[3] Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" is also used as the background score in the VIP lounge, and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings" also play in the series.

According to Joo, the showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk wanted a contrast between the brutal killing of the players in the game and the "romantic and beautiful lyrics and melody" of the song, such that the scene "embodies the increasingly polarized capitalist society that we live in today in a very compressed and cynical way".

[8][9] For the song "Way Back Then" that accompanies children playing Squid Game, Jung wanted to use instruments that he practiced in elementary school, such as recorders and castanets.

Sapszon and Elek stated that recording for the classical works were easier, as the compositions were written earlier and they only had to re-record the pieces.

[15] The second season also features the aria "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot and "Time to Say Goodbye" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli.