Why Nintendo Hates Their Music (and You)

you ever meet one of those guys that's a little too into video game music you know puts on persona songs in the car or makes entire videos talking about outdated copyright laws and the preservation of digital entertainment maybe they even spend thousands of dollars collecting their favorite soundtracks on an outdated format like vinyl but there's one publisher that seems to be missing from both my physical and digital collections if only they could release any of their music on vinyl or on any streaming service or in any official capacity outside of japan at this point in my videos something would usually materialize or fall into my lap but this is nintendo we're talking about i love nintendo games i figured i should preface the video with this and i'll definitely be restating it more than once because i mean no ill will towards any creators or developers at the company nintendo is responsible for so many of my favorite video games and that fact will never change i won't stop getting excited for new releases or gushing about the childlike wonder of mario odyssey every chance i get but that doesn't mean they're beyond criticism i want the company that makes so many beloved games to be better so let's talk about copyright with the way entertainment has progressed in the last two decades copyright law continues to lag behind and is no longer fit for the massive creative space that is the internet i don't think i need to touch on indie games too heavily but for those less familiar they're often the golden standard when it comes to these types of issues indie developers support tournaments for their fighting games promote and develop modding communities with shoutouts and contests and understand the value of their music it's very easy to find indie game soundtracks on streaming services and as physical and digital albums and the creators are highly connected with their communities composers like lena rayne hold listen along live streams and make sure content creators can use their music freely without the fear of automated copyright claims or strikes from labels and music groups and while none of the examples i'm about to provide are perfect there are certainly aaa studios that mirror a similar level of respect and understanding valve helps modders turn fan creations into real in-game items the sonic social media pages interact with the community and leave comments complimenting youtube fan projects and sega even went as far as tasking creators known for sonic mods ports and fan music with making sonic mania a game that ended up being the highest rated sonic title in 15 years when it comes to most forms of traditional entertainment however many corporations prefer to maintain the tightest grip possible to squeeze out every drop of revenue rather than allowing art to thrive through covers remixes fan projects what have you and unfortunately it often feels as if nintendo is the prime example of this when it comes to the video game industry [Music] nintendo's actions show both a disrespect for their global audience and an unwillingness to adapt to the ever-shifting sands of media distribution and content creation they consistently ignore or directly damage the communities that cherish their games the most from melee tournaments to modders of both new and classic titles their firm stance against all forms of piracy and emulation has existed since the late 90s and its notoriety continues to inspire waves of comment threads memes and video edits of fake pirated software screens if i saw this as a kid i would have died right there despite the fact that emulation plays an important role in the preservation of video game history archivers and fan creators alike live in fear of receiving an all too familiar cease and desist notice it doesn't just stop at the games themselves as nintendo also has a history of failing to adapt to the landscape of online video and streaming content as they were notorious for claiming and striking youtube videos up until just a few years ago yeah you had to join their partner program and give them a chunk of your ad revenue lest you take a gamble on whether or not they'd find your video and seize all of it or worse send creepypasta mario straight to your house here's a clip from the ending of my mario odyssey review where i give them 7 minutes and 30 seconds of free advertising [Music] and finally we arrive at the main point of this video nintendo's music this issue is especially important to me as it's no secret that i'm a massive fan of video game music dynamic diegetic you name it you pass me the ox i play mario and sonic rio 2016 rugby sevens before i delve into this nintendo's actions and stances are tough to analyze from a copyright perspective and i am in no way a legal expert so take what i say with a grain of salt an entire shaker of salt even i'm not trying to write a graduate research paper or anything i'm just a guy who likes talking about video games i'm also a guy who's shameless enough to put a percentage on the screen while suggesting that you should click the subscribe button if you want to support the channel before using a vinyl record to transition into the next section of the video video game music exists in a separate realm from traditional music because in general music made simply to be music generates revenue through streams and sales which is why unofficial re-uploads and piracy are the main concerns of corporations however video game music is composed as one part of an entire experience while games wouldn't be the same without their music the music itself isn't made to directly generate revenue the composers are paid for their work by the developers or studio creating the game but ownership after the fact may shift indie game composers often maintain the rights to their music selling it through band camp and uploading it to various streaming platforms while larger studios will often maintain control of the music associated with their games until recently aaa studios didn't really do much with their soundtracks outside of japanese studios selling cds exclusively in japan where there is much higher demand for physical merchandise with said soundtracks being composed for a game and not for direct sales they aren't usually entered into copyright detection libraries which is why they have a history of being used in video and streaming content and why they're able to be uploaded to sites like youtube and soundcloud in their entirety for enjoyment and preservation albeit in an unofficial way plenty of big game studios have begun selling physical copies of their soundtracks overseas and uploading their music to streaming services to provide official high quality ways for fans to listen to their favorite songs however nintendo is like if you were to take the shittiest outcomes of everything i just explained and make them even worse so let's talk about the triple triad threat of nintendo's outdated music policies and how i believe these actions disrespect both consumers and the composers of the music we all know and love first up nintendo provides an infinitesimally small number of ways to support or listen to their music officially i say infinitesimally small because it isn't exactly zero but throwing a cd containing some of the game's music in with a collector's edition isn't exactly catering to the largest percentages of their audience nor does it even please those people trust me i'm one of them okay my bad they pressed three songs from splatoon 2 on vinyl once for a promotional release nintendo i will buy one while nintendo sells plenty of their soundtracks in physical formats in japan they refuse to offer any official ways to listen to said music for their massive international audience no cds no vinyl no itunes except for mario odyssey and a few pokemon soundtracks last i checked no youtube no band camp no spotify the [ __ ] music players in smash ultimate and 3d all-stars don't count my switch doesn't exactly fit in my pocket when i want to go for a walk and to my dear viewers sorry to break your hearts but i'm at least 80 percent sure the artist super mario 64 on spotify is not an official uploader almost 3 million plays on slide alone though god damn nintendo look at what you're missing out on in spotify revenue that's like pennies maybe a quarter on a good day in this day and age nintendo's lack of action when it comes to providing ample ways to appreciate the hard work of their composers feels disrespectful and lazy second copyright takedowns nintendo is aggressive when it comes to dealing with unofficial versions of their music online i mean this is no surprise considering they're infamy when it comes to emulation but nintendo is the only video game company i currently know of that has distributed massive amounts of manual copyright strikes to channels like gilva sunner and even near-completely obliterated others like brawl brstm while nintendo does have the legal right to take them down these channels who often chose not to monetize their music uploads were doing more than nintendo ever had when it came to appreciating and preserving music they provided a place where thousands of songs were neatly organized and catalogued and rather than simply claim the videos to acquire monetization while leaving the music up for fans to enjoy nintendo turned this screen into something of a joke amongst die hard fans many of the examples i mentioned were a result of manual strikes and blocks which means nintendo directly targets certain songs and channels rather than simply claiming ad revenue by registering their music in youtube's auto detection system for the first few weeks of any nintendo games release it can often be difficult if not impossible to find the soundtrack online and it's practically a rite of passage as a nintendo fan to put a song you love into a playlist and see the video unavailable screen a week later oh and this doesn't mean they don't put some of their music into copyright detection systems anyway despite refusing to publish it online in any capacity when i was making my fire emblem 3 houses review it was a huge hassle to find certain tracks as they were repeatedly taken down from youtube and before you say i could have used the official cd that came in my 100 collectors edition it was a singular sample selection disc that doesn't have anywhere near all the songs with that being said we arrive at the third and final issue [Music] through their official events and social media platforms nintendo acknowledges that fans love their music but continue to ignore their wishes with bizarre corporate decisions while the posts of social media managers clearly don't reflect the executive decisions of senior board members it kinda sucks to see a post asking what's your favorite piece of music from the legend of zelda series nintendo is responsible for some of the most beloved and recognizable video game music of all time it has touched the hearts of so many players and there are clearly millions of dedicated fans who would love to listen to songs outside of the games they've been initially composed for when nintendo continues to ignore any avenue of publishing their music officially it almost feels disrespectful to the composers as well who continue to create some of the most impressive and impactful soundtracks in the entire gaming industry but for some reason they're releasing officially licensed nintendo vinyl slip mats and lp carrying bags so maybe that means something i'm getting desperate at this point if the youtube channels dedicated to uploading all of the soundtracks were impacting nintendo's bottom line then sure i understand why they'd vehemently go after them but absolutely decimating the only way to listen to their soundtracks for years on end in an attempt to keep a disney-like grip on all of their properties makes it seem as if nintendo's corporate side doesn't care all that much about their music to begin with in the beginning of this video i touched on the importance of video game preservation since the medium is much more complex than standard entertainment that can be re-released on just about any streaming service or digital platform games need specific hardware and usually aren't given the same amount of care and longevity while it feels like nintendo often sees their games as fleeting pieces of entertainment that fizzle into nothingness with each passing generation plenty of collectors in both the physical and digital realms take it upon themselves to protect their own most treasured pieces of gaming history and i think that the preservation of soundtracks can be just as important video game music plays such a significant role in the collective memory of games that it arguably warrants preservation in and of itself die hard fans take it upon themselves to spend hours working with music instruction data to produce studio quality versions of classic soundtracks like donkey kong country just recently over a hundred and sixty talented musicians came together to collaborate on a 40-minute long paper mario fan concert meanwhile nintendo is actively fighting to make it harder to do so much as listen to a piece of their own music in any reasonable capacity it's disheartening to say the least at the end of the day overprotective money-hungry corporations that use said money to shape harmful outdated laws are nothing new i often wonder if my own content is anything more than fleeting entertainment seen by google as a delivery platform for endlessly invasive personalized advertising that plays before during and after my hard work hand selected by our capitalist overlords but at least i can listen to kaine's theme from near replicant on youtube spotify cd and vinyl while crying under my desk at 4 00 am and god damn it if that doesn't make life a little easier if only i could say the same for the homies who love dyer dyer docs [Music] i'm sure someone from nintendo's pr team is listening in on this and has put me on some sort of blacklist and i suppose i'll have to live with that for now but we're talking about a company that has created countless experiences that for better or worse heavily shaped who i am today the reason i've made this video is not to simply lament and kick dirt but to instead criticize nintendo in the hopes that they will one day improve on these issues you'll make some good ass games guys just you need to pick up the pace in more than a couple areas alright that's about all i have to say for this video i hope you enjoyed it i already asked you to subscribe once so i won't do it again and if you'd like to support my work directly while getting perks like your name in the credits behind the scenes content and exclusive discord channels you can check out my patreon link in the description while we can't peek into nintendo's offices and listen to the conversations of their executives and legal team actions speak louder than words when it comes to understanding how much nintendo cares about protecting their properties and their actions aren't just speaking they're screaming like baby mario when he gets hit off yoshi's back that's not even music [Music] you

Channel: yakkocmn

Views: 574,893

Keywords: nintendo, nintendo switch, nintendo music, yakkocmn, mario odyssey, nintendo youtube, nintendo copyright, copyright strike, copyright claim, emulation, mods, modding, super mario odyssey, nintendo ost, nintendo soundtrack, indie games, sonic music, copyright, nintendo fan game, smash bros, melee, smash melee, youtuber, zelda, breath of the wild, pokemon, super smash bros, splatoon, animal crossing

Id: bQNZd7qjn8w

Length: 15min 45sec (945 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 06 2021