The most familiar form of audio branding is music, and there's a very good reason for that. Music is perhaps the oldest form of communication we have: we've been creating and playing instruments for much longer than we've had a written language, and we've been singing since before we knew any words to sing. Sound and music are a vital part of our existence, and music moves us in ways that no other medium can match. These episodes explore the power of music to bring us together, stir our deepest emotions, and connect with our audience in a profoundly meaningful way.
We speak with a multitude of guests, ranging from musicians and composers to software developers and marketing experts, about the invaluable role music plays in creating and promoting a brand, and the latest developments in sonic branding. From licensed music trends to the return of the old-fashioned commercial jingle, from crafting the perfect cinematic soundtrack to the use of machine learning to create uncanny new forms of music, we examine every aspect of musical branding and discuss how it can help us promote a brand and forge a deeper, more lasting relationship with our audience.
These podcasts also feature a number of singers, songwriters, and other vocal talents who offer their insights into the more practical side of singing and creating music. Composer Richard Strauss once called the human voice the most beautiful instrument, but the most difficult to play; each interview focuses on such wide-ranging topics as musical trends and genres, the value of both harmony and dissonance in a song, and the surprising benefits singing can have for the brain and body.
For a long time, audio branding and musical branding meant almost the same thing, and while the definition of audio branding has expanded over the years, music still plays an invaluable role when it comes to marketing with sound. These episodes offer a deeper look at that role, and at how music can help you bring your brand's message to life so you can share it with the rest of the world.
“I don’t think AI quite has us figured out yet because, as human beings, we’ll listen to sad songs to feel better. I don’t think it understands that. That’s true, it’s contrary… Yeah, I mean, I think that AI has its place. I’m not all against it, just as a matter of course, I just […]
“That’s one of the biggest things that scares me the most about composing with AI. It’s that, whatever AI model you’re on, how was it trained, and was that material copyrighted? And was there any kind of permission for that to happen? And you, as the end user, don’t know.” – Laney McCormick This […]
“I guess that’s encouraging, and it’s scary at the same time, because, you know, there are a lot of people in the industry that depend on the creativity that they’ve worked years and years and years to kind of master and to get to this point. And then all of a sudden, someone says, I […]
“Sound is a really important part of how I make movies because I always tell people that if the sound is good and the picture is bad, then you’ll stick around to see what happens. However, if the sound is terrible and the picture is great, you’re out of there in like ten minutes. So […]
“I grew up near the west coast here in Denmark, so yeah, the sea has always been there. And Aarhus is also a harbor city, so definitely there’s something relaxing about going down to the water and hearing the whistling. We implemented that in Necesse, actually. We have a water fountain that’s spatial, so that […]
“When I started on the project of Necesse, we had maybe thirty sound effects. I’ve made around 400, 350 sound effects, so it’s become much more immersive. You can hear animals when you wander around in the different environments. And just the feedback you get by playing the game, it’s quite nice compared to before, […]