The Windows 95 Chime Just Earned a Spot in the National Recording Registry

You might say it’s difficult for any piece of music to make an impression in just 6 seconds, but PC users who remember booting up in the 1990s would disagree. So does the Library of Congress. This week, the Windows 95 chime joined Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and the soundtrack to Minecraft in earning a place in the National Recording Registry.

Dubbed “one of the defining sounds of history and culture” by the LOC, the Windows 95 arpeggio greeted Microsoft users from the welcome screen. If you’re unfamiliar, you can listen below:

According to the induction, Microsoft enlisted composer Brian Eno to create a sound that would make Windows feel welcoming and inspiring. It also had to be just 3.25 seconds long. “The idea came up at the time when I was completely bereft of ideas,” Eno told SF Gate in 1996. “I’d been working on my own music for a while and was quite lost, actually. And I really appreciated someone coming along and saying, ‘Here’s a specific problem—solve it.’”

Eno, who likened the project to making a “tiny little jewel,” composed 84 different pieces based on the prompt. The theme they chose was twice as long as they had originally wanted but was deemed perfect.

Other entrants in the class of 2025 include “I Am Woman” performed by Helen Reddy; “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John; My Life by Mary J. Blige; and the Hamilton original Broadway cast album, among others. The Windows 95 theme is also joined by another honoree from the tech world: composer Daniel Rosenfeld’s (a.k.a. C418) soundtrack to Minecraft.

The public is free to suggest works for possible inclusion in the Registry, which are then selected by curators. A recording must be at least 10 years old and extant to be eligible. This year’s 25 entrants bring the number in the collection to 675.

“These are the sounds of America—our wide-ranging history and culture,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. “The Library of Congress is proud and honored to select these audio treasures worthy of preservation, including [...] the sounds of our daily lives with technology.”

There’s no word on when or if AOL’s “You’ve Got Mail” notification might be next. If you feel that’s an oversight, you can always nominate it for inclusion next year.

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