Editing Chiptune (section)

== Mainstream popularity ==
The heyday of chiptune music was the 1980s.<ref name="bbc_chiptune" /> The earliest commercial chiptune records produced entirely from [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] [[arcade game]] sounds have existed since the mid-1980s, an early example being [[Haruomi Hosono]]'s ''Video Game Music'' in 1984.<ref name="discogs_hosono" /> Though entirely chiptune records were uncommon at the time, many mainstream musicians in the [[pop rock]],<ref name="timemag">{{cite magazine
|title=Pac-Man Fever
|url=https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921174,00.html
|url-status=dead
|access-date=October 15, 2009
|date=April 5, 1982
|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]
|quote=Columbia/CBS Records' Pac-Man Fever&nbsp;... was No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week.
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416051100/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921174,00.html
|archive-date=April 16, 2009
}}</ref> [[hip hop music|hip hop]]<ref>
{{cite book
|title=Rap attack 3: African rap to global hip hop, Issue 3
|url=https://archive.org/details/rapattack3africa0000toop
|url-access=registration
|access-date=2011-06-06
|year=2000
|author=David Toop
|edition=3rd
|publisher=[[Serpent's Tail]]
|isbn=1-85242-627-6
|page=[https://archive.org/details/rapattack3africa0000toop/page/129 129]
}}
</ref> and [[electronic music]]<ref name="allmusic_electro">{{cite web
|title=Electro
|url=http://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/electro-t689
|access-date=2011-05-25
|publisher=[[AllMusic]]
|archive-date=December 8, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208184845/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/electro-t689
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
genres were sampling arcade game sounds and [[Beep (sound)|bleeps]] during the [[golden age of video arcade games]] (late 1970s to mid-1980s), as early as [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]]'s "[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|Computer Game]]" in 1978.<ref name="wire_1996" /> [[Buckner & Garcia]]'s "[[Pac-Man Fever (song)|Pac-Man Fever]]" and the [[Pac-Man Fever (album)|album of the same name]] were major hits in 1982.<ref name="timemag" /> Arcade game sounds were one of the foundational elements of the [[electro music]] genre, which in turn inspired many other [[electronic dance music]] genres such as [[techno]] and [[house music]], which were sometimes referred to as "[[bleep (music)|bleep music]]".<ref name="wire_1996" /> ''[[Space Invaders]]'' inspired [[Space Invaders (Player One song)|Player One's "Space Invaders" (1979)]], which in turn provided the [[bassline]] for [[Jesse Saunders]]' "On and On" (1984),<ref>{{cite web
|title=Jesse Saunders – On And On
|date=January 20, 1984
|url=https://discogs.com/Jesse-Saunders-On-And-On/release/176575
|access-date=May 23, 2012
|publisher=[[Discogs]]
|archive-date=March 13, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313214044/http://www.discogs.com/Jesse-Saunders-On-And-On/release/176575
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="bp">
{{cite web
|title=Black History Month: Jesse Saunders and house music
|url=http://beatportal.com/feed/item/black-history-jesse-saunders-and-house-music
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319010020/http://beatportal.com/feed/item/black-history-jesse-saunders-and-house-music
|archive-date=March 19, 2012
|access-date=October 16, 2011
|date=February 9, 2010
|last=Church
|first=Terry
|publisher=beat portal
}}</ref>
the first [[Chicago house]] track.<ref>{{cite news
|title=House music finds a home
|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LVRB&p_theme=lvrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11950293F0B8B3B8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
|access-date=May 23, 2012
|date=May 22, 2007
|last=Bracelin
|first=Jason
|newspaper=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]
|page=1E
|quote=A native of Chicago, where house was first popularized, Saunders is credited for producing and releasing the first house single, "On and On", on his own Jes Say Records label.
|archive-date=April 29, 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429154231/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LVRB&p_theme=lvrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11950293F0B8B3B8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
|url-status=live
}}</ref> [[Warp (record label)|Warp]]'s record "[[WarpVision|Testone]]" (1990) by [[Sweet Exorcist (band)|Sweet Exorcist]] sampled video game sounds from Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Computer Game" and defined Sheffield's [[Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass|bleep techno]] scene in the early 1990s.<ref name="sicko_brewster_76">{{citation
|title=Techno Rebels
|last1=Sicko
|last2=Brewster
|first1=Dan
|first2=Bill
|edition=2nd
|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]]
|year=2010
|isbn=978-0-8143-3438-6
|page=76
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6TNjUt-QrkC&pg=PA76
|access-date=2011-05-28
|archive-date=July 25, 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725172329/https://books.google.com/books?id=h6TNjUt-QrkC&pg=PA76
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

After the 1980s, however, chiptune music began declining in popularity.<ref name="bbc_chiptune" /> Since then, up until the 2000s, chip music was rarely performed live and the songs were nearly exclusively spread as executable programs and other computer file formats. Some of the earliest examples of record label releases of pure chip music can be found in the late 1990s.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Carlsson, Anders "Goto80": Chip music timeline
|date=February 19, 2008
|url=https://chipflip.wordpress.com/timeline
|access-date=2010-07-09
|publisher=ChipFlip
|archive-date=May 26, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526162831/https://chipflip.wordpress.com/timeline/
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
Chiptune music began gaining popularity again towards the end of the 1990s. The first [[electroclash]] record, [[I-F]]'s "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1997), has been described as "burbling electro in a vocodered homage to [[Golden age of arcade video games|Atari-era]] hi-jinks".<ref name="Lynskey2002">
{{cite news
|title=Out with the old, in with the older
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/mar/22/shopping.artsfeatures2
|access-date=January 14, 2018
|date=March 22, 2002
|last=Lynskey
|first=Dorian
|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London
}}
</ref>

By the mid-2000s, 8-bit chip music began making a comeback in mainstream pop music, when it was used by acts such as [[Beck]] (for example, the 2005 song "[[Girl (Beck song)|Girl]]"), [[The Killers]] (for example, the 2004 song "[[Hot Fuss|On Top]]"), [[No Doubt]] with the song "[[Running (No Doubt song)|Running]]", and particularly [[The Postal Service]] in many of their songs. The low-quality digital [[PCM]] styling of early game music composers such as Hiroshi Kawaguchi also began gaining popularity.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Music of the 8-bit variety makes a comeback
|url=https://niagara-gazette.com/music/x681717382/Music-of-the-8-bit-variety-makes-a-comeback
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712032335/http://niagara-gazette.com/music/x681717382/Music-of-the-8-bit-variety-makes-a-comeback
|archive-date=July 12, 2012
|access-date=May 7, 2012
|date=May 25, 2006
|last=Shaw
|first=Jeff
|work=[[Niagara Gazette]]
}}
</ref>
In 2003, the [[J-pop]] girl group [[Perfume (Japanese band)|Perfume]],<ref name="japantimes">{{cite web
|title=Will the world soon wake up to the scent of Perfume?
|url=https://japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/05/18/music/will-the-world-soon-wake-up-to-the-scent-of-perfume
|access-date=September 25, 2018
|date=May 18, 2012
|work=[[The Japan Times]]
|author=Daniel Robson
|archive-date=September 9, 2018
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909150427/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/05/18/music/will-the-world-soon-wake-up-to-the-scent-of-perfume/
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="bounce_perfume">{{cite web
|title=Perfume Interview
|url=https://bounce.com/article/article.php/4045/ALL
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209084048/http://bounce.com/article/article.php/4045/ALL
|archive-date=December 9, 2008
|access-date=2009-06-02
|date=February 7, 2008
|publisher=bounce.com
|language=ja
}}
([https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20081209084048%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.bounce.com%2Farticle%2Farticle.php%2F4045%2FALL%2F English translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310222900/https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A//web.archive.org/web/20081209084048/http%3A//www.bounce.com/article/article.php/4045/ALL/ |date=March 10, 2021 }})</ref>
along with producer [[Yasutaka Nakata]], began producing music combining chiptunes with [[synth-pop]] and [[electro house]];<ref name="bounce_perfume" /> their breakthrough came in 2007 with ''[[Game (Perfume album)|Game]]'', which led to other Japanese female artists using a similar electronic style, including [[Aira Mitsuki]], [[immi]], [[Masami Mitsuoka|Mizca]], [[Sawa (singer)|SAWA]], [[Saori at Destiny|Saori@destiny]], and [[Sweet Vacation]].<ref name="allabout">{{cite web
|title=Perfume～サマソニの快挙！！
|date=August 20, 2007
|url=https://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/205887
|publisher=All About テクノポップ
|language=ja
|access-date=June 22, 2020
|archive-date=August 10, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810001948/https://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/205887/
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
Electro house producer [[Deadmau5]] started his career in the late 1990s, with a chiptune and demoscene movements-influenced sound. Three self-released compilations, [[Project 56 (album)|Project 56]], [[deadmau5 Circa 1998–2002]] and [[A Little Oblique]], were finished in 2006.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=SectionZ Electronic Music Community
|url=http://www.sectionz.com/artist.asp?SZID=5366
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220011842/http://sectionz.com/artist.asp?SZID=5366
|archive-date=December 20, 2007
|access-date=May 9, 2012
|date=August 20, 2007
|author=SectionZ
}}</ref>

In 2007, the entirely chiptune album ''[[8-Bit Operators: The Music of Kraftwerk]]'' was released on major mainstream label [[Astralwerks]]/[[EMI]] Records, which included several prominent and noted chipmusicians, including Nanoloop<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Nanoloop
|url=https://nanoloop.com
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622021052/http://nanoloop.com/
|archive-date=June 22, 2020
|access-date=November 21, 2011
|author=Johan Kotlinski
}}</ref>
creator Oliver Wittchow, and LittleSoundDJ<ref>
{{cite web
|title=LittleSoundDJ
|url=https://littlesounddj.com/lsd
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207051248/http://littlesounddj.com/lsd
|archive-date=February 7, 2016
|access-date=November 20, 2011
}}</ref>
creator Johan Kotlinski who appears as the artist ''Role Model''.  [[Kraftwerk]] founding member [[Ralf Hütter]] personally selected the tracks.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=8BitFtWorthStar.pdf
|url=https://8bitoperators.com/8BitFtWorthStar.pdf
|url-status=dead
|website=8bitoperators.com
|access-date=June 22, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318070907/http://www.8bitoperators.com/8BitFtWorthStar.pdf
|archive-date=March 18, 2017
}}</ref>
A vinyl 12-inch single version was released on February 24, 2007 as a precursor to the full-length CD, and reached as high as number 17<ref>
<!--https://allmusic.com/artist/8-bit-operators-p863296/charts-awards/billboard-singles-->
{{cite web
|title=Hot Dance Singles Sales ''Pocket Calculator''
|url=https://allmusic.com/artist/8-bit-operators-mn0001937275/discography/singles
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622020644/http://allmusic.com/artist/8-bit-operators-mn0001937275/discography/singles
|archive-date=June 22, 2020
|access-date=September 20, 2011
|date=June 22, 2020
|publisher=AllMusic (charts-awards/billboard-singles)
}}</ref>
on the ''Billboard'' magazine Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart. In March 2007, the CD release reached as high as number 1 on the ''[[CMJ]] RPM'' (North American college Electronic) charts.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=pdf of RPM issue #1008 chart(8-Bit Operators at #21 – high position #1
|url=https://hypnote.com/images/RPM.1008.pdf
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402171952/http://hypnote.com/images/RPM.1008.pdf
|archive-date=April 2, 2012
|access-date=September 20, 2011
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|title=north american college electronic rpm charts 2007 8 bit 8bit operators
|url=https://receptorsmusic.com/news.html
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401112547/http://receptorsmusic.com/news.html
|archive-date=April 1, 2016
|access-date=September 20, 2011
}}</ref>
Edinburgh-born electronic musician [[Unicorn Kid]] has helped further popularize chiptune, especially with the song "True Love Fantasy" and other songs from the EP "Tidal Rave" being played on late night radio, including on [[BBC Radio 1]], where he played live on the Festive Festival 2011.  In Canada, [[Eightcubed]] and [[Crystal Castles (band)|Crystal Castles]] helped the popularity further via the Toronto underground club scene and created a lasting impression with the music video "Heart Invaders" debuting on [[MuchMusic]] in 2008<ref>
{{cite video
|title=Heart Invaders
|url=https://muchmusic.com/artists/4045/eightcubed/videos/cid/82540/heart-invaders
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022004307/http://muchmusic.com/artists/4045/eightcubed/videos/cid/82540/heart-invaders
|archive-date=October 22, 2012
|date=January 6, 2008
|people=Dan Swan (Director)
|medium=television
|location=London
|access-date=June 22, 2020
}}</ref>
and the single "[[Alice Practice]]" hitting 29th on [[NME]] "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".<ref>{{cite web
|title=150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years
|url=https://nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years-1257
|first=Rebecca
|last=Schiller
|date=October 6, 2011
|website=NME
|access-date=June 22, 2020
|archive-date=June 23, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623151457/https://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years-1257
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

During the late 2000s, a new wave of chiptune culture took place, boosted by the release of software such as <!--[https://web.archive.org/web/20140402/http://www.littlesounddj.com/lsd lsdj]--> LittleSoundDJ for the [[Game Boy family|Game Boy]]. This new culture has much more emphasis on live performances and record releases than the demoscene and tracker culture, of which the new artists are often only distantly aware.<ref>
{{cite thesis
|title=The Sound of Playing: A Study into the Music and Culture of Chiptunes
|url=https://tomgilmore.com.au/dotay/Thesis.pdf
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119175130/http://tomgilmore.com.au/dotay/Thesis.pdf
|archive-date=November 19, 2016
|access-date=2020-06-22
|date=2007
|last=Yabsley
|first=Alex
|type=Bachelor of Music Technology
|publisher=Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University
|publication-place=South Brisbane
}}</ref>
In recent years, 8-bit chiptune sounds, or "video game beats", have been used by a number of mainstream pop artists. Examples include artists such as [[Kesha]]<ref>
{{cite news
|title=''Music in Video Games: From 8-bit to Symphonies''
|url=https://thebottomlineonline.org/music-in-video-games-1.2660649
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214091201/http://thebottomlineonline.org/music-in-video-games-1.2660649
|archive-date=December 14, 2013
|access-date=June 18, 2012
|date=October 20, 2011
|last=Miklewski
|first=Michael
|newspaper=The Bottom Line
|agency=[[Frostburg State University]]
}}</ref>
(most notably in "[[Tik Tok (song)|Tik Tok]]",<ref name="Puls" /> the [[List of best-selling singles|best-selling single]] of 2010<ref name="ifpi10">{{cite web
|title=IFPI publishes Digital Music Report 2011
|url=https://ifpi.org/content/section_resources/dmr2011.html
|access-date=June 22, 2020
|archive-date=February 6, 2014
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206093757/http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_resources/dmr2011.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>),
[[50 Cent]] with the hit single "Ayo Technology", [[Robyn]], [[Snoop Dogg]],<ref name="Puls">{{cite web
|title=Robyn: Body Talk, Pt. 2
|url=https://puls.no/16375.html
|url-status=dead
|access-date=2015-08-23
|date=September 10, 2010
|publisher=Puls Music
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622104106/https://puls.no/16375.html
|archive-date=June 22, 2020
}}
([https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.puls.no%2F16375.html&sl=no&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8 Translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116085718/https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A//www.puls.no/16375.html&sl=no&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8 |date=January 16, 2017 }})</ref>
[[Eminem]] (for example, "Hellbound"), [[Nelly Furtado]], and [[Timbaland]] {{Crossreference|(see [[Timbaland plagiarism controversy]])}}. The influence of video game sounds can also be heard in contemporary British [[electronica]] music by artists such as [[Dizzee Rascal]] and [[Kieran Hebden]],<ref name="guardian_ymo">
{{cite web
|title=Back to the future: Yellow Magic Orchestra helped usher in electronica – and they may just have invented hip-hop, too
|url=https://theguardian.com/music/2008/jul/04/electronicmusic.filmandmusic11
|access-date=May 25, 2011
|date=July 4, 2008
|last=Lewis
|first=John
|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London
}}
</ref>
as well as in [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] bands such as [[DragonForce]]. [[Grime music|Grime]] music in particular samples sawtooth wave sounds from video games which were popular in [[East (London sub region)|East London]].<ref name="Jong">
{{cite book
|title=Mediapolis: popular culture and the city
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCxd_AC-2-QC&pg=PA106
|access-date=July 30, 2011
|year=2006
|publisher=010 Publishers
|isbn=90-6450-628-0
|author=Alex de Jong, Marc Schuilenburg
|page=106
}}
</ref>
Some [[dubstep]] producers have also been influenced by video game chiptunes, particularly the work of [[Yuzo Koshiro]].<ref>{{cite news
|title=Ikonika interview: Producer and DJ, Ikonika had an incredible 2010
|url=https://timeoutdoha.com/nightlife/features/20343-ikonika-interview
|access-date=August 5, 2011
|date=January 11, 2011
|last=Lawrence
|first=Eddy
|work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]
|archive-date=October 11, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011103953/http://www.timeoutdoha.com/nightlife/features/20343-ikonika-interview
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="self-titledmag">{{cite web
|title=Recording Under the Influence: Ikonika
|url=https://self-titledmag.com/home/2010/04/21/recording-under-the-influence-ikonika-on-streets-of-rage-dalis-film-buddy-and-why-kode9s-wrong-about-numbers
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003194434/http://self-titledmag.com/home/2010/04/21/recording-under-the-influence-ikonika-on-streets-of-rage-dalis-film-buddy-and-why-kode9s-wrong-about-numbers
|archive-date=October 3, 2011
|access-date=August 5, 2011
|date=April 21, 2010
|work=Self-titled
}}</ref><ref name="timeout_20425">{{cite news
|title=Ikonika interview: Dubstep has taken the world by storm over the past 12 months
|url=http://timeoutdubai.com/nightlife/features/20425-ikonika-interview
|access-date=August 6, 2011
|date=January 18, 2011
|last=Lawrence
|first=Eddy
|work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]
|archive-date=September 28, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928232032/http://www.timeoutdubai.com/nightlife/features/20425-ikonika-interview
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
In 2010, a [[BBC]] article stated that the "sights and sounds of [[Retrogaming|old-school games]]" (naming ''[[Frogger]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' as examples) are "now becoming a part of mainstream music and culture."<ref name="bbc_chiptune">{{cite web
|title=How computer games are creating new art and music
|url=https://bbc.co.uk/news/10260769
|access-date=August 27, 2011
|date=June 9, 2010
|last=Knowles
|first=Jamillah
|publisher=BBC
|archive-date=March 11, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311014024/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10260769
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
[[Complextro]] pioneer [[Porter Robinson]] has also cited video game sounds, or chiptunes, as an influence on his style of music along with 1980s [[analog synthesizer|analog synth]] music.<ref name="nashville_complextro">{{cite web
|title=Electro wunderkind and self-described 'complextro' Porter Robinson recognizes no technological constraints
|url=https://nashvillescene.com/nashville/electro-wunderkind-and-self-described-complextro-porter-robinson-recognizes-no-technological-constraints/Content?oid=2911857
|access-date=July 28, 2012
|date=June 28, 2012
|last=Hurt
|first=Edd
|work=[[Nashville Scene]]
|archive-date=May 18, 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518161245/http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/electro-wunderkind-and-self-described-complextro-porter-robinson-recognizes-no-technological-constraints/Content?oid=2911857
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> In 2022, [[trap music]] producer Popstar Benny cited video game sounds as one of the foundations for the [[plugg music]] genre.<ref name="SC">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_rZyELuIrk|author=Christian Sutton, Vlad Samedi, Sam Cantner|display-authors=etal|title=SCENES: plugg|publisher=[[SoundCloud]]|date=June 7, 2022|access-date=June 7, 2022}}</ref>