Nintendo’s new music app may spell copyright strikes in the future.
Nintendo has announced that the Nintendo Music app is coming to mobile devices later today. The app will have the complete soundtracks for Nintendo titles ranging from Kirby to Animal Crossing to Splatoon and everything in between. Features include downloading tracks for offline listening, curated playlists based on themes, moods, and characters, and filtering out music that would spoil games players haven’t finished.
The issue? Nintendo fans wonder what this app will mean for online content.
Is the Nintendo Music app free?
The Nintendo Music app is only available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. It’s available in all major Nintendo regions including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.
While the Nintendo Music app is free to download, the subscription cost comes to $19.99 per year or $3.99 per month, depending on the type of membership they choose. There is also a seven-day trial for those who want to test out the Nintendo Music app before making any purchases.
This is ultimately a straight value-add for existing Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. A Nintendo Switch is not required for an NSO subscription, so people who want to listen to the DK Rap can still buy a subscription and tune in.
It’s possible that the rollout of the Nintendo Music app could have negative consequences for some, though.
Fans wonder over future of Nintendo music on social media
Some are fearful that Nintendo will start taking aggressive action against Youtube channels that feature music from Nintendo games.
Nintendo is no stranger to copyright striking and suing anyone they feel is using its intellectual property. As recently as last month, Nintendo was reportedly copyright striking long-running YouTube channels for showing emulated games. Will Nintendo now start taking action against channels that use games’ music? And what of the many remixes and samples?
It wouldn’t be shocking for a company that doesn’t even allow Super Smash Bros tournaments to use its characters and logos in its materials and forced Nintendo emulator Yuzu to pay millions to settle a lawsuit since the company ruled that games can only be played on their systems.
Now that Nintendo’s music is all on one app, will this music be allowed to be used anywhere else? That’s the question on some Nintendo fans’ minds. The answer won’t be known for some time.
Separate from that, the launch of the app also hasn’t been met with unanimous praise by fans.
Some gamers reacted to the new app with disdain. Many wondered why Nintendo bothered with the app, stating they could already go to YouTube to hear the songs. Of course, that may be something Nintendo realizes as well.