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[Deft Beck]

Every other Atlus game includes like a 5-7 song sampler of a game with three dozen or more tracks, and then they never offer the soundtrack for purchase legally anywhere in the US, except maybe iTunes.

Now SEGA is trying to incentivize Bayonetta PC buyers with a 5-song soundtrack. Are you kidding me? That's not "deluxe", that's a pittance. The game is old enough, at least give me the option to buy the whole thing digitally with the game.

Reminds me of the situation with Xenoblade Chronicles X, in which special edition purchasers got to listen to part of the soundtrack off of an encrypted USB drive and a proprietary PC based program, all because they chose an expensive composer whose label had ridiculous stipulations.

Meanwhile, you have WayForward (Western publisher, for comparison) bundling the whole soundtrack to one of the newer Shantae games in its physical release. At least SNK bundled the whole KOF14 soundtrack with one of the special editions.

What's up with this phenomenon?

 

[Aeana]

It seems like your question is "why don't they give me the whole soundtrack for free in the package?" to which the answer is that game music is a viable industry for Japan so they want to sell it to you. Many publishers release game music on NA iTunes.

 

[muteki]

Because they can be sold separately for 30~40$+?

 

[Neptonic]

I just want more soundtracks on Spotify, but Japan doesn't like music streaming

 

[Deft Beck]

It seems like your question is "why don't they give me the whole soundtrack for free in the package?" to which the answer is that game music is a viable industry for Japan so they want to sell it to you. Many publishers release game music on NA iTunes.

Less outright "for free" and moreso that there's a total lack of an option to buy it as part of a true "deluxe" package. It's insulting when it's like a $15+ separate purchase of a $59.99 game.

Nintendo's quite bad about not putting their soundtracks online for purchase. Xenoblade X's soundtrack only seems to be on JP iTunes.

None of the Persona games' soundtracks are on US iTunes, either.

Meanwhile, SEGA drops like 20 years worth of multi-disc game soundtracks on Spotify out of nowhere.

Perhaps I'm just spoiled; I've been a Spotify subscriber for over five years and get a bit miffed when there are catalog gaps of any kind.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

The full P5 soundtrack is massive, saw it last weekend in Osaka. But yeah like Aenea says, game music actually moves units over here

 

[213372bu]

The only way to buy the Persona 5 OST is to buy it for $50+ overseas on a CD which offers worse audio than is in the game.

I can't believe they expect anyone to pay for that.

Even with Persona 4 you got all the best tracks, including the final boss tracks, all for free with the PS2 game.

Same goes for most modern games with real work put into their OSTs.

 

[Aeana]

I just want more soundtracks on Spotify, but Japan doesn't like music streaming

JASRAC and its council members (i.e. Koichi Sugiyama) are dinosaurs who are preventing the music industry in Japan from stepping into the 21st century.

 

[Type40]

One reason is that most US fans won't pay Japanese prices for game music. Media like Cd's and Blu-rays cost 2-4x as much in Japan. Though some companies like Aniplex try to get away with it here.

 

[axisofweevils]

I've said this a lot, but I've always thought it was amazing how much money Nintendo leaves on the table with this. David Wise's Tropical Freeze score can't be purchased legally - that is criminal.

 

[Regiruler]

JASRAC and its council members (i.e. Koichi Sugiyama) are dinosaurs who are preventing the music industry in Japan from stepping into the 21st century.

I've always heard that spotify only gives a pittance though.

 

[-shadow-]

The amount of Nintendo soundtracks that I would've bought if this happened is ridiculous. Guess it's a good thing in my case. But I really do think companies should offer options for the soundtracks.

 

[Deft Beck]

One reason is that most US fans won't pay Japanese prices for game music. Media like Cd's and Blu-rays cost 2-4x as much in Japan. Though some companies like Aniplex try to get away with it here.

This is in the same general industry where you have idol groups who encourage their fans to buy multiple copies of a $30+ CD to vote for their favorite member, or where an entire game's release is delayed for years because of incorporation of a song by a famous Japanese rock group (Zero by BUMP OF CHICKEN in FF Type-0).

JASRAC and its council members (i.e. Koichi Sugiyama) are dinosaurs who are preventing the music industry in Japan from stepping into the 21st century.

At least we have younger composers who are starting their own independent labels.

I've said this a lot, but I've always thought it was amazing how much money Nintendo leaves on the table with this. David Wise's Tropical Freeze score can't be purchased legally - that is criminal.

In their minds, Nintendo is in the business of making elaborate interactive toys. They don't see much of a reason to offer the music for sale because they don't see it as viable without the context of the main entertainment product. Hence why they only offered the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack through JP Club Nintendo only for a long while.

 

[4Tran]

One reason is that most US fans won't pay Japanese prices for game music. Media like Cd's and Blu-rays cost 2-4x as much in Japan. Though some companies like Aniplex try to get away with it here.

Pretty much. There's an argument to be made that games like Nier made more money on the music CDs than they did on the game itself.

 

[chrominance]

Less outright "for free" and moreso that there's a total lack of an option to buy it as part of a true "deluxe" package. It's insulting when it's like a $15+ separate purchase of a $59.99 game.

Nintendo's quite bad about not putting their soundtracks online for purchase. Xenoblade X's soundtrack only seems to be on JP iTunes.

None of the Persona games' soundtracks are on US iTunes, either.

Meanwhile, SEGA drops like 20 years worth of multi-disc game soundtracks on Spotify out of nowhere.

Perhaps I'm just spoiled; I've been a Spotify subscriber for over five years and get a bit miffed when there are catalog gaps of any kind.

Wait. Why is having to buy a soundtrack separately "insulting"? That rarely happens nowadays (it did happen during the PS1/late 90s era just because a bunch of games put the soundtrack on the CD as Redbook audio), and I don't get why it would make a difference to have it included in a deluxe edition versus buying it separately?

Anyways. You can find some soundtracks on Ototoy, a Japanese digital music storefront. They even have FLAC/ALAC, which is what I prefer to buy. Here's the Yakuza 0 soundtrack, for example. Site is mostly in Japanese, but it's not particularly difficult to set up an account and buy stuff, and foreign credit cards work fine on the site.

In their minds, Nintendo is in the business of making elaborate interactive toys. They don't see much of a reason to offer the music for sale because they don't see it as viable without the context of the main entertainment product. Hence why they only offered the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack through JP Club Nintendo only for a long while.

While I think generally you're right, some Nintendo games do manage to get soundtracks. I have the 4CD Xenoblade soundtrack, for example.

 

[nOoblet16]

One reason is that most US fans won't pay Japanese prices for game music. Media like Cd's and Blu-rays cost 2-4x as much in Japan. Though some companies like Aniplex try to get away with it here.

Well by not releasing the full soundtrack in the west, because westerners won't pay as much as Japanese, they are still losing out on potential money. I mean selling it to the westerners at a lower price is better than not selling anything at all, they can keep the Japanese prices as is..the industry there is in a way that people buy CDs. They suddenly won't start buying stuff from American stores using VPN just because it's available there...atleast that number won't be significant enough to matter.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

Nier Automata's full soundtrack still isn't the full soundtrack...

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

I personally wish more OSTs went up on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify while those same publishers/developers commission and/or produce arrange albums to capture more invested fans. OSTs could also benefit from a portion of arranged material (Game Freak's Pokémon soundtracks do this here and there); I think it takes some creativity to get me to pay for game music well after the fact. But I'm also too used to streaming game music at this point rather than buying CDs/digital, so that's another thing JASRAC and many Japanese publishers don't consider.

D4 Enterprises and Nihon Falcom are rather good at making their albums easy to buy or stream, and I like how SEGA's put many Wave Master-produced albums up on Spotify.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I own Silent Hill 3 and 4's OST on iTunes. I also own one or two songs from Bayonetta's OST too. There's quite a few titles on there. Same with SE's FF selection.

I enjoyed MGS4's LE with the soundtrack. I would guess that there's money to be made like some people have already pointed out. If I purchased a large amount of OST's that are already out then I'd be paying a large amount of money to a record label or company responsible for their release. Granted the songs that are released (4 to 5 songs) probably don't profit the company but it's a nice thing to do for the fans.

I got the DMC multi disc soundtrack that was like $5 digitally. It's two discs or something. I forgot. It was cheap at the time and Capcom Unity was promoting it.

I remember buying Dark Souls 3 and getting a couple tracks on my PS4. There weren't that many, same with Bloodborne. I think I also got a few songs for the original Dark Souls via a download voucher on a card that came in a tin can.

I guess you just have to keep looking and import what you want. I have a few soundtracks and others I have samplers like the Zelda Anniversary that came with Skyward Sword and the samplers that came with SMT IV and The Last Story.

I also wonder about the sales for these OST's. I wonder how many people bought the SH OST on iTunes or the misc Akira Yamaoka tracks like Revolucion. I have a few OST's on Steam I rarely listen to because I'm mostly in my car or doing something else when I listen to them.

I have the KOF OST that came with XIII and I've also imported the Crisis Core OST. I guess it's for those who really want it. I'm not sure everyone is gonna love listening to Bayonetta's OST when the game does a very good job at playing the tracks at the right time. Of course the more popular tracks will be given out like this.

I have way more Japanese OST's than any western OST's.

 

[SevenTales]

I would kill for a game OST spotify type thing. Or even just a web store where I can buy digitally every OST, from old titles like Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana to new things like Persona 5 and Nier.

 

[chrominance]

Well by not releasing the full soundtrack in the west, because westerners won't pay as much as Japanese, they are still losing out on potential money. I mean selling it to the westerners at a lower price is better than not selling anything at all, they can keep the Japanese prices as is..the industry there is in a way that people buy CDs. They suddenly won't start buying stuff from American stores using VPN just because it's available there...atleast that number won't be significant enough to matter.

Says who? Reverse importation is a big enough deal for Japanese publishers in other industries that American subsidiaries of anime publishers keep prices extremely high to ensure there's no incentive for Japanese fans to import. It's also the cited reason for Persona 4 Arena being one of the very few PS3 games to have a region lock.

Which isn't to say that it's right, or that the high price is necessarily the correct price, or whatever. But I don't think you can just dismiss the problem as "not important" when clearly a lot of invested parties feel differently.

 

[Type40]

Well by not releasing the full soundtrack in the west, because westerners won't pay as much as Japanese, they are still losing out on potential money. I mean selling it to the westerners at a lower price is better than not selling anything at all, they can keep the Japanese prices as is..the industry there is in a way that people buy CDs. They suddenly won't start buying stuff from American stores using VPN just because it's available there...atleast that number won't be significant enough to matter.

True, but this is exactly what the Japanese music industry is afraid of.

 

[Lights and Waves]

Check Spotify. A lot of game soundtracks are up on there.

 

[Airan]

Nier Automata's full soundtrack still isn't the full soundtrack...

What is it missing?

 

[Samaritan]

Nier Automata's full soundtrack still isn't the full soundtrack...

It's not??

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

What is it missing?

the variations of songs are missing (and I much prefer the variations), as well as the english version of a certain shopkeep's song

 

[Luminaire]

Licensing.

 

[mieumieu]

This is in the same general industry where you have idol groups who encourage their fans to buy multiple copies of a $30+ CD to vote for their favorite member, or where an entire game's release is delayed for years because of incorporation of a song by a famous Japanese rock group (Zero by BUMP OF CHICKEN in FF Type-0).

See also Crisis Core

the variations of songs are missing (and I much prefer the variations), as well as the english version of a certain shopkeep's song

Some songs are variations inside (which is why they are longer), but I haven't played the whole game nor the whole soundtrack to find out if there is still missing parts.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

Some songs are variations inside (which is why they are longer), but I haven't played the whole game nor the whole soundtrack to find out if there is still missing parts.

The variations I'm referring to have added vocal tracks on top of them in english and japanese. Both of those versions are missing for songs like Possessed by a Disease

 

[Deft Beck]

Wait. Why is having to buy a soundtrack separately "insulting"? That rarely happens nowadays (it did happen during the PS1/late 90s era just because a bunch of games put the soundtrack on the CD as Redbook audio), and I don't get why it would make a difference to have it included in a deluxe edition versus buying it separately?

Anyways. You can find some soundtracks on Ototoy, a Japanese digital music storefront. They even have FLAC/ALAC, which is what I prefer to buy. Here's the Yakuza 0 soundtrack, for example. Site is mostly in Japanese, but it's not particularly difficult to set up an account and buy stuff, and foreign credit cards work fine on the site.

My point is that it's hardly "deluxe" to include a bunch of random digital detritus. I don't see the value in what SEGA is doing with the Bayonetta digital deluxe edition. Meanwhile, you have Compile Heart putting the Neptunia soundtracks in their deluxe editions.

As for Ototoy, I don't see why I should have to sign up for a separate website in a foreign language and incur foreign transaction fees to buy digital music files. Just put it on iTunes.

I own Silent Hill 3 and 4's OST on iTunes. I also own one or two songs from Bayonetta's OST too. There's quite a few titles on there. Same with SE's FF selection.

I have way more Japanese OST's than any western OST's.

Square-Enix and Konami seem to be a little better with putting their soundtracks on digital storefronts.

I would kill for a game OST spotify type thing. Or even just a web store where I can buy digitally every OST, from old titles like Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana to new things like Persona 5 and Nier.

I'm pretty sure there's some service that does this. There was a thread on it recently.

 

[shnurgleton]

I kind of hate buying CDs at this point if I just want to listen to music - streaming outstrips CDs for convenience. If I'm buying it for some collectible or sentimental reason, I'd much rather get it on vinyl, a medium that really only survives on the merit of its collectible novelty. The ones I want most will probably never get released on vinyl unfortunately (NieR/Nier:A, Persona 3-5).

 

[20cent]

The only way to buy the Persona 5 OST is to buy it for $50+ overseas on a CD which offers worse audio than is in the game.

Please tell us more. Game audio is encoded in higher bit rate?

 

[Vital Tundra]

I want to know why Nintendo only sells their music for limited times at limited quantity. Why isn't their entire discography on a streaming service or storefront? Sitting on a goldmine.

 

[chrominance]

My point is that it's hardly "deluxe" to include a bunch of random digital detritus. I don't see the value in what SEGA is doing with the Bayonetta digital deluxe edition. Meanwhile, you have Compile Heart putting the Neptunia soundtracks in their deluxe editions.

As for Ototoy, I don't see why I should have to sign up for a separate website in a foreign language and incur foreign transaction fees to buy digital music files. Just put it on iTunes.



Square-Enix and Konami seem to be a little better with putting their soundtracks on digital storefronts.



I'm pretty sure there's some service that does this. There was a thread on it recently.

If we're just complaining about the dumb "musical selections" CDs they put into most deluxe editions, I'm with you there. I'd almost rather they not bother at all.

Re: Ototoy, that's fair. I mention it more to say that you do have options, but I agree people should put their stuff on iTunes/Amazon/wherever as well. (Though personally, fuck iTunes, I'll take Ototoy any day of the week because of FLAC support.) Also, as a Canadian, half the stuff I buy has that foreign transaction fee attached (or it would if I didn't use the credit card that waives that fee for me), so I'm probably less concerned about that than most.

I think Aniuta is the OST streaming service, but I don't know much about it personally.

 

[Baliis]

More companies need to take after Falcom. Tons of OSTs for their games, tons of rearrangement albums and live performances, plus it's almost all on Spotify and other services.

 

[Deft Beck]

Please tell us more. Game audio is encoded in higher bit rate?

I figure it's because of the uncompressed audio option available on the Blu-ray disc format.

I want to know why Nintendo only sells their music for limited times at limited quantity. Why isn't their entire discography on a streaming service or storefront? Sitting on a goldmine.

Because they don't need to, and choose not to.

If we're just complaining about the dumb "musical selections" CDs they put into most deluxe editions, I'm with you there. I'd almost rather they not bother at all.


I think Aniuta is the OST streaming service, but I don't know much about it personally.

That's what I meant.

I'll check out Aniuta when it's out in the West.

 

[FreedomFighter]

In their minds, Nintendo is in the business of making elaborate interactive toys. They don't see much of a reason to offer the music for sale because they don't see it as viable without the context of the main entertainment product. Hence why they only offered the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack through JP Club Nintendo only for a long while.

To be fair, Nintendo has stepped up their soundtrack release game the past couple of years, but there is a TON of room for improvement.

Would be nice if they did something similar to what they did in 1996 - 2000 with the N64 Sound Series with Pony Canyon in Japan.

I wouldn't even bother with NoA. Turn to NoJ for any chanse of OST releases.

 

[Kysen]

The only way to buy the Persona 5 OST is to buy it for $50+ overseas on a CD which offers worse audio than is in the game.

You sure about this? I imported the CD and it sounds better than in game.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I figure it's because of the uncompressed audio option available on the Blu-ray disc format.

CDs aren't compressed.