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[IbizaPocholo]

Nintendo doesn't credit composers on new Nintendo Music app

If you want to know who composed a given Nintendo track, your answer is in another castle.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Yesterday, Nintendo dropped a fun new way to celebrate the many wonderful soundtracks that have accompanied its game for years. It debuted Nintendo Music, an app dedicated to soundtracks from its storied history. It's available only to Nintendo Switch Online members, making it another unique driver of Nintendo's entry into subscription services.

There's just one catch. The app doesn't credit any composers. If you log into the app and pick a song, the "Track information" button just has the name, the game it appears in, and a Nintendo copyright notice.

Developers and game music professionals spotted the omission shortly after the app rolled out on October 30, 2024. Assistant audio editor Nabil Mehari was one of many to draw attention to the uncredited artists, which includes veteran composers Koji Kondo and Ryo Nagamatsu.

"Once again Nintendo is trying to maintain the illusion that everything they release is created by a monolith, and it’s disappointing," Mehari wrote.

The list of unnamed composers included runs pretty long. Yuka Tsujiyoko isn't credited for her work on the Fire Emblem series. Kenji Yamamoto is not listed as the music meister behind Metroid Prime. Want to know who composed K. K. Slider's slick tunes? Kazumi Totaka and his collaborators are unfortunately absent.

Nintendo's new celebration of its vaunted soundtracks is another innovative way it's driving customers to its online subscription service. It's also another canny way of capitalizing on its audio files, as the Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo did earlier this month.

But its innovative wins risk being overshadowed by a growing reticence to properly credit developers. In July, Game Developer learned its crediting policies were leaving third-party translators out of credits, denying them a much-needed boost on their resumés.

 

[Ponderling]

"Kenji Yamamoto is not listed as the music meister behind Metroid Prime."

Tommy Tallarico isn't listed either, disgraceful.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Somebody sue them. That would ironic.

 

[cireza]

"Once again Nintendo is trying to maintain the illusion that everything they release is created by a monolith, and it’s disappointing,"

At least they credited one of their development teams !

 

[Same ol G]

They don't have to, who cares.

 

[Stefan.North]

Nintardo is just full of wins.
Destroy game preservation, stop and demotivate fan game projects, defund youtube content creators who make tributes and free marketing for your games and make your fans always pay more for 3rd party games with worse graphics znd often less content.

 

[AJUMP23]

Being part of Nintendo is enough. They care about the name on the front of the building not the people inside it.

 

[Hookshot]

Knowing Nintendo the app would break if they added the kb's of text data.

 

[SaintALia]

"Game Developer has reached out Nintendo for comment and will update this story when a response is given.."
Nintendo won't respond, and if they ever do it will be with a boilerplate response.

Better bet would be to try and contact the artistes who are featured on the store to get their opinions. I think it's all if not most in house artistes though.

 

[FreeY$L]

Nintendo can fuck right off.

 

[Dacvak]

Why bother with a list when Tommy Tallarico composed all of this music side-by-side with Michael Jackson and Miyamoto?

"Kenji Yamamoto is not listed as the music meister behind Metroid Prime."

Tommy Tallarico isn't listed either, disgraceful.

Aw fuck you beat me to it

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Being part of Nintendo is enough. They care about the name on the front of the building not the people inside it.

 

[Calico345]

Nintendo can piss off.

 

[FreeY$L]

Being part of Nintendo is enough. They care about the name on the front of the building not the people inside it.

This is the same logic as “You’ll be paid in exposure”. Delete this.

 

[Dacvak]

All things considered, the app is actually excellently made. It just needs more OSTs now. But I’ve been loving the curated lists, and option to extend tracks.

Super lame to not credit the composers, but that’s sadly not unexpected.

 

[LordOcidax]

This is and amazing topic.. for the purple place…

 

[Joelenheimer]

the amount of boo-hooing here is pitiful. get on with your life.

 

[Dacvak]

Oh snap, they just added Mario Wonder to the app! Nice

 

[Represent.]

They don't have to, who cares.

delusional fanboy comment

 

[AJUMP23]

This is the same logic as “You’ll be paid in exposure”. Delete this.

I guess I needed /s

 

[JimboJones]

Nintendo: please go buy our games if you want to see music credits.

 

[chakadave]

Being part of Nintendo is enough. They care about the name on the front of the building not the people inside it.

If the people inside didn't like it they would have more turn over.

Sometimes working for something bigger than your own name is worth it. How many lifetime employees does Nintendo have? How many composers have stayed with Nintendo their whole career?

 

[Porcile]

They are mostly Japanese composers there is also a big chance they don't even care to be credited and are happy enough to just work for a Nintendo as an employee. Why do you think so many Japanese artists use pseudonyms or choose to remain mostly anonymous? There is a completely different culture around this kind of stuff in Japan.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

You get to see the composers if you subscribe to the Nintendo online expansion pak.

 

[Dacvak]

I’ve got complex feelings about this. Part of the organization I work for it dedicated to the preservation of video game music and its history, so obviously I think they should credit the composers here.

But I also understand how difficult (and sometimes impossible) it is to do that on a per-track basis.

The best option would be to simply include credits for the audio team and composers per OST, and not per track. But even that can get tricky, especially in the 8 and 16-bit era of gaming.

Honestly, with the amount of effort they’ve put into this app (which is much more than I expected, with screenshots associated with each track, curated playlists, extending music, etc), I’d think they could squeeze out the extra bandwidth to at least credit the audio leads per game, even if that doesn’t tell the whole story.

But this area of gaming preservation has always been difficult to accurately assess.

 

[RagnarokIV]

 

[Effigenius]

 

[hemo memo]

If they are sued for that, it will be very ironic and funny.

 

[chakadave]

If they are sued for that, it will be very ironic and funny.

Highly unlikely. They probably have this all in contracts. If it is in a Nintendo game it is locked down.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

But I also understand how difficult (and sometimes impossible) it is to do that on a per-track basis.

I have many Japanese OSTs, physical and otherwise. They all have individual credits for each track.

This is inexcusable.

Here, let me help Nintendo a bit since it’s soooo difficult:

News and Updates - VGMdb

VGMdb provides media, tracklist and artist information for video game soundtracks and anime music.

vgmdb.net

 

[Robb]

Sucks from a functionality standpoint as well. I’d like playlists based on specific composers.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Pikmins justifying this shitty practice is always a pitiful watch.

 

[SimTourist]

 

[near]

No reasonable excuse to omit credits from the app.

 

[hemo memo]

This is both good and bad. It’s bad that you don’t get credited. It’s good that no matter what happens, they’ll be going after Nintendo, the company, and not you directly.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

They are mostly Japanese composers there is also a big chance they don't even care to be credited and are happy enough to just work for a Nintendo as an employee. Why do you think so many Japanese artists use pseudonyms or choose to remain mostly anonymous? There is a completely different culture around this kind of stuff in Japan.

Yeah, there has to be something cultural to it. But leave it to modern American cultural imperialists to enforce their expectations onto other countries and their cultures.

Y'know, IF it's a case of the composers not generally caring if they're credited in the app or not for their music. They did their job, got paid, probably get kickbacks/royalties of some kind, and might have a website of their own where they list the songs they've composed.

Weird thing about these kind of outrage articles from Western journalists, is they think the composers don't know the terms before they sign on. Something like getting upfront credit or mention in perpetuity for their work in reuse instances, would've been clarified to them when they took the job. If needing their name placed on the song every single time it's posted somewhere was a requirement on their end, they'd of likely not taken the job.

But, part of modern-day so-called progressive outrage, is you have to pretend those you're offended on behalf of have no agency, no mental capacity and no ability to comprehend or function in the real world as able-bodied and able-minded adults :/

 

[midnightAI]

They don't have to, who cares.

Depending on the license agreement, yes, they would have to

 

[LordOcidax]

Depending on the license agreement, yes, they would have to

Internet social warriors are the ones who are crying, composers NO. These “news” are from some sites well knowns to get some click to same community that cry for everything.

 

[Kataploom]

Here's a thread explaining this, go enter the post and follow them read:

 

[near]

Internet social warriors are the ones who are crying, composers NO. These “news” are from some sites well knowns to get some click to same community that cry for everything.

If these were western composers they'd 100% be complaining online about it. Just because these individuals aren't doesn't make it fine either.

 

[Deerock71]

I'm trying really hard to get worked up about this. [GRUNTS]. Nope. Nothing.

 

[midnightAI]

Internet social warriors are the ones who are crying, composers NO. These “news” are from some sites well knowns to get some click to same community that cry for everything.

Does any of that matter though? If 'legally' they should give them credit..... then they should give them credit. If they don't legally have to give them credit then there's nothing to see.

 

[Robb]

EDIT:
Just to be clear this isn’t real. I just saw it and thought the notion that they’d address the issue by adding “Nintendo” under all tracks was funny.

 

[near]

Credit where credit is due. Well done Nintendo.

Edit: Where is the actual tweet for this?

 

[Robb]

Credit where credit is due. Well done Nintendo.

Edit: Where is the actual tweet for this?

Oh, sorry. That’s just an edit/image I saw and thought was funny.

 

[near]

Oh, sorry. That’s just an edit/image I saw and thought was funny.

I got trolled and rolled.

 

[ReyBrujo]

lol, you almost got it to post "A rare incel defeat".

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Classic Nintendo. Sue the hell out of everybody. Conveniently forget to credit the composers of your scores.

 

[DKPOWPOW]

Fucked. Whether it’s the norm or not, Nintendo should be putting the foot forward and giving these guys credit. They have an enormous library of quality tunes and each one deserves to have the artist(s) Name by it.

 

[Calico345]

This is Alarmoing!