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.
“In the early ‘60s, when he went off on his own, he created this company called A-I-R, which I believe stands for the Association of Independent Recordists, and that was the key. Independence. He took that model, and he was getting great residuals and everything from The Beatles’ work. So he had the money, and […]
“If you’re a creator of sound, you’re in a blessed place, because you can not only communicate with somebody in that two-dimensional, ‘it sounds like this’ mode, but you also have the ability to touch their spirit. You have an ability to give them goosebumps. You have the ability to make them think differently about […]
“And it’s also a progression, right, that you don’t know why that progression did it for you. Like, there is a moment in this one song by Manchester Orchestra where they hit this C [note], and I, the first time I listened to it, just ugly cried, and I had no idea what they were […]
“That’s sort of how we, like, when we started the agency, then we started with just the two of us, and my role alongside Jared was everything. We did everything. And then as we expanded and grew, like, we realized, actually, like, not only my partner at the agency, but I am the chief listening […]
“My grandfather used to say, aim for the moon and you might catch a star on the way down. And at his funeral, I gave a sort of eulogy and told everyone this story and said, ‘I assume everyone’s heard this one from him because he was a storyteller.’ There were about a hundred people […]
“I’ve been, so one of my writer friends who I published, a guy called Ian Curnow, he was one of the producers behind “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley and “Stay Another Day” by East 17 and Kylie. He was a big producer, and I took him to Eurovision. He was the first […]