(Taken from
Wikipedia)
Vinyl recordings of video game music find their origins in the 1970s with early experiments by
Kraftwerk[2] and
albumssuch as
Yellow Magic Orchestra's
self-titled 1978 release sampling electronic music from the games
Circus,
Space Invaders, and
Gun Fight.
[1] In 1984,
Haruomi Hosono released the first generally recognized video game soundtrack album,
Video Game Music,
[2][3] and the practice experienced its "golden age" in the mid-to-late 1980s with hundreds of releases including
Buckner & Garcia's
Pac-Man Fever,
Namco's
Video Game Graffiti, and
Koichi Sugiyama's orchestral covers of the
Dragon Quest series.
[1] The 1990s saw many fewer commercial releases and a shift to
promo releaseswith increasing use of video game
samples in rap
[4] and hip hop.
[5]
The trend away from vinyl discs continued in the 2000s as fan-made remixes also began to be produced, however by the 2010s the trend reversed and the practice of producing video game soundtracks on vinyl experienced a revival.
[1][6] The vinyl revival of the 2010s has itself been attributed to inspiration in younger music buyers from video games,
[7] and it has led to the establishment of video game soundtrack oriented vinyl record labels like
Black Screen Records,
[8] Data Discs,
[9] Brave Wave, and
iam8bit,
[10] and shifts toward similar releases for labels like
Ghost Ramp,
[11][12] Ship To Shore Phonograph Co.,
[13] and
Mondo Tees.
[14] In a 2015 article, music journalist
Mike Diver suggested that "this scene within a scene is experiencing boom times", however he noted that some in the music industry, including
Invada manager Redg Weeks, were concerned by the risk of
over-saturation of the market.
[8] These concerns were later repeated by Jamie Crook of Data Discs,
[9] and although he has joined Mondo's Mo Shafeek in arguing that the vinyl medium itself and the related revival is in no way a fad or bubble,
[15] in 2017
Kotaku reported concerns from dedicated video game soundtrack labels that pressing plants were scheduling their manufacturing runs last in order to favor traditional labels.
[6]
The 2000s-2010s revival of interest in this medium has been characterized by releases
in limited numbers and promotional albums only available at special events or as pre-order bonuses.
[1] In addition, the practice has been adopted by the
cult[14] and
Indie game scenes, with its proponents citing audio quality,
[1] interactivity,
[1][16] artwork,
[1][17]nostalgia,
[8][17] unique content,
[17][18] and the fact that vinyl albums represent tangible aspects of intangible (
digitally distributed) products
[8][16][17] as key elements to what makes vinyl soundtrack albums attractive. Additional considerations for collectors include archival and preservation aspects for older games,
[19] examination and recontextualization of the music as a means to expand or further explore the game,
[13][18] and curiosity among audiophiles unfamiliar with video gaming music as a genre.
[19] Due to the limited nature of modern releases, many albums are considered highly collectible, with some regularly selling in excess of $100 USD. For Western collectors, additional difficulty is imposed by the cost of importing albums from Japan where the majority were produced during the "golden age" of the 1980s.
[8][17]
