Windows 95 and Minecraft startup sounds added to the National Recording Registry

The Microsoft Windows 95 boot sound by British producer Brian Eno and the Minecraft: Volume Alpha soundtrack by German musician Daniel Rosenfeld, also known as C418, were inducted into the US National Recording Registry.

The National Recording Registry contains recordings that are recognized as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and reflect or inform life in the United States. It is worth noting that the Minecraft soundtrack became only the second game soundtrack to be included in the registry, after the music from Super Mario Brothers was inducted in 2023.

The Microsoft Windows 95 boot sound, created by Brian Eno in 1995, has become iconic and symbolic of the operating system that made home computers more accessible to all users after its release in August 1995.

Eno gave Microsoft designers 84 different sounds, from which they chose one that was almost twice as long as needed, but which they felt best suited the themes of friendliness, hope, and progress they wanted to convey.