The day the music died
The Pokemon Diamond and Pearl sound library is only a few months old, but it’s already shutting its doors. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company confirmed its closure today, May 31.
Over on the sound library site, a message states that the service was terminated as of 9 a.m. UTC this morning. It also thanks those who supported the service since launch.
Anyone who downloaded sound data from the site is still allowed to use it, as long as it’s within the Terms of Use and Guidelines previously set out. The site will stay up to keep hosting those Guidelines, just not the music itself.
Diamonds aren’t forever
It’s a bit of a bummer, considering the sound library for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl only launched in February of this year. The website featured music from both of the Sinnoh region games, at a time when Sinnoh sentiment was high
The sound library contained plenty of neat possibilities. It was completely functional as a basic radio, for those who just wanted to enjoy the sounds of Sinnoh at home.
Or, for musicians and others, it was a repository of samples. The sound library for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl being available for non-commercial use was good for fans. Pokemon fans might have been able to use those noises for anything, from wrestling entrances to wedding processions.
Nintendo has historically cracked down when it comes to copyright issues. Usually, that means making it difficult for fans to listen to music somewhere online, or find usable tools for content creation. Square Enix recently tackled this issue, opening its own YouTube channel filled with Final Fantasy and other RPG series music.
For Diamond and Pearl fans, it looks like the sound repository is shut down for the time being. Hopefully all the Pokemon rap creators already got their samples.
