There are many reasons to love video games. From Final Fantasy's sweeping adventures to Super Mario Bros' perfect platforming formula, video games synthesize multiple artistic fields into wonderful new creations. That includes music. These are our favorite music streaming services for listening to game soundtracks, including top-notch platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.
Overview
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![Spotify]()
Best for Streaming SoundtracksSpotify
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![Apple Music]()
Best for Buying SongsApple Music
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![Tidal]()
Best for Curated PlaylistsTidal
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![YouTube Music]()
Best for Music VideosYouTube Music
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![Amazon Music Unlimited]()
Best for Fan CoversAmazon Music Unlimited
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![Nintendo Switch Online]()
Best for Nintendo MusicNintendo Switch Online
You Can Trust Our Reviews
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
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![Spotify]()
Best for Streaming SoundtracksSpotify
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Despite fierce competition from other feature-rich streaming services, Spotify remains the king of the streaming music hill. This comes courtesy of a robust musical catalog, podcasts, collaborative playlists, and a stacked Student plan that includes Hulu and Showtime. In addition, many video game publishers, big and small, put their soundtracks on Spotify.
Who It's For
Gamers who want a wide range of soundtracks: Spotify hits all the right notes for a streaming music service, especially if you're looking for video game soundtracks. Its overall selection is broad enough to fit nearly all tastes. For example, you can fire up classic Devil May Cry and Street Fighter music if you're a Capcom fan.
Podcast listeners: Spotify's deep podcast selection, including many gaming podcasts like The Besties and Giant Bombcast, elevates the service to a true top-shelf product.
Specs & Configurations
Free Version Available Non-Music Content Song Lyrics Learn More Spotify Review -
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Credit: Apple
![Apple Music]()
Best for Buying SongsApple Music
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Featuring lossless audio, Dolby Atmos support, a 100-million song catalog, radio stations, Siri compatibility, hi-res audio, lyrics, playlists, and a 24/7 music video channel, Apple Music offers excellent bang for your buck. Even better, it lets you easily stream video game pieces, including the soundtracks to Transistor and The World Ends With You.
Who It's For
Apple fans: Apple Music is compatible with Apple TV, CarPlay, iPad, iPhone, and Mac, so you can easily zone out to your favorite game scores if you own an Apple device.
Gamers who want to own their digital music: Gamers know that nothing replaces physical media, so purchasing game soundtracks through Apple feels closer to buying a new disc or cartridge than just streaming a temporary file. On Apple devices, Apple Music seamlessly integrates into iTunes, so you can quickly go from listening to a song to purchasing it.
Specs & Configurations
Hi-Res Audio Live Programming Non-Music Content Song Lyrics Learn More Apple Music Review -
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Credit: Tidal
![Tidal]()
Best for Curated PlaylistsTidal
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Tidal is an artist-friendly music streaming service that offers excellent hi-res audio and a stellar music catalog. In a nice touch, Tidal includes thoughtful music essays, music videos, and the ability to purchase concert tickets. The curated Tidal Gaming playlists feature gaming scores and tracks meant to evoke specific gaming moods.
Who It's For
Gamers who want moody playlists: If you're a gamer, Tidal's curated gaming playlists can make you feel like you've beaten a boss or explored a vast land. It's a great way to evoke the feeling of a video game through music, even when listening to tracks not from video games.
People passionate about music: Tidal is a great platform if you care about the broader art form. Great writing, music videos, video outtakes, and backstage footage all help humanize the creators. Plus, Tidal's worth exploring if you want to support a premium platform that prioritizes fairly compensating composers.
Specs & Configurations
Hi-Res Audio Non-Music Content Learn More Tidal Review -
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![YouTube Music]()
Best for Music VideosYouTube Music
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
From Google Play Music's ashes rose YouTube Music, a service with a fantastic blend of customized playlists, search-by-lyrics functionality, and official studio releases. What’s more, as an extension of YouTube's massive entertainment branch, there is an eclectic selection of unique music, including official and community-uploaded video game soundtracks.
Who It's For
YouTube users: If you watch video game streams on YouTube, firing up YouTube Music for sweet tunes is a no-brainer. It's only a mouse click or icon tap away.
Gamers who want unofficial soundtracks: Cuntless game soundtracks haven't been officially released on streaming platforms, but chances are you can listen to them on YouTube thanks to the helpful community.
Specs & Configurations
Free Version Available Song Lyrics Learn More YouTube Music Review -
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![Amazon Music Unlimited]()
Best for Fan CoversAmazon Music Unlimited
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
Amazon is an online giant in both e-commerce and digital streaming. It's no surprise, then, that Amazon Music Unlimited offers a feature-packed listening experience that has earned the company a spot among the best in the field, with its 90-million-song catalog, hi-res audio, and podcast library. Here you'll find many fan covers of popular gaming songs alongside official releases.
Who It's For
Amazon users: If you want to stream the Bugsnax theme song or the Hades soundtrack, Amazon's got you covered. The service is also great for people in the Amazon ecosystem. You can stream crisp audio via a smartphone app, web browser, or numerous Amazon devices, including Echo speakers and Fire TVs.
Audiophiles: Amazon Music Unlimited includes HD (CD-quality lossless), Ultra HD (better than CD quality), and a growing selection of Spatial Audio tracks (Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio) at no extra cost.
Specs & Configurations
Free Version Available Hi-Res Audio Song Lyrics Learn More Amazon Music Unlimited Review -
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Credit: Nintendo/PCMag
![Nintendo Switch Online]()
Best for Nintendo MusicNintendo Switch Online
Pros & Cons
Why We Picked It
While rival companies put soundtracks on other services, Nintendo created its own platform, Nintendo Music, for official access to soundtracks from Animal Crossing, Mario, Pokémon, Zelda, and other game series. Along with its impressive, expanding library, the Nintendo Music mobile app has intriguing features, such as hiding songs that spoil gameplay surprises or searching for specific consoles.
Who It's For
Nintendo die-hards: Nintendo Music is for Nintendo fans. In fact, you can't access it unless you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online. It's not meant to directly compete with more comprehensive music streaming services, but instead dominate its specific video game soundtrack niche. And, as an essentially bonus add-on, it does a good job.
Fans of specific Nintendo games: If you only care about Mario, Splatoon, or Zelda, you can curate your Nintendo music experience to suit your fandom. You can even make songs seamlessly loop on themselves for, say, nonstop Metroid immersion.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category Nintendo Switch Product Price Type Direct Learn More Nintendo Switch Online Review -
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Best For | Best for Streaming Soundtracks | Best for Buying Songs | Best for Curated Playlists | Best for Music Videos | Best for Fan Covers | Best for Nintendo Music | Best for Streaming Soundtracks | Best for Buying Songs | Best for Curated Playlists |
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Buying Guide: The Best Streaming Music Services for Video Game Soundtracks
The Many Video Game Music Streaming Options
Video game music can be just as catchy, complex, and moving as music from other media, and the music industry is starting to recognize this. In 2023, the Grammys gave out its first-ever award for "Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games/Interactive Media" and Assassin's Creed Valhalla took home the inaugural prize. Video games have been around for decades, so there's a lot of music to enjoy. Fortunately, the best streaming music services offer vast song libraries from a wide range of sources, including video game soundtracks.
Spotify remains the biggest name in streaming music, and video game publishers are starting to notice. It’s becoming increasingly common for big publishers to dump their entire video game soundtrack catalogs onto the service. Do you fancy RPGs? Let Persona’s bangers into your heart. Prefer live recordings? Video Games Live, a concert series that performs orchestral versions of video game compositions, has plenty of music available for streaming, too.
Tidal delivers high-quality audio approved by the biggest artists to separate itself from Spotify. So, I didn’t expect to find any video game music. However, the service offers the surprising Tidal Gaming. These curated playlists collect songs meant to evoke certain video game feelings, such as defeating a boss or roaming an open world. These works come from video game soundtracks, such as Halo and Assassin’s Creed. Others are just dope songs from cool musicians, like Steve Aoki, The Glitch Mob, and Kendrick Lamar.
(Credit: Spotify)Amazon Music and Apple Music's video game music collections aren’t as big as their rivals' catalogs, but you’ll find the familiar soundtrack or two. More often than not, you’ll discover fan covers of famous game songs rather than official releases. On the upside, these tech powerhouses have their own storefronts where you can opt to buy digital tracks. So, if you don't want to pony up for a monthly music subscription, you can permanently purchase tracks from Bugsnax, Hades, Transistor, The World Ends With You, and other video game soundtracks. When you buy these digital downloads, you'll be able to stream and sync them with your cloud library.
YouTube Music is a fine streaming service that's a treasure trove of video game music. You can find practically any song, sometimes looped for hours on end. This raises some iffy copyright questions. Publishers often take down big channels dedicated to video game music, especially when the tracks are clearly ripped from pirated copies of games not yet on sale. Still, when you need to hear a specific video game song fast, you can't beat YouTube Music.
(Credit: Tidal)Other Places to Find Video Game Music
Many games let you listen to their scores in-game as a bonus feature. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate takes this concept and runs with it so far that it deserves a mention, despite not being a dedicated music platform.
This massive crossover fighting game features more than 1,000 songs, including original tracks and remixes, pulled from the world-famous gaming franchises on display. Fatal Fury. The Legend of Zelda. Minecraft. Sonic the Hedgehog. There are more than 24 hours' worth of incredible tracks. In fact, Smash's music player lets you turn off the Switch’s screen to save battery and use the console as a music box.
For more Nintendo tunes, a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online grants access to Nintendo Music, a dedicated mobile app for listening to new and classic game soundtracks. The service receives new albums weekly and includes helpful functions like searching for boss battle themes or extending tracks for longer repeated listening. There's no way to access Nintendo Music as a standalone service; you must pay for Nintendo Switch Online to receive it.
Play It Again
Video game music is a genre unto itself. Before developers could record epic, orchestral arrangements and pack them onto discs, video game music was limited to the relatively simple sounds that retro consoles could produce. Talented composers spent years turning technological beeps and boops into masterful melodies that resonate with us today. In fact, contemporary musicians, from Anamanaguchi to Vektroid, use new technology to write songs in the vein of classic video game tracks.
Music also elevates the games themselves. Tetris Effect is all about syncing sounds with your senses as you unconsciously arrange falling blocks. Mario Kart World's open map is a joy to roam, thanks in part to excellent travel music that remixes Mario's greatest hits. Endlessly ramming through zombies and firing rockets at fellow vehicles in Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, an otherwise generic car combat roguelike, is far more satisfying while listening to the game's mayhem-inducing heavy metal tracks in the vein of classic Doom games. South of Midnight's soulful lyrics best represent the game's heartfelt emotional depth. You may not always notice it, but video games require great audio as well.
Nowadays, it's easier than ever to enjoy game music, as you no longer need to pick up a controller to zone out to gaming tunes. With these excellent music services, you can stream your favorite video game song or album to a PC or mobile device.
For more, check out The 25 Best Video Game Soundtracks Ever.