diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2bec2173..0a45f844 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -106,4 +106,5 @@ yarn.lock
 /build*
 /assets/test
 /tools_old
-/assets/test.png
\ No newline at end of file
+/assets/test.png
+/assets/audio/boa.mp3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2da2f6eb..889197d6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,15 +9,18 @@ following packages, depending on your system;
 
 Fedora;
 ```
-sudo dnf install git make gcc cmake python python-polib python3-pillow python3-dotenv python3-numpy python-qt5 python3-pyopengl SDL2-devel zlib-devel libzip-devel bzip2-devel openssl-devel lzma-sdk-devel xz xz-devel lua-devel
+sudo dnf install git make gcc cmake python python-polib python3-pillow python3-dotenv python3-numpy python-qt5 python3-pyopengl SDL2-devel zlib-devel libzip-devel bzip2-devel openssl-devel lzma-sdk-devel xz xz-devel lua-devel libmad-devel
 ```
+`libmad-devel` (used for MP3 decoding) is GPL-licensed and ships in the
+[RPM Fusion](https://rpmfusion.org/) free repository rather than Fedora's
+base repos - make sure RPM Fusion is enabled first.
 
 Ubuntu;
 ```
-sudo apt-get install git build-essential gcc python python-polib python3-pillow python3-dotenv python3-numpy python3-pyqt5 python3-opengl
+sudo apt-get install git build-essential gcc python python-polib python3-pillow python3-dotenv python3-numpy python3-pyqt5 python3-opengl libmad0-dev
 ```
 
 Arch Linux;
 ```
-sudo pacman -S git base-devel gcc python python-polib python-pillow python-dotenv python-numpy python-pyqt5 python-opengl
+sudo pacman -S git base-devel gcc python python-polib python-pillow python-dotenv python-numpy python-pyqt5 python-opengl libmad
 ```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/assets/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.cts b/assets/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.cts
index 29cbbd59..859d2bcb 100644
Binary files a/assets/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.cts and b/assets/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.cts differ
diff --git a/assetsraw/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.jsonc b/assetsraw/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.jsonc
index ac1a880c..d9c8d418 100644
--- a/assetsraw/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.jsonc
+++ b/assetsraw/cutscenes/main_menu_start_game.jsonc
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 {
   "items": [
+    {
+      "type": "AUDIO_PLAY",
+      "file": "audio/boa.mp3",
+      "channel": "BGM_0",
+      "volume": 1.0,
+      "pan": 0.0,
+      "looping": true
+    },
     {
       "type": "MODAL",
       "title": "main_menu.checking_save.title",
diff --git a/src/dusk/engine/engine.c b/src/dusk/engine/engine.c
index d3ad3f5a..0ab81ad3 100644
--- a/src/dusk/engine/engine.c
+++ b/src/dusk/engine/engine.c
@@ -52,16 +52,6 @@ errorret_t engineInit(const int32_t argc, const char_t **argv) {
   #endif
   errorChain(sceneInit());
 
-  // Smoke-tests the audio mixer end to end (asset loading -> PCM/MP3
-  // streaming -> platform playback) against a real MP3 asset rather than
-  // synthesizing PCM data at runtime.
-  audioMixerPlay(
-    "audio/boa.mp3",
-    AUDIO_MIXER_CHANNEL_BGM_0,
-    1.0f,
-    AUDIO_STREAM_CENTER
-  );
-
   consolePrint("Engine initialized");
 
   #ifdef DUSK_ASSERTIONS_FAKED