps, including Nintendo-curated playlists, is intact here. There is also some nifty extra functionality, including the ability to spoiler filter songs from selected games and extend certain songs by up to an hour instead of simply looping them.

So, what else is there to say? Chances are, a lot of you are already sold on this application. You may already be on the way to installing it on your given Android or IOS device. As long as you have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership (even a free trial membership if eligible), you can use Nintendo Music and its features to their fullest whenever you like.

But let’s not ignore some elephants in the room here.

For one, Nintendo insists on making a dedicated music app instead of simply uploading its OSTs to platforms like Spotify, which other developers and publishers do. Still, it isn’t all that appealing to music listeners who like having a unified library. Officially available Nintendo soundtracks are nice, but they would be even nicer if they didn’t require a separate app and subscription fee for those who also enjoy listening to other music or the social features of those applications.

Secondly, Nintendo fans have been making a concerted effort to upload Nintendo OSTs to YouTube or other corners of the Internet wherever possible for over twenty years, so Nintendo is very late. Not only is Nintendo late to the punch, but they inexplicably lack composer and artist information on individual tracks, only providing game titles. In contrast, OST uploaders have historically included composer and artist information along these tracks.

Nintendo’s copyright strikes on prior Nintendo OST fan uploads make a little more sense following the debut of Nintendo Music. Still, some key game preservation benefits have been lost, even though Nintendo should have an easier time providing this information than anybody else.

Finally, the actual selection of soundtracks is surprisingly limited at the time of writing. While the full range of Nintendo consoles is technically covered, there are only 23 soundtracks in total, which leaves many seminal OSTs wholly ignored. This even includes some OSTs hinted at in the trailer—the trailer implies that the Super Mario 64 OST is present, but it simply is not.

Considering the wide range of classic games and soundtracks available in Nintendo’s wider library, the fact that it took them decades to start doing this, and the fact that it dares to be its app, we think it’s fair for fans to expect a more comprehensive library at launch.

All this is to say is when will the Legend of the Seven Stars OST be available?