Sonic branding – if you haven’t heard this term already, it’s the art of finding music and sounds to fit a brand’s identity. In the past, a brand’s sound was defined by a single catchy jingle. Jingles work well as mnemonic devices, but a one-song brand can’t stay fresh forever.

Imagine if The Beatles had been told by their record label “We think the song ‘Love Me Do’ defines you as a band. Just keep making songs exactly like that.” No self-respecting musician would listen to advice like this. And no brand should, either. Sonic branding today is not about finding one magical hit song. It’s about creating a complete sonic identify, a palette of sounds and music that can be used in any ad campaign. A strong sonic identity will be recognised even as the song selection changes.

Think of the palette of sounds that make up the classic Beatles style. Though their songwriting matured and musical tastes expanded over the years, The Beatles’ sonic identity was unmistakable. Listen to this medley:

Beatles Medley

So what about ‘Revolution 9’ and all the other crazy Beatles experiments? Although ‘Revolution 9’ is a far, far cry from ‘Love Me Do’, even this anomaly could have been predicted. Each new Beatles sound grew organically from roots in previous Beatles songs. ‘Revolution 9’ was inspired by experimental tape songs like the psychedelic ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. And ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ stole its thumping beat from the early ‘What You’re Doing’. The Beatles experimented, yes, but their music grew with their audience’s expectations of them as a band.

The bottom line for brands is that a sonic identity can evolve and expand over time, whereas a jingle cannot. Having a strong sonic identity does not mean being stuck with a certain melody, song, or genre. How boring would that be for advertisers, let alone their customers? Instead, a strong sonic identity allows a brand to cohesively adapt to the future, and stay fresh but recognisable.

Charlie McCarron, Sound Consultant

soundlounge

At soundlounge, we work with brands to create their sonic identities. In this three part series, we’ll explore one of the most famous sonic identities of all, The Beatles. In part one, we heard the unique Beatle sounds that made them famous. Part two continues on through The Beatles discography to find the songs that further expanded their musical palette. Subscribe to this blog for part three, in which we’ll discover a few tips about creating a sonic identity that you can apply to your brand’s sound.

In just seven years of studio recordings, The Beatles created some of the most influential albums of all time. But they also created some of the most influenced albums of their time – and not just by drugs. The Beatles’ legendary status gave them freedom to travel the world and hang out with talented musical contemporaries of all kinds, from Bob Dylan to Ravi Shankar. They embraced music far beyond their Liverpudlian roots, and The Beatles Sound evolved to accommodate new instruments and styles. Let’s listen to a few of them… Read more…

At soundlounge, we work with brands to create their sonic identities. In this three part series, we’ll explore one of the most famous sonic identities of all, The Beatles. Part one highlights the groundbreaking sounds from the early Beatles albums. Subscribe to this blog for parts two and three, in which we’ll study the later albums and discover a few tips about creating a sonic identity that you can apply to your brand’s sound.

“The great thing about The Beatles was that they never gave me the same thing twice…They gave me a new song, a new concept, and each one seemed to be better than the one before.”

But four decades later, we can no longer hear a Beatles record fresh off the press. Their musical innovations have become so intertwined in our musical repertoire we may easily forget what The Beatles sounded like to a new listener. So let’s shed some of our musical baggage, take a trip back in time, and listen to this new band with the funny moptop hair… Read more…