Although there might be something nostalgic about listening to Sonic the Hedgehog the soundtrack transmitted through a 16-bit cartridge, video game soundtracks have passed.
These days, big-budget game developers sign deals with some of the world's best-known musicians; It's not uncommon for bands to produce songs exclusively for a new release.
But when some of the games can take over 50 hours to complete, and sports titles like FIFA don't have a definite ending, the audio can quickly get boring and repetitive. This is also true for strategy games and other similar genres, which often implement themed background music instead of actual songs.
Fortunately, Spotify has you covered with a new feature called Spotify Gaming.
Spotify recently introduced a new category of games to its library. The news was announced in a Spotify blog..
The new section can be accessed in two ways:
First of all, you can open your Spotify app (on desktop or mobile) and navigate to Browse> Genres &Moods> Games . This will give you an overview of some of the most popular playlists within the category. You can access and listen to the lists in the usual way.
Alternatively, you can visit Spotify's dedicated gaming website. It will give you a more complete overview of all available playlists. They can be filtered by Featured Playlists , Community Playlists , Spotify Curated , and Original Soundtracks . The results are sorted alphabetically.
Clicking on a playlist will show you the tracks it contains and you can click Listen on Spotify To start playing the music within the main application.
The company clearly has big plans for the section; the amount of content that is already available is very impressive.
Right now, it looks like he's going for a three-pronged approach:
Spotify has confirmed that it will contact some of the world's most famous gamers and ask them to collect specialized playlists.
There's already evidence of that, with playlists from e-Sports Day commentator [9] (aka Sean Plott), TaKe TV (a German gamer), and Sneaky Zebra (a UK-based YouTube channel). . The company states that more collaborations are in the pipeline.
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The music on these lists is diverse; you may find that you either enjoy the likes of celebrities or hate them. You'll have to listen to them to find out..
Browsing the soundtracks available on the web portal is a sentimental experience.
Some of my favorite games from my own youth Nine 90's Computer Games You Can Play For Free Nine 90's Computer Games You Can Play For Free Yes, we're talking free games, a collection of nine retro PC classics from the 90's that you can play in your browser or download and run on DOSBox or Windows today! Read More , Age of Empires , Grand Theft Auto , street fighter , and Tomb Raider . Scientists believe that our sense of hearing is second most powerful at reliving old memories (after the sense of smell), making listening to these old clues a real trip down memory lane.
There are also many modern hits, eg, FIFA 16 , No man's heaven , and Halo 5 They are all available. Since these titles include hits like Disclosure, Busta Rhymes, and Beck, listening to their audio is more like listening to an actual CD than a game soundtrack.
You can take advantage of these official soundtracks in several ways. Would you rather listen to GTA IV soundtrack during GTA V playback ? No problem. Do you think that the music of City Skylines is a nicer background track for SimCity that the audio of the title itself? Just turn it on. It was the Halo 4 music better than Halo 5 offering? Then press Play.
As always, Spotify has thrown a healthy dose of its own playlists into the mix.
These lists are very genre-focused, allowing you to match your preferred tastes to the type of game you're playing.
If you're gearing up for a fast-paced hour in your favorite action game, maybe you could try “Power Gaming” playlist It promises to get you in the mood with a selection of upbeat rap music. Alternatively, if you're laying down for a marathon session in a strategy game like Europa Universalis IV , try Mellowed Out Gaming to stay focused.
There is also a retro playlist, perfect if you are activating your Sega Genesis emulator 10+ Emulators to play Old-School 16 and 32-bit consoles on your PC (1987-1993) 10+ Emulators to play Old-School 16 - and 32-bit consoles on your PC (1987-1993) Read More - and indie, geeky, and even Pokemon -themed offers.
One list you should definitely check out is “Game Anthems”. Includes some of the most epic tracks in gaming, including “Extraction Point” from Call of Duty II , “Welcome to the Saints” from GTA V , “The Three Banners” from The Ancient Documents , and “Master Assassin” from Assassin's Creed .
Why not use these playlists as a starting point and create your own custom gaming soundtrack?
Of course, if you listen to these tracks enough, they'll start appearing in your playlist Discover Weekly How to Discover New Music With Spotify:7 Key Tips and Tricks to Know How to Discover New Music with Spotify:7 Key Tips and Tricks to Know The Reason The main thing I love Spotify for is that it has helped me find so much new music over the years. Here are the built-in features of Spotify that I used to discover amazing music. Read more . However, a better solution is to take advantage of one of Spotify's newer features.
Let's say you really like Battlefield 4 Soundtrack, but I wish there were more than 17 tracks. Spotify can recommend similar songs, but you'll need to copy them to your own playlist first.
The first step is to create a new empty playlist by clicking on File> New playlist and giving it an appropriate name.
Next, navigate to the official soundtrack you want to use as a base. Once there, press CTRL + A and drag all the songs to your new empty playlist.
Now, go back to your own playlist and scroll down to the bottom. You will see a section called Recommended Songs . They are songs based on your existing playlist that Spotify's algorithms have discovered. They can be from similar artists, similar games, or similar genres. As such, they should retain the feel of the game's original soundtrack.
You can click Refresh to cycle through more songs.
Using this method also allows you to remove any songs you don't like from the original soundtrack. If you do it right, you should be left with a gaming soundtrack that perfectly suits your own tastes.
Lastly, don't forget to take advantage of Spotify's Similar Artists feature. Simply click on an artist's name and suggestions will be displayed in a column to the right. In the example below, I opened the page for Johan Skugge (the man responsible for much of Battlefield 4 soundtrack).
Spotify's new games section promises to be massive, and there are tons of different ways to take advantage of it. Whether you want to listen to retro soundtracks, update an old game's audio with something more original, or create your own perfect playlist, all these options and more are now at your fingertips.
Have you had time to explore the new Spotify games section yet? What are your initial thoughts? How do you see it improving your gaming experience? What are your favorite songs to listen to while you play? Or are you a purist who only listens to the actual game soundtrack?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
