While many major game soundtracks are released physical and digitally shortly after their corresponding game releases, Nintendo has been a little more hit-or-miss, often resulting in fans uploading the tunes to their own YouTube channels. Thankfully, Pokémon fans may be in luck as The Pokémon Company has officially released the soundtrack via a new website – the Pokémon Sound Library.
The original Diamond & Pearl DS soundtrack is all that’s included but there is a lot of cute flair, like using appropriate sprites for specific songs.
Announcing the Pokémon DP Sound Library! 🎶
All the music you love from the original Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games is now available to listen to AND download for use in personal video and music creation.
🎧 Tune in: https://t.co/jtypxqVG5o pic.twitter.com/5r3rTtmcjn
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) February 2, 2022
Perhaps most exciting, however, is that fans are now officially allowed to use the songs in personal videos and music creation. There are some prohibited uses, but listed permitted examples include background music in videos, use at events, background music for sporting entrances, and more besides. The website even links a sampling that has already been released by Alan Shirahama.
With Nintendo cracking down on fan-run music uploading efforts, we’ll just have to wait and see if this is the first of many forays into official music distribution, though it’s worth noting that Japan has had access to the Pokémon Sound Library for several weeks now so it’s possible the two are unconnected.
Written by Tom Brown
Whether it’s an exciting new entry in a series long established or a weird experiment meant only for the dedicated, Tom is eager to report on it. Rest assured, if Nintendo ever announces Elite Beat Agents 2, he’ll be there.
