In 2020, the soundtracks of Howl's Moving Castle along with Spirited Away (2001), both were issued on vinyl LP, followed by a second re-issue along with the collection of Studio Ghibli soundtracks in 2023. A CD single of the film's theme, preceded the film's soundtrack. The image album to the film's music was released on January 2004, months ahead of the film's release and the score album was unveiled in conjunction with the film. His approach to the score was 'a kind of international feel' where he could use sophisticated orchestration to reflect the dense orchestral styles associated in Hollywood films. But, the leitmotifs written for the film, led him space for experimenting the themes, and is different from that of Hollywood film music where 'the leitmotif appears very clearly and is very easy to remember'.
Hisaishi had introduced several leitfmotifs for the first time, as his previous scores for the Miyazaki and Ghibli ventures did not have leitmotifs. The music to Studio Ghibli's 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film Howl's Moving Castle ( Japanese: ハウルの動く城, Hepburn: Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) directed by Hayao Miyazaki, featured a score composed by Joe Hisaishi, Miyazaki's regular collaborator and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic orchestra. Soundtrack of 2004 film Howl's Moving Castle
