A REAL use for Soundtracks on Steam.

[Tio Romerλc]

For many years, I've been accumulating various game soundtracks that I've acquired by purchasing special editions of games here on Steam, where they come bundled.
The thing is: they’re practically useless =(
The method for listening to soundtracks directly on Steam is very bad—really bad—and it’s also completely unproductive. It’s much easier to play them in a browser, where they’re even free, and I wouldn’t have to buy them.

This gave me an idea that I think could be really cool. It might encourage people to buy soundtracks (and special editions that include them) and also serve as a fun cosmetic addition to profiles:
The option to add a track from our music library to our profile.

On many old personal profile websites (Tumblr, MySpace, etc.), when you visited someone’s profile, you could hear theme songs they’d chosen. It was super cool, very personal, and gave you a glimpse into their tastes. Since we already have these songs on Steam sitting there unused, there could be an option to add them to our profiles so that when someone visits, they’d hear our theme songs. It would also be nice to include classic Valve themes at launch, like the theme songs from Counter-Strike (from 1.6 to 2), Half-Life, and Portal, for example.

Anyway, it’s just an idea. I feel bad having such cool soundtracks on my profile just sitting there, gathering dust, and serving no purpose. It would also be a great way to give recognition to game music developers.

Here’s a tutorial on how music used to be added to Tumblr profiles, for example, just to give you an idea:

How To Put Music On Tumblr (2023)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoB9jQsh8RQ

(I figured it’d be better to include the video title since some people might not feel comfortable clicking on external links—understandably so—so you can find it by searching for this on YouTube.)

It would be awesome to have this kind of mini-player option on profiles as well. For those who don’t like it, it could be easily disabled with a pause button. Additionally, there could be a setting in Steam to disable audio by default. I understand that many people might not enjoy this feature, but if that’s the case, they could simply turn it off.

I love Steam, I love the profile customization options, and I wanted to share this idea to help make the platform even better.

Using my profile as a base, for example, I made a mock-up of how I imagine it could look, or something similar.

[Thermal Lance]

Not the profile music thing again...

[Tio Romerλc]

This is the mock-up i was talking about:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3368202047

[HikariLight]

The soundtrack you obtain is for YOUR personal listening use only.
You are not allowed to share the music with others.

[Tio Romerλc]

That's not what I proposed...

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Tio Romerλc:

That's not what I proposed...

But you want to have a player on your profile for others to hear your soundtracks. They are for YOUR personal use. With that said if Valve were to implement it for a users own use so it plays only for them I wouldn't object. As for it for others that would have to be disabled by default but as Steam would need to get broadcasting licence from the devs to allow thats highly unlikely

[HikariLight]

Originally posted by Tio Romerλc:

That's not what I proposed...

And what you are proposing is something Valve/Steam cannot due.
The license for the soundtrack is for your private listening.
By adding them to your profile other users would be able to hear them and that's not something your license for the music allows.

[Tio Romerλc]

Not "your soundtracks", my proposition was to CHOOSE ONE of this songs to add on the profile.
Did you guys read all of it?

I'm not asking in a threating way, hahaha, it's just that in my mind i explained it perfectly, watch the video i mentioned, there you can see that you choose ONE song, like a theme for your profile.

[HikariLight]

Originally posted by Tio Romerλc:

Not "your soundtracks", my proposition was to CHOOSE ONE of this songs to add on the profile.
Did you guys read all of it?

I'm not asking in a threating way, hahaha, it's just that in my mind i explained it perfectly, watch the video i mentioned, there you can see that you choose ONE song, like a theme for your profile.

You only have a license for the music to PRIVATELY listen to it.
Your license to the music does not allow you to add it to your profile for others to listen to.

[bidulless]

hello
you really like complicated things ...
just add any player as a non steam game under steam , press play and steam will launch it
https://i.postimg.cc/KcT0fNrS/Capture.jpg
and you can play your game the same time.

[Tio Romerλc]

Ok, so why don't change it?

Steam could offer this possibility to the creators, so they could choose to allow it or not, just like the games on Steam Family, some can be shared, others not.

In a way its awesome for the creators, because it would be free
advertising***, and a great way to promote this artists, so they could get even more projects. Everyone wins.

[HikariLight]

Originally posted by Tio Romerλc:

Ok, so why don't change it?

Steam could offer this possibility to the creators, so they could choose to allow it or not, just like the games on Steam Family, some can be shared, others not.

In a way its awesome for the creators, because it would be free
advertising***, and a great way to promote this artists, so they could get even more projects. Everyone wins.

No Steam cannot.
Steam would need to obtain a Broadcasters license and then need to gain a license for each and every piece of music or video someone wants to play.
It would most certainly not be free for Steam.
Look up how well that worked for MySpace.

Steam IS NOT A MEDIA HOSTING PLATFORM.
If you want to post media, go to a site that does it, such as YouTube, twitter, Facebook, or tiktok.

[Tio Romerλc]

I don't get why Steam cannot =s

Could you explain why exactly?

[HikariLight]

Originally posted by Tio Romerλc:

I don't get why Steam cannot =s

Could you explain why exactly?

Do you not know how to read?
I just posted why.
LICENSES.
Licenses to use the content in the way you want would cost a LOT of money for Steam, with nothing in it for them.

[Tio Romerλc]

Ok, "LICENSES LICENSES LICENSES," I get your point, I really do.

But I already mentioned that Steam could implement an option allowing developers to grant the license/right to use their content for this specific purpose. It’s that simple.

It’s not that complicated because, for people to use it, they would have to buy it, which means the company would also earn money. It’s a win-win situation.

And if a company doesn’t want to allow it, that’s fine too. Other companies, probably A LOT of indie ones, might allow it since they could gain more recognition.

PS: No need to be so rude, haha. "Do you not know how to read?" Actually, this is my second language, so yes, I can read —in two languages— and I can be polite in both as well.

[Ferox_Stormdragon]

just go into the install folder for the soundtrack and copy them to another folder and use the media player of your choice to listen to them.