The Pokemon Diamond & Pearl sound library is being shut down, and fans are furious that they’ve lost another way to listen to the game’s soundtracks.
An important element of every video game is its soundtrack, and this is especially true for Pokemon games. A battle theme or route track can send a player back to when they first played through a generation.
However, The Pokemon Company and Nintendo have made it increasingly difficult to listen to high-quality versions of their games’ soundtracks outside of the game. They are not officially available on YouTube or music streaming services except if you want to buy each soundtrack for $9.99 on iTunes.
And those who attempt to upload Pokemon soundtracks to YouTube are often faced with copyright claims. The Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Sound Library used to be an official way for fans to listen to the games soundtrack, but now that’s gone too.
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Sound Library Is Shutting Down After Just Three Months In Business
Pokemon Fans Furious After Sound Library Takedown
On May 24, people visiting the Pokemon Diamond & Pearl sound library website received a notice that the website would be shutting down on May 31, 2022. This news came just three months after the service went live.
The Sound Library was an official Pokemon website that allowed fans to download high-quality versions of the Diamond & Pearl soundtrack for free.
But, after hearing the news of its impending discontinuation, Pokemon fans have again requested that the soundtracks be made available on streaming services. A Twitter post by YouTuber LewTwo shared the news, and it was met with a flurry of disappointed comments.
A number of users were confused by GAME FREAK’s decision to end the service. One user replied, “I never understood why Nintendo doesn’t just put the game soundtracks on streaming services like Spotify.”
The official Japanese Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Sound Library is discontinued in a week, after being in place for a total of three months 🙃🙃🙃
let’s talk about pokemon music. https://t.co/Z3EVjKJLxo
— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) May 26, 2022
I have no idea why Nintendo/GameFreak/Creatures/TPCi (I don’t know which one controls copyrights and things like that) makes it so hard for people to find Pokémon OSTs that don’t have not been uploaded by Pokeli
— SkullKidman (@TheSkullKidman) May 26, 2022
No, it really sucks that Nintendo removes most of the videos but doesn’t release the music itself. Not to mention that they could make a huge profit on download, CD and vinyl releases. They are great soundtracks and people want to listen to them.
– Oh deer 🌸⁎⁺˳✧༚ (@Shmoopzilla) May 26, 2022
Despite this outcry, it doesn’t look like GAME FREAK has any plans to release Pokemon game soundtracks on streaming platforms anytime soon.
While Pokemon fans may not like the current accessibility of game soundtracks, they are in love with the new Naruto Rowlet costume released in Pokemon Unite.