Music of Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega director Fujio Minegishi had connections to the music industry at the time the original Sonic was in development, and suggested his friend Yūzō Kayama write the score. However, Sonic Team did not think Kayama's music would fit, and instead commissioned Masato Nakamura, bassist and songwriter of the J-pop band Dreams Come True.[2][3] Nakamura returned to compose Sonic 2's soundtrack. For both games, Nakamura began composing early in development with only concept images for reference.[4] He treated Sonic as a film and designed the music around the atmosphere that he felt from the images of the stages.[5] As a gift for the developers, Nakamura produced an alternate version of the Sonic 2 ending theme with Dreams Come True, included on The Swinging Star as "Sweet Sweet Sweet".[6] After the original game was released, Nakamura became popular in Japan, and increased his asking price. Dreams Come True owns the rights to Nakamura's score, which created problems when the Sonic Spinball team used his Sonic theme music without permission.[7]

Two soundtracks were composed for Sonic CD: the original score, featured in the Japanese and European releases, was composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata, while the North American version was scored by Spencer Nilsen, David Young, and Mark Crew. The Japanese composers drew inspiration from club music such as house and techno, while Hataya cited C+C Music Factory, Frankie Knuckles, and the KLF as influences.[8] According to Nilsen, Sega commissioned a new soundtrack for the American release as the marketing department felt it needed a "more musically rich and complex" soundtrack. Nilsen also wrote a theme song, "Sonic Boom", which became one of the franchise's most iconic tracks.[9]

A number of composers contributed to the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 score, including Sega sound staff[10] and independent contractors recruited to finish the game on schedule.[11] American pop musician Michael Jackson, a Sonic fan, approached Sega, and he was hired to write tracks for Sonic 3. However, it is unclear if Jackson's contributions remain in the final game. According to Ohshima and Hector, Jackson's involvement was terminated and his music reworked following the first allegations of child sexual abuse against him,[12][13] but composers Doug Grigsby, Cirocco Jones, and Brad Buxer said his contributions remained.[14] Buxer, who was Jackson's musical director, recalled Jackson chose to go uncredited because he was unhappy with how his music sounded on the Genesis,[14] and that the credits music became the basis for Jackson's 1996 single "Stranger in Moscow".[15]

Sonic 3 was the first Sonic game composer Jun Senoue worked on.[10] Senoue has composed the music for many Sonic games since Sonic 3D Blast,[lower-alpha 1] often with his band Crush 40, which he formed with Hardline vocalist Johnny Gioeli.[26] While the Genesis Sonic soundtracks were characterized by electropop, Senoue's scores typically feature funk and rock music.[27] Tomoya Ohtani has been the series' sound director since Sonic the Hedgehog in 2006, and was the lead composer for that game, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, Sonic Runners, and Sonic Forces.[28][29] Ohtani, in an interview, stated that he attempts to "express through music the greatest features each game has", citing the diverse and energetic score of Sonic Unleashed and the more science fiction-style score of Sonic Colors as examples.[28]

Other composers who have contributed to Sonic games include Richard Jacques[30][31] and Hideki Naganuma.[32] Tee Lopes—known for releasing unofficial remixes of Sonic tracks on YouTube—was the lead composer for Sonic Mania[33] and a contributor to Team Sonic Racing.[34] Sonic games have also featured contributions from notable artists. The main theme of the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog was performed by Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis of the band Zebrahead,[35] while Akon remixed "Sweet Sweet Sweet" for its soundtrack.[36] Hoobastank lead singer Doug Robb performed the main theme of Sonic Forces.[37]

In January 2017, Sega made various Sonic soundtracks available on the music streaming service Spotify.[38]