SEGA Believes Not Catering to ‘Western Tastes’ Helped Sonic Music Go Global

Ever wonder why the music in many Sonic games sounds so unique, yet instantly recognizable and still clicks with fans across generations? In a recent interview with Billboard Japan, SEGA Sound Team lead composer Tomoya Ohtani revealed that Sonic’s global music success didn’t come from chasing trends overseas. Instead, according to Ohtani, avoiding Westernized-style may have actually helped the soundtrack resonate with listeners far beyond the games.

Ohtani opened the interview by admitting he was surprised by the continued popularity of the 2023-released Sonic Frontiers soundtrack. Particularly, the audience mostly came from North America, according to data from streaming services. Kworb.net lists that the Stillness & Motion album has passed 159 million streams with almost 100,000 daily listeners in January 2026. Officially, this is even enough to put his name alongside major J-Pop artists in streaming rankings.

“What really made it feel ‘visualized’ to me was the 2024 report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. My name was included in the rankings of Japanese songs and artists popular overseas,” he explained. “Until then, I’d just had a vague sense that ‘Sonic is popular overseas’ and ‘more than half of my social media followers are from Europe, the US, and South America.’ But when I was actually confronted with the numbers, it was a huge shock.”

Ohtani didn’t shy away from the fact that he’s heavily influenced by Western music. His first project (and his first overseas recording trip) for the high-speed platformer series, Sonic Adventure 2, even took him to New York to record rap vocals. But, rather than trying to localize Frontier‘s music for a global audience, he suggested that modern listeners are more open than ever to cross-cultural entertainment. Language and genre barriers, he noted, no longer matter as much anymore.

“I personally listen to a lot of Western music throughout my musical journey, so that influence is definitely there. But at the same time, I never really felt the need to deliberately cater toward ‘Western tastes,'” admits Ohtani. “Instead, I keep a Japanese-style pop sensibility – what we might call an ’emo[tional]’ feel – and combine that with modern arrangements like metalcore.”

“There are no language or genre barriers. In the West, too, there are many people who want to listen to Japanese anime songs in Japanese. Not being overly conscious of that, and not over-culturalizing, is what defines our identity, I think,” he added.

Ohtani and SEGA Sound Team’s approach definitely aligns with how the music in the Sonic series has evolved over the years. From upbeat vocal pop songs to grungy rock and even funky electronic and orchestral-hybrid tracks, they leaned heavily into experimentation while keeping the Blue Blur’s emotional core. The Sound Team also noted that the recent movie adaptations – particularly the third one featuring Shadow – helped drive renewed interest in their discography.

“People who used to play the game have now become parents, and they watch the movie with their children and listen to the old songs, remembering them,” added Gou Iwasaki, whose Frontier was his first Sonic-related work. “That role as a touchpoint has been very important.”

While the games’ quality itself has been a rollercoaster ride, perhaps SEGA Sound Team’s commitment to ‘authenticity’ is the real formula behind the franchise’s lasting appeal. How about you; what’s your favorite entry and music in the whole Sonic history?

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