The Windows 95 startup sound and the Minecraft soundtrack are registered in the Library of Congress' Recording Registry as 'sounds that symbolize history and culture.'

The Library of Congress, which collects a wide range of materials including books, maps, sheet music, films, records, and photographs, announced on April 9, 2025 that it has registered several new sound sources in its sound recording registry as 'sounds symbolizing history and culture.' Among the registered sound sources are the startup sound of Windows 95 and the soundtrack of the game 'Minecraft.'

National Recording Registry Inducts Sounds of Elton John, Chicago, Broadway's 'Hamilton,' Mary J. Blige, Amy Winehouse, Minecraft and Microsoft
https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/national-recording-registry-inducts-sounds-of-elton-john--chicago--broadway-s--hamilton---mary-j.-bl/s/986b2312-27dd-4b66-bd41-3113e0cb2e57

More than 2,600 sounds were nominated for inclusion, and 25 were selected. The Windows 95 startup sound is one of the newly added sounds.

You can listen to the Windows 95 startup sound below.

Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Sound - YouTube


The registered title of the startup sound is 'Microsoft Windows Reboot Chime,' and the composer is ambient music master Brian Eno . According to a 1996 interview , Eno was asked by Microsoft to compose the startup sound for Windows 95 at a time when he felt stuck in music production, and the task of composing within the constraint of a 3.25-second length was the catalyst for Eno to break out of his own slump. However, the startup sound itself was composed on a Mac.

In addition to the Windows 95 startup sound, the soundtrack for the game 'Minecraft' has also been registered. This is the second time that a game's music has been registered in the Library of Congress' Recording Registry, following the 'Super Mario Bros.' theme song in 2023.

The Super Mario theme song is the first game music to be registered in the recordings list of the Library of Congress, the world's largest library - GIGAZINE

The oldest recorded song in the catalog was 'Aloha Oe' by the Hawaiian Quintette in 1913.

Aloha Oe (Farewell to Thee)--Hawaiian Quintette, 1913 - YouTube


Meanwhile, the most recent recording is the soundtrack to the musical ' Hamilton ,' released in 2015. Other recordings include Elton John's album ' Twilight Brick Road ' and Celine Dion's ' My Heart Will Go On, ' the theme song for the movie ' Titanic .'

Although the total number of recordings registered in the Recording Registry now stands at 675, the Library of Congress commented that this is 'only a small portion of the National Library's vast collection of approximately 4 million recordings.'