Make use of this music of arcade genre. I have electronic music, modern, futuristic or sci-fi looped songs in Ogg Vorbis format to download and use freely. Under a license of Creative Commons music, just worry about adding a link to patrickdearteaga.com or my name Patrick de Arteaga in the credits of your projects.
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | LISTEN |
|---|---|---|
| Child’s Nightmare DOWNLOAD | Playful and powerful, this tune goes well with platform games. | |
| Battleship DOWNLOAD | Created for your battles and tense scenes. Runaway or let’s fight against danger. | |
| Intergalactic Odyssey DOWNLOAD | Another futuristic track with a rock style, suitable for battles or arcade games. | |
| Chiptronical DOWNLOAD | Chiptune and electronic music were mixed to make this rhythmic tune. | |
| Solve The Puzzle DOWNLOAD | Calm and gently rhythmic. Made for those moments to think of solving riddles. | |
| Friends DOWNLOAD | Happy and light royalty free corporate music. Good feeling for your videos. | |
| Interstellar Odyssey DOWNLOAD | Perfect for arcade and futuristic games. Electronic music always works with Sci-Fi genre. | |
| Electronic Fantasy DOWNLOAD | Very rhythmical arcade theme. Nice for platform and adventure games. | |
| Mall DOWNLOAD | A cheerful and rhythmic song to add to a happy town. Flutes and saxs sounding for a feteday. | |
| Interplanetary Odyssey DOWNLOAD | Just imagine sailing through the outer space and fighting with angry UFOs and aliens. | |
| Resilience DOWNLOAD | Hopeful and inspirational song with nice cello and violins. I think it’s epic. | |
| Acción (Merodeador Nocturno) DOWNLOAD | Useful theme for intense battles, with strong percussion and some hopeful chords. | |
| Arex’s Beat DOWNLOAD | Hip-Hop beat, a modern style with electric guitars, rhythmic and maybe funny. | |
| Blues DOWNLOAD | Ideal for romantic and cheerful moments, relaxed video games with simple mechanics. | |
| Dreaming DOWNLOAD | I think this one could be useful for staging strange dreams, memories, or fantasy places. | |
| Great Little Challenge DOWNLOAD | Rhythmic song in an electronic music style with a dark tinge. | |
| Heroic Intrusion DOWNLOAD | I was inspired by something epic and futuristic. I think it is ideal for fights and adventure games. | |
| Humble Match DOWNLOAD | A rhythmic theme, perhaps for a disco, perhaps for a fight. | |
| Intrusión DOWNLOAD | A daring man entered the dictator’s house to steal something important, for example. | |
| Looking for a new beginning DOWNLOAD | Unusual instruments on an unusual scale. The result is something like post-apocalypthic? | |
| Markalo goes to the disco DOWNLOAD | A simple modern theme made to set parties or even futuristic battles. | |
| Point of Clash DOWNLOAD | I played a famous game. Its electronic soundtrack inspired me to make this futuristic piece. | |
| Prórroga de Tiempo A DOWNLOAD | This kind of cinematic music is suitable for tension or danger moments. | |
| Prórroga de Tiempo C DOWNLOAD | Strings, flutes and a bass with a soft percussion. This song sounds hopeful. | |
| Ruined Planet DOWNLOAD | Like a post-apocalyptic dungeon, this track can serve as an atmosphere for ghostly places. | |
| Su Turno DOWNLOAD | Funny and happy royalty free track, ideal for comical situations. | |
| TS – Beat Y DOWNLOAD | A mix of mystery and the Hip-Hop genre. It can be used for dark scenes. | |
| Voices From Heaven DOWNLOAD | This kind of chill out music with celestial choirs can be helpful for godlike moments. |
These musical works are published under a Creative Commons license that allows their distribution and modification, even commercially (as long as they are part of another audiovisual project), provided that you grant the appropriate credit by sharing a link to this website or mentioning the name of the author: Patrick de Arteaga.
The term “non-copyrighted music” used on this website refers to the fact that the musical works displayed here do not retain all rights reserved. However, works with Creative Commons licenses are, in effect, protected by national laws and international copyright agreements.
What is arcade music?
When we talk about arcade video games, it is possible that the arcade music that used to be heard in the gaming machines of games rooms springs to mind, yes, those machines that looked like claw cranes but with a CRT screen, lever and colored buttons.
And, actually, this type of music is directly related to the game mode provided by these games, which is still offered today. This genre of video games proposes going directly to the gameplay, which is usually fast and strategically simple.
Many games today also offer an arcade mode that allows you to play promptly and avoid to follow a long story. For example, in a football game, playing a friendly match is a way to play in arcade mode, while there is another mode that has a story, such as the championship mode.
Arcade music features
Video game music has the characteristic of playing in a loop. Although, depending on the situation within the game, momentary music may also sound. In the case of arcade games, it is very likely that a melody will repeat itself constantly in a looping mode until the end of the round or game.
As such, this type of music does not have a way of composition which differentiates it since this depends more on the game context than on its game mode. It usually shows up rhythmical and very harmonious, but depending on the genre of the game this can vary completely, it can be modern, exotic, sci-fi music, etc.
What is clear is that arcade music should sound repetitively, so it should be composed so that the end of each song fits the beginning without the player gets to notice it, since it will play in a loop.
Retro arcade music
Within arcade music, there are well-known compositions such as the video games Street Fighter, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, Tetris, among others. These games belong to the decade of the eighties, when arcade machines and therefore arcade music were in its prime.
At that time, the music used to get lost amid the bustle of the games rooms, the mix of sounds of all the machines, the music of the place and other noises. With which, the music was not appreciated too much.
It is true that, even so, some of the music was heard, which improved the gaming experience, although music as such was not appreciated.
Today, composers like Yōko Shimomura, Tamayo Kawamoto or Ayako Mori, pioneers of arcade music for video games, are recognized as legendary composers, because despite the simplicity of the sounds that could be made with the sound chips of that time, their songs were quality music, it is very valuable what these musicians composed, although at that moment it would be lost and could not be appreciated.
Non-copyrighted arcade music
Music is usually copyrighted. Due to an obvious reason, authors create their works to live off, and authorship is a way to assert their rights and obtain the benefits that this brings, such as charging each time a commercial use is made of them. So, it’s common that artists copyright creative works.
On the other hand, there is free or non-copyrighted music, which allows you to use it freely. In general, this type of music is usually covered by a license to use, being the most common Creative Commons. These licenses are a way to protect the authorship of the work.
Is there a difference between free and paid arcade music?
As for quality, no, there isn’t. The only difference is usually the license under which the works are subject. Although it is also true that music that is made by contract, such as the music you can commission for your video game, has the advantage that it is composed solely and exclusively for you, and therefore when paying you get something particular, something that only your game will have.
It is clear that you can take royalty free game music on the Internet and, if the license allows you, modify them so that it fits your game, but to carry it out successfully you need to have the necessary knowledge.
In this sense, the best decision will always be to request a commission as something unique, so that your game has an original soundtrack that accompanies and improves the gaming experience. And if you are precisely looking for an experienced and multifaceted composer, don’t forget that you have one right here. Contact me!
Download free arcade music
As always, make use of my works. In this section, you can find royalty-free arcade music to download and use on your video games.
You can listen to any of the songs by clicking on the integrated player in the right column. I also added a small description so that you know what they are about and the possible situation in which they could be included, something very important when creating a soundtrack for your video game.
Remember that, if you are going to use my works, you have to attribute the authorship to patrickdearteaga.com or to Patrick de Arteaga, simply by adding a link to this site, since the songs you see here have been registered with the Creative Commons license, which allows commercial reuse, and modification, as long as the original author is mentioned. If you prefer to avoid having to give credit, you can buy a Pro License of all the tracks you want.