Minecraft Soundtrack Inducted Into National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry has inducted the Minecraft soundtrack, first released in 2011, by C418 as a work of cultural importance worthy of preservation. It’s only the second video game soundtrack added to the Registry; the first was the Super Mario Bros theme in 2023.
The National Recording Registry is part of the Library of Congress, which itself is the largest library in the world. It contains millions of manuscripts, books and recordings, and is the main research arm of the US congress. With regards to inducting the Minecraft soundtrack, the National Recording Registry said:
“The influence of C418’s music can be traced through the proliferation of ambient scores appearing in video games since Minecraft’s initial release, as well as the cultural phenomenon of ‘lo-fi hip-hop,’ which grew in popularity during the late 2010s and shares many of the same calming and nostalgic musical aesthetics as those found in Minecraft’s original score.”
Who is C418?
C418 is the alias of Daniel Rosenfeld, born in Germany in 1989 but currently living in Toronto. On his official website he explained how he met Notch, one of the creators of Minecraft, through TIGSource, an online indie game dev community.
“It’s also the community where I met Markus, or I guess you kids know him as Notch. Markus was a nobody at that time, like me. However, Markus had this great idea about this block game. And he really appreciated the art output I had to offer,” said Rosenfeld.
“So we decided to team up to work on what became Minecraft, the project that most people know me from. And to this date I am STILL working on it, adding more and more compositions to it.”
The Importance of The National Recording Registry
The Library of Congress National Recording Registry has been taking nominations, from the National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) and members of the public, since 2002. People can recommend a piece of media based on its cultural impact and significance, meaning that it will be preserved in an official capacity by the US government, effectively, forever.
This year, the public alone voted for more than 2,600 pieces of music to get entered into the Registry. Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, chose 25 recordings to join the existing 650 entries.
“These are the sounds of America – our wide-ranging history and culture. The National Recording Registry is our evolving nation’s playlist,” Hayden said.
“The Library of Congress is proud and honored to select these audio treasures worthy of preservation, including iconic music across a variety of genres, field recordings, sports history and even the sounds of our daily lives with technology.”
Joining C148’s Minecraft Volume Alpha album in the Registry is the Microsoft Windows Reboot Chime, which was actually composed by noted electronic musician Brian Eno. According to the Registry:
“Eno delivered 84 sound elements to the Microsoft designers, who ultimately selected a sound almost twice as long as requested but which they felt conveyed the sense of welcome, hopefulness and progress that they envisioned.”
