For whatever reason, be it legal issues, cost-saving, or Creative Differences, a work gets completely re-scored when being released outside its country of origin. These may or may not happen with a bonus serving of No Export for You for the original soundtrack (and in some cases, the new soundtrack as well).
If the original music was done by a separate band (not in-house), then an entire separate license needs to be drawn up for the music, apart from the work itself. In some cases, the band may flat-out refuse, or they may demand huge royalties that would double the expense of porting the work. In addition, if the licensee replaces the soundtrack with their own music, they own it entirely and any royalties that come out of it go to them and not the original company they licensed it from.
Supertrope to Alternative Foreign Theme Song.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- When Alakazam the Great was released internationally, Ryochi Hattori's original music score was replaced with a new soundtrack provided by Les Baxter.
- 4Kids Entertainment was notorious for doing this with pretty much all of their shows in addition to their general editing (Pokémon the Series was an exception, at least for the earlier seasons). It was partially to save money (especially because they often used reused music cues across multiple shows), and also partially because the shows were often so heavily edited that it was simpler to replace the soundtracks entirely then trying to make the original soundtrack line up with the edited footage. Notably, in Sonic X, during the Sonic Adventure 2 arc, the game's theme "Live and Learn" kicked in during the climatic ending, but 4Kids replaced it, removing a lot of the impact.
- After The Pokémon Company International took over as the English dubbers to Pokémon the Series, they continued the habit of replacing the original Japanese scores that 4Kids did, though to a lesser extent, with only music that comes directly from the games receiving this treatment (due to licensing issues).
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade's original score was redone when localized by Nelvana, replacing the orchestral-sounding pieces and moments of silence with various high-tempo rock themes or different moody songs, matching the decisions made by other companies like Saban and what it did for Digimon. Nelvana did the same thing for the series' Non-Serial Movie, Beyblade: The Movie - Fierce Battle, replacing all of the movie's original music with pieces made for the dub. This includes replacing the original theme song, "Victory
" by Dragon Soul, with "Swing Low" by J.D. Fortune, and the ending theme "Poroporo" by Hana Hana with an instrumental version of "Rise Above the Storm" by Daniel LeBlanc.
- Joe Hisaishi, a veteran composer of Studio Ghibli, was hired to re-score Castle in the Sky for its late 1990's release by Disney, who gave the reason that they were planning a theatrical release and that apparently felt the original soundtrack wasn't bombastic enough to hold the attention of American audiences, who they believed needed constant musical cues with no moments of silence or calm to stay interested in the film. Thus the rescore starts blasting music from the very beginning, not even allowing the studio logo a moment's peace. The theatrical release never happened and eventually the movie was released on DVD instead, with the English dub track using the rescore and the Japanese audio using the original soundtrack. This has persisted across multiple releases of the film, with even streaming releases in North America switching the soundtrack to the rescore when the English dub is selected rather than using the Japanese score. Though Disney's version of the film was not available for many years, it's the only place that soundtrack can be bought.
- Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie had a J-Pop soundtrack for its original release, which was then changed into a Grunge soundtrack for the English dub done by Manga Entertainment. The Discotek Media release allows the viewer to watch the English dub with either the English or Japanese soundtracks.
- The Mysterious Cities of Gold was re-arranged for the French version by Haim Saban because the show's creator Jean Chalopin felt that the Japanese score was not adventurous enough. The latter score was considered for the English dub but was discarded in favor of the French soundtrack. Both soundtracks are cases of No Export for You in that the French score never made it to Japan and the Japanese score was never used elsewhere.
- Dragon Ball:
- The Funimation dubs of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT have the original scores from Shunsuke Kikuichi and Akihito Tokunaga respectively replaced. Episodes 68-291 of DBZ used a guitar-heavy rock soundtrack by Faulconer Productions, DBGT had a tecno-orchestral score from Mark Menza, and episodes 1-67 of DBZ (dubbed later) had a synth-orchestral score from Nathan M. Johnson. Menza and Johnson also re-scored all the theatrical movies, some of which also featured songs from licensed rock, alternative, and metal bands. The two DBZ TV specials were re-scored by Dale D. Kelly and Mark Aiken, also with licensed songs. This has caused a certain amount of "Macekre vs. Woolseyism" debating, with some feeling the dub score ruined the intent and emotion the original had, while others feel the dub soundtrack fits the action and tone much better, along with sounding less repetitive. Later releases of both shows have the option of restoring the original Kikuchi score. (Dragon Ball never had a replacement soundtrack for its uncut version, and Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super were made after Funimation stopped rescoring Dragon Ball anime.)
- Likewise, the original short-lived dub of DBZ that Funimation created with Saban and Ocean Studios had a re-score courtesy of Ron Wasserman (credited to Shuki Levy for contract reasons). The "international" dub of DBZ episodes 123-291 from Ocean Studios, created for broadcast in Europe and Canada, also featured an alternate soundtrack, from Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell. Although their songs were initially recycled from other projects recorded at Ocean, later episodes had some original music composed. Funimation's short-lived dub of the original Dragon Ball and its first movie was re-scored by Peter Berring.
- IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix is an interesting example. At first, the Toonami and Production I.G cuts only had minor differences in song choices between the two. However, as the series progresses, there's less and less music used by British indie label Ninja Tune, in favor of more orchestral tracks in the latter cut. The former cut, as a result of Cartoon Network wanting the show to be explicitly Toonami when it aired in the States, keeps on using Ninja Tune songs. Although this show was an International Co Production with Japanese and American audiences in mind, since it aired in Japan first, it technically counts as an example of this trope.
- The DiC-Optimum English dub of the first two seasons of Sailor Moon used a completely new soundtrack from Bob Summers. The TV/VHS edits of the movies recycle cues from this soundtrack. While the re-score is despised by some fans, others look back on it with some nostalgia, with a small segment even preferring it. Cloverway and Optimum's dub of the later seasons retained the original soundtrack.
- Fox's broadcast of The Vision of Escaflowne contained a mix of new music and music from the original score, but the original music was usually played in completely different scenes from where it had originally appeared.
- The anime adaptation of Maya the Bee has three completely different soundtrack scores that was re-arranged for different parts of the world.
- The original Japanese version is scored by an actual orchestra which was reused for the Arabic version.
- The German version is also orchestrated but mostly themed to Jazz and uses 70s era synthesizers. This version is present in all international versions including the South African English dub from 1979.
- When the series was brought over to the American and Canadian market by Saban Entertainment, the anime was given a brand new soundtrack and new title cards.
- When Tokyopop first dubbed Initial D, not only did they replace Eurobeat with other songs, but the entire soundtrack was altered.
- Happens with English-dubbed versions of Japanese anime by Mondo TV and Interfilm Company (Robin Hood and The Legend of Snow White). The new music is composed by Mark Bradley, Bill Nabb and Terry Wilson.
- When Nelvana dubbed Cardcaptor Sakura, one of many changes was replacing Takayuki Negishi's original score with new music.
- The Manga UK release of Cyber City Oedo 808 received a new rock soundtrack scored by Rory McFarlane. It's available as an alternate audio track on Discotek's North American Blu-ray release.
- Saban's Glitter Force dubs of Smile PreCure! and Doki Doki! PreCure completely ditched the original Japanese score for a much more western pop-soundtrack. This also applies to the CGI Dance sequences that plays after each episode, resulting in all of them getting re-animated for the dub.
- Nelvana's English dub of Medabots replaces the Japanese version's soundtrack with a new drum 'n' bass/industrial score composed by Daniel Fernandez and Jack Procher.
- While most of the Japanese music is retained in all international releases of Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, some additional music by Jeremy Sweet and Michael Whittaker is used, most notably in the scenes where Naruto encounters Koyuki in the local bar and when Kakashi defeats Nadare.
- Tamagotchi Friends, the localized version of Tamagotchi! Yume Kira Dream, replaces some of the stock music used in the episodes with other stock music from the series, but otherwise doesn't alter the soundtrack too much except in "YumeKira Transformation", a dubbed section of Yume Kira Dream episode 2. In the Japanese original, Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi's Idol Singer act has them singing their own song, "Kirakira☆Dream"; for the localization, Bandai opted to have them sing "We Got Energy" from the Lifetime reality show Dance Moms instead.
Asian Animation
- The English version of Leafie, a Hen into the Wild has a new score composed by Patrick Cannell replacing the original score.
- Happens with North Korean animation by SEK (such as Squirrel and Hedgehog, The Great Book of Nature and Toy Toons, and the films Prince Moon and Princess Sun and Young Fisherman & Black Dragon), licensed overseas by Mondo TV. The new music is composed by John Sposito.
Films — Animation
- Toy Story 2: "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played when Buzz gave a motivational speech as the American flag fades in behind him. For foreign releases, it was replaced with an original piece named the "One World Anthem" as the visual changed to a rotating globe with fireworks.
- Winx Club: The Mystery of the Abyss: The Sinhalese dub used a remix of the Sirenix transformation instrumental.
Films — Live Action
- The song "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold") is featured in the Schindler's List soundtrack and plays during a key moment near the end of the film. This caused some controversy in Israel when the film was released because the song was written in 1967 and is widely known in Israel as a pop and folk song associated with the Six-Day War and the Israeli victory in it. The song was therefore edited out of the Israeli release of the film and replaced by the song "A Walk to Caesarea", which was written by the Jewish Hungarian poet Hannah Szenes during World War II and is more appropriate for the time period and subject matter of the film.
- When March of the Penguins was released outside France, Emelie Simon's vocal score was replaced by a score by Alex Wurman.
- The soundtrack for The Raid was originally done by Indonesian composers Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal, who had worked with director Gareth Evans on Merantau. When Sony Pictures Classics managed to acquire the international distribution rights for the film (re-christened as The Raid: Redemption for the United States), they hired Joseph Trapanesenote and Linkin Park/Fort Minor frontman Mike Shinoda to create a new score for the film.
- International releases of Gone with the Wind had a different prologue scroll that was meant to explain The American Civil War to foreign audiences. So, instead of a slow, choral rendition of "Dixie", the international version used a bombastic rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic".
- For the North American release of The NeverEnding Story (1984), Klaus Doldinger's classical orchestra soundtrack was replaced in large parts by a synthesizer-based soundtrack by Giorgio Moroder.
- Some of the Compilation Movies that The Man from U.N.C.L.E. generated for international theatrical release. Needed to have original music (others kept the music composed for the episodes).
- When New World Pictures bought distribution rights to Def-Con 4, Christopher Young wrote a new score intended to make the film seem expansive than it actually was. New World later used some of Young's music in The Return of Godzilla.
- When shown in Europe, the Australian horror film Patrick was given a new score courtesy of Italian prog-rockers Goblin.
- The original German version of Making Contact has a synthesizer score by Hubert Bartholomae. The US cut has orchestral music by Paul Gilreath that invokes John Williams and James Horner.
- For the Japanese release of Johnny Mnemonic, Brad Fiedel's score was replaced by Mychael Danna's.
- The US release of Super Cop (and other Jackie Chan movies) went through this.
- Thanks to its Troubled Production, Legend (1985) received a Tangerine Dream score for its North American release, replacing the Jerry Goldsmith score that accompanied the European release.
- The US cut of The Beyond, 7 Doors of Death, threw out the original score by Fabio Frizzi and inserted a completely new score by Mitch and Ira Yuspeh, as the original score was recorded in mono while the US distributors wanted surround sound.
Live-Action TV
- The most known Brazilian dub of El Chavo del ocho (alongside other Chespirito shows) replaces most of its original soundtrack with stock music library by Bruton Music, especially from the album Kids and Cartoons by John Fiddy and Tony Hymas. That album in question later became so popular among the Brazilian fandom that people there often didn't know it wasn't composed for show. The album also dates even after the show itself.
- One of the two German-language dubs of Hogan's Heroes replaces the entire soundtrack except for the closing theme with what sounds like 8-bit MIDI versions.
Theatre
- Show Boat:
- British productions almost invariably replace Frank and Ellie's Trocadero number, "Good-bye, Ma Lady Love," with "How'd You Like To Spoon with Me?" The latter song, unlike the other old Victorian and Edwardian songs used in this scene, was composed by Jerome Kern (in 1905).
- The 1928 Drury Lane production had a newly-written Eleven O'Clock Number for Kim, "Dance Away the Night." This was heard in British productions but not in American ones until the 1994 Broadway revival threw in a snippet of it played over a radio.
Video Games
- BIOMETAL is well-known, for the non-Japanese releases, to be released under European techno band 2 Unlimited's license, which means all of the soundtrack were replaced by 16-bit renditions of the band's soundtrack.
- Sonic the Hedgehog CD is well-known for replacing the original soundtrack, by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata, with new music composed by Spencer Nilsen and David Young for the North American version. Meanwhile, the European and Australian versions got the Hataya/Ogata soundtrack. The PC version of the game used the Nilsen/Young soundtrack for all language versions, while Gems Collection used it in the North American, European and Australian versions (but retained the Hataya soundtrack in the Japanese version). Eventually, the 2011 remake allowed the player to toggle between both soundtracks across all language versions (sans lyrics for the Japanese theme songs). Sonic Origins retains the option to switch soundtracks, while also reinstating the lyrics for the Japanese themes.
- The Famicom cartridge slot has extra pins that some games used to expand the audio capabilities. When the console was exported in North America and Europe as the Nintendo Entertainment System, the pins were replaced with an anti-piracy subsystem, meaning that games that used it had to be re-scored for the music to sound good. A list of games that use these pins can be found here. A visualization of the audio channels of Castlevania III, one of the most notable examples, can be found here.
- Dragon Quest VIII, in an effort to appeal to a wider audience, made several changes from the Japanese release for the English version, including the addition of voice acting and more immersive menus. On the music side of things, the original Japanese release had MIDI music, but the American release used a more grand, orchestral score for the entire game. Ironically when the game was re-released on the 3DS, it was Japan that got the orchestral music while America was left with a MIDI soundtrack.
- Guilty Gear XX #Reload has an entirely new soundtrack for the Korean release composed by Sin Hae Chul. It's considered to be just as good as the original soundtrack.
- Shinobi Legions had an all-new score done for the European release by Richard Jacques.
- Mega Man has a history of doing this:
- Mega Man 8, the PS1 version of Mega Man X3, and Mega Man X4 have full vocalized songs in their original Japanese releases, which were replaced with different tunes when brought over internationally.
- The Under the Sea stage for Mega Man X5 (also known as Duff Mcwhalen/Tidal Whale's stage) has a completely original soundtrack in the Japanese version, but in the international versions, it's a remix of Bubble Crab's stage music from Mega Man X2.
- X-Kaliber 2097 had all the music from the Japanese version (Sword Maniac) replaced with tracks from Psykosonik's Self-Titled Album for Activision's international release.
- Similarly, Bio Metal had its original music replaced with tracks from 2 Unlimited's debut album Get Ready!.
- Crash Bandicoot (1996): The Japanese release for the game has alternative music made by the original composer, Josh Mancell for 4 of the boss fights and Tawna's bonus levels. The remaining PS1 titles had new menu themes made for the Japanese versions.
- The original Gran Turismo replaced its original jazz fusion soundtracks by Masahiro Andoh and Isamu Ohira with licensed songs in the game's credits and during races, and a more rock/industrial-oriented soundtrack by Jason Page in menus for the international release. Gran Turismo 2's international release once again replaced the credits and race music with licensed songs but kept Andoh and Ohira's music alone in menus, and subsequent games would fully unify the soundtracks for all regional releases except the opening movies, which in Japanese is always Andoh's "Moon Over The Castle" but uses other songs from the soundtrack in international releases.
- The international versions of Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Return have a completely different soundtrack from the Japanese version.
- After Burner III: The Japanese release of the Sega CD version employs a jazzy/fusion score, which the international releases swapped out with the arranged soundtrack from the FM Towns port of After Burner.
- The Japanese version of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi trilogy (where it's known there as the Sparking! series) re-uses the Shunsuke Kikuchi anime soundtrack for its battle themes. Meanwhile, the North American, European and Australian releases has Kenji Yamamoto (Tenkaichi 1, recycling the soundtrack from the Budokai series), Takanori Arima (Tenkaichi 2), and Toshiyuki Kishi (Tenkaichi 3) handling the games' soundtracks.
- The North American version of Cyber Speedway replaces the original electronic/trance soundtrack with a rock soundtrack by obscure band The Bygone Dogs.
- The NES version of Rygar had a totally redone soundtrack for the North American version. Some of the new songs soundly vaguely like songs that Americans would be familiar with, such as the opening area sounding similar to the theme from the Superman movie.
- The Japanese version of Daytona USA 2 features the voice of Takenobu Mistuyoshi, who was the vocalist for the first game. He was replaced with Dennis St. James for the international release of the game. Despite the change, both versions of the game have English lyrics and are word-by-word identical. It's speculated that Mitsuyoshi's vocals were replaced because they would have been a source of mockery outside of Japan, so they were replaced with a more natural English vocalist.
Western Animation
- Frosty the Snowman: A significant part of the original score is replaced with two renditions of the Frosty the Snowman music, including the opening and ending themes, in the Greek dub. One of them is done by 101 Strings Orchestra.
- Winx Club: Several of the show's transformation themes had their instrumentals altered for certain dubs.
- "We Girls are the Winx":
- While Cinélume kept the Italian key for season 1, they would later lower the pitch and partially re-score it in season 2.
- The Romanian dub by Nickelodeon would use the Italian instrumental in English key for the third season.
- In an interesting inversion, the Russian cover of this song used a higher key instead.
- "Enchantix":
- The English version of this song had a completely re-done instrumental that was once again in a lower key; this also applied to the Turkish dub, as both were sung by the same singer (Yasemin Sannino).
- Oddly enough, the Finnish, Romanian, and Russian dubs use the Italian instrumental, but with the English key.
- "We Girls are the Winx":
- Thomas & Friends: When Season 7 (the last of the classic era) aired in North America, they replaced Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell's score with a new score by Robert Hartshorne. This is because on TV, Season 7 aired alongside Season 8 (the start of the HIT era), which also had a score by Hartshorne, and they didn't want to confuse kids. The North American version also redubbed a few Season 6 episodes with Hartshorne music (and Michael Brandon re-narrating over Alec Baldwin).
