It’s rare for a commercial to be so moving it sends chills down my spine, but Nike’s “Human Chain” ad struck me just right.

“Ali in the Jungle” by The Hours is great song, but I’m not sure the song itself would have given me goosebumps. And the visuals, stunning as they may be, would never have done it for me without this song. Many of the 250,000+ YouTube viewers would probably agree – these music supervisors and film editors found the perfect match of music and images.

If an ad agency knew the secret formula for a “chill response” and could guarantee X number of them in their viewers, they’d be set for life. Why?

1. A chill response signifies an intense emotional reaction.

2. These reactions to music and film are almost always associated with positive feelings.

3. The chill response is physically measurable market research.

So why haven’t marketers been all over this? In truth, psychologists have been studying chill responses to music for years, but their findings have been limited by the unpredictable nature of chills. A powerful chill reaction is rare, and it seems to depend on a delicate balance of many factors. Reactions can vary widely from person to person, and some people reportedly never experience chills or goosebumps at all when they listen to music.

Still, some studies have found common musical qualities that tend to give people the chills:

1. Changes in volume

2. Entry of a voice

3. New or unprepared harmonies

4. Sudden textural changes

5. Solo instrument emerging from a softer orchestral background

While none of these factors alone will guarantee an emotionally powerful song, they can be helpful guidelines for critiquing a track. Ask: does the track change enough musically? Does it have dynamic highs and lows? Does it surprise the listener at key points? These questions can help steer you toward the next goosebump-inducing hit.

Which commercials are so good they’ve given you the chills? Post them in the comments section below.

For more info, this study outlines some of the best chill research out there: “Listening to Music as a Re-Creative Process” Grewe, et. al., 2007 (pdf).  http://musicweb.hmt-hannover.de/kopiez/Grewe-etal(2007)Chills.pdf

Charlie McCarron, Sound Consultant
soundlounge

Everyone in the recording business felt it coming – the growing stampede of internet-savvy listeners who got a taste of free music and never went back. While many cynics see this as a harbinger of doom for the music industry, optimists like Terry McBride see this transformation in listener behaviour as an opportunity to rethink the system. McBride believes the focus needs to shift away from monetizing music files, because he predicts our desire to “own” music will fade away in the next few years.

“The iPod is over,” says McBride, referring to the hassle of downloading and organizing music files. If his predictions are correct, on-demand streaming programs like Spotify and Last.fm will inevitably change our cultural instinct to collect CDs, download mp3s, or otherwise “own” a music library. Instead, we will have instant access to any piece of music ever recorded (just check out the YouTube-based Muziic.com if you don’t agree). Who wouldn’t want infinitely free music?

There still may be a part of us that isn’t convinced. Why should I replace my personal, meaningful album collection with a vast, impersonal database of songs somewhere up in the clouds? This question is one at the heart of the new music revolution, and it’s precisely the point McBride is getting at. According to McBride, it’s no longer content that matters, but the music’s context. The new industry leaders will be those who create the most emotionally engaging system for listening to and discovering music.

Back in 2002, Wired’s co-founder Kevin Kelly wrote an insightful article on the digital music revolution:

“Copies are so ubiquitous, so cheap (free, in fact) that the only things truly valuable are those which cannot be copied. What kinds of things can’t be copied? Well, for instance: trust, immediacy, personalization.”

In other words, we don’t need a gigantic database of music files, we need a friend who finds us awesome music we will like. When the music is free and infinitely reproducible, real-life human recommendations become the precious commodity. Talent scouts will be leaders in this new music industry – heartening news for the music supervisors, reviewers, DJs, and mixtape junkies of the world.

Charlie McCarron, Sound Consultant
soundlounge

Imagine a commercial with music so alluring and contemporary that it draws thousands of YouTube visitors within weeks with comments like “can you tell me from where i can download the song please?” and “it’s really awesome!!!”. It must have used a hit song or a track from a new artist with Record Company marketing clout, and it probably cost tens of thousands of dollars to licence, right? Listen for yourself…

In reality this track chosen for the new Canon commercial (”Blackbird Song” by Ben Cocks) was from a production music library. The truth is that it was significantly less expensive for our client than a hit song would have been. And the song’s production quality and “catchiness” is on par, if not ahead of, most higher-profile tracks out there. Read more…

The iTunes store has changed the way listeners judge music by putting a 30-second time limit on their attention spans. Songwriters may cringe, but it’s now unavoidable. The hard truth is if a song doesn’t deliver in this short window of time, it simply won’t sell.

Working out how to sell product with 30 seconds of sound has been our focus at soundlounge for nearly 3 decades. Since commercials rarely use more than 30 seconds of music, we have to find songs or parts of songs that “sell” (i.e. make a memorable, emotional impression) in a very short amount of time. How?

1. Get to the hook quickly. Whilst romantic composers like Mahler and Strauss had the privilege of fans with hour-long musical attention spans, today’s songwriters have no such lattitude,. The 30 second sample must have a memorable ‘hook’ – a catchy guitar riff, a clever lyric, a killer beat. A good hook sticks in your head for weeks and compels you to listen to the track again and again. That’s the kind of song that spreads online like wildfire and gets chosen for that next Apple iPod commercial.

2. Create a distinctive sound ‘snapshot’. Advertisers and bands have at least one thing in common – they both need to be heard above the noise. In this area, advertisers can actually learn a thing or two from popular bands who have worked hard to consistently stand out from the crowd. Having a unique sound is part of the solution. But what if your listener doesn’t even give you 30 seconds? Many impatient listeners take an ‘audio snapshot’ of the first few seconds and judge a song based on its production quality and instrumentation.

3. Take us on a journey. Music moves us when it moves. Great songs give us something to anticipate from start to finish. They lead us along through imaginative melodies, chord progressions, and lyrical stories. 30 seconds might be short for a musical journey, but that may be all you’ve got so even a hint of oncoming change will go a long way. If your 30-second sample sounds stagnant, try varying the dynamics, instrumentation, or harmony to keep your audience wanting more.

Charlie McCarron, Sound Consultant
Ruth Simmons, CEO
soundlounge

So which tv Christmas commercial most holds a special place in your heart? At soundlounge, we have created a list of our own personal selection. Let us know if we have left out your favourite…

1. Coca Cola (Holidays Are Coming)
2. John Lewis (From Me To You)
3. M&S ( This Party Started)
4.Budweiser (Horses)
5. Coca Cola (Polar Bears)
6. Irn Bru (Walking In The Air)
7. M&S (Most Wonderful Time Of The Year)
8. Heineken (Let It Snow)
9. Kellogg’s
10. Lucky Strike

Here at soundlounge, we’ve been working with brands to understand and develop their sound branding for nearly three decades. We’d like to share some of the most common sonic branding sins and some simple strategies you can apply for absolution.

1. LUST – Being seduced by the Music Industry. Being offered a link up with an iconic artist or a hit song can seem irresistible. And it’s true that well-known tracks in a commercial can create an instant emotional connection with consumers. But if the popularity of the song overshadows the advertiser’s message and consumers remember the song and not the product, it can prove to be a very expensive liaison.

SOLUTION: Resist the temptation to just look for hit tracks and big names. Have plan B and C and consider music from unknown or emerging artists; explore library music or commission an original composition. Re-record/re-invent an existing copyright so that you incorporate your brand sound DNA. Challenge and rationalise creative choices against fees and costs.

Read more…

The chef has been trained by Pierre White; the service is 5 star; the décor is a designer’s dream, but there’s something missing. You can’t quite put your finger on it but you just don’t feel right. You eat there once and never go back.

Recent research by Psychologist Charles Areni has revealed that successful restaurants also understand that sound can be as influential as the food itself in creating our gut impressions of a restaurant.

Customers Eat by the Beat

Many of the managers interviewed claimed that they could change a person’s dining speed just by changing the tempo of the background music. Sounds like a bold claim, but it actually works! Research shows that diners subconsciously match their eating speed with musical speed.

“Over our morning tea when we’re really busy and people are only here for a short stay we play slightly more up-tempo music, sort of like funky jazz kind of music to encourage that sort of move in, move out, because we want to turn our seats over as fast as possible”

Is Background Music Always Needed In A Restaurant?

Read more…

The soundlounge jukebox is our outlet for sharing the cream of the music industry with all. Updated every few weeks, it offers a chance for people who don’t have much time to sample good quality music, whether new releases or hidden gems from the archives. We receive music from all the majors, indies, publishers and sometimes the artists themselves and will bring to your desk (and attention) some of the most interesting and diverse music out there.

Visit the soundlounge jukebox to hear the following tracks.

Love You Better – The Maccabees
After breaking onto the scene in 2004 with a song about a swimming pool, the Maccabees seem to have grown up. Their first album had a innocent charm in its angular songs and with the help of Orlando Weeks’ distinctive vocals they carved themselves a place in a scene full of bands trying to be the Libertines. Their second album sees the arrival of Markus Dravs, producer of such acts as Coldplay and the Arcade Fire and it’s his work with the latter that really comes through here. There’s a lot more to come from this lot so stay tuned.

Zero – Malcolm Middleton
Malcolm Middleton has been releasing music since 1995. Originally he was one half of folk rock outfit Arab Strap but since 2006, after six studio albums, he embarked on a solo career that’s has seen him release five albums. His most recent offering, from which this track is taken, sadly may be his last. He has stated that while he will continue with a career in music he may start to write for other people or simply change his name. For what it’s worth, I’d like him to carry on with his solo career so if you’re reading Malcolm, don’t stop making your musics.

Psychic City – YACHT
Jona Bechtolt formed YACHT in 2003 after leaving another Portland band, The Blow. Until 2008, YACHT was a solo act but for his most recent album, ‘See Mystery Lights’, he as teamed up with Claire L. Evans who contributes vocals to many of the new songs. The introduction of Claire seems to have allowed YACHT to evolve into a band with more pop sensibilities than before although the odd production quirks that give Bechtolt’s music so much character remain. It’s a weird one but well worth checking out.

Loading – Knuckles
This one’s a bit of fun. Taken from the ‘Loading EP’, Parisian electro producer Knuckles has turned out a real crowd pleaser. It’s a floor filler that almost guarantees to get the crowd jumping, something that the enigmatic DJ/Producer/remixer, Fake Blood has cottoned onto. He plays it live regularly and also included it in his Radio 1 essential mix. Something for the weekend. Enjoy.

Growls Garden – Clark
Another recent Warp release, the new album from Clark sees him raise the bar for anyone else in his sphere. On previous albums like Boy Riddle and Clarence Park he experimented with abstract tones and textures and occasionally dropped in some of the hard tech that he’s known for now. His previous album, Turning Dragons, saw him go straight down the hard tech route, which belied his true talent. Here however he combines his original experimentation with some bone shattering beats and bass lines. Not for the faint hearted.

Lovers’ Carvings – Bibio
Recommended to Warp records by the now legendary Boards Of Canada this album is Bibio’s first release on the illustrious label. The recommendation seemed like an obvious one as his sound has always been close to the Scottish songsmiths’ but this album has seen him move away from this somewhat. He draws upon a huge variety of styles creating an endlessly eclectic mix of tracks that could sound like a compilation if it wasn’t for the lingering influence of the Boards Of Canada. One of the most interesting albums of the year so far.

Listen to these tracks on the soundlounge jukebox.

Sam Nicholson, Creative Assistant
soundlounge

In sonic branding, much thought and effort goes into finding the perfect sounds to fit a brand’s style. Part of this process involves breaking these sounds into their essential ingredients and critiquing them: “That trumpet is a shade too mellow. Can we find one with more punch?” or “We need to decide if we want a brighter voice or a darker voice.”

Every musical detail counts in the advertising world. Think of the Intel Inside sound, one of the most memorable audio logos of all time – only three seconds long. Creator Walter Werzowa needed a keen ear to carefully design each sound. In the first note alone, he used over 20 different instruments and sounds!

Listen to the Intel sonic logo

Did you hear the anvil, tambourine, and electric spark? If you’re like most listeners, probably not (we’ll get to the reason for this later). But Werzowa hand-picked each of these sounds for a reason. He knew their unique sound “flavours” and was able to mix them perfectly into a memorable audio logo.

We can all tell when an instrument sounds right or wrong in a certain context. This is the “I’ll know it when I hear it” approach, which drives many sound branding decisions. But when it comes down to a few seconds of sound design, it’s important to understand why an instrument sounds mellow, punchy, bright, or dark.

With a little science and an open ear, we’ll explore some of the basic “spices” of sound undiscovered by the average listener – overtones.

Can you sing more than one note at the same time?

Tuvan musician Kongar-ol Ondar employs an age-old Tuvan tradition of overtone singing to sing two, three, or four notes at the same time in this clip from the Late Show with David Letterman:

“How did he do that?!” you might be thinking. Let’s take a closer look at overtones – Read more…

It was designed to remind advertisers of the continuing influence and effectiveness of television but in fact served to highlight the remarkable power of sound branding. Thinkbox, the television marketing body for major UK commercial broadcasters, recently unveiled its very first TV advert featuring a man on a psychiatrist’s couch who is prompted to go to a “happy place” in his mind. Far from imagining a sandy beach or flower-filled meadow the patient blurts out a series of famous jingles from the last 30 years. Among the slogans are Just One Cornetto, immortally sung to Italy’s O Sole Mio, the beautifully harmonised Mild Green…Fairy Liquid and of course, the unforgettable WOAH!! Bodyform.

The Thinkbox ad has received mixed reviews, with a post on one forum claiming it “shows our minds are full of the most worthless garbage serving no function or purpose other than to drive us absolutely insane”. But for many, it provides a nostalgic, 60-second trip down memory lane. As Thinkbox says, it’s the sort of commercial that starts conversations about TV ads – which ones we like best and why we remember them above other types of advertising. So why are these jingles so memorable, so effortlessly able, decades on, to allows us not only to recall a particular time in our lives but an individual product? Read more…