Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

Marcel de Bie, keeper of the audio-branding blog The Amber Theatre, has collected dozens of resources on audio branding and identity over at his del.icio.us collection of bookmarks. It’s one of the more exhaustive collections — certainly worth a bookmark of your own.

Got 60 seconds? I have five simple questions for you. Whether it’s your 1st time here or your 100th, your answers to our first reader survey help me get a handle on who you are, why you’re here, and how we can make the most of this thing we call audio branding. Thanks in advance.

Click here to take our reader survey.

Image by frogmuseum2.

Good news: I’ll be tag-teaming with the illustrious Martyn Ware to present at the Experience Architecture Forum at Harvard on August 9th.

I had the good fortune of attending two years ago (here’s a quick recap I wrote shortly thereafter) and I found it a stimulating three days of experience-economy thinking as we explored the real-world potential for mixing brands, people, spaces and story in an intentional manner. Now that it’s 2007, let’s add sound to the mix.

New York architect Gregory Beck has been facilitating this conference for nearly ten years. I couldn’t be more excited as I’m sure it’ll be another idea-jam. Dates: August 8 through August 10. See you there.

I have to admit I’m sometimes a snob when it comes to what to discuss here at the site: concepts like the power of music or the power of sound aren’t exactly my value-add, given that there are plenty of experts (musicians, academics, etc.) already discussing these things, and they’re usually far more articulate than me. Dabble as I may, I usually try to avoid going there.

So I write about what I know: the strategic use of sound to build brand value — the careful mapping of the what, where, when, why, how (and sometimes even the how much) companies can and should use sound to leverage the woefully untapped relationship between people and sound. Depending on the client’s situation, strategy engagements can cover brand strategy, market research, customer research/ethnography, usability testing, and plenty of workshopping. And that’s even before we get to the sound itself; unlike the sometimes spontaneous act of creating music for art’s sake, this is a matter of planning, of discovering where you want to go and charting an intentional course for getting there.

If you’re still with me, you’re of a like mind. And you may very well appreciate the value that an account planner brings to an advertisement; the value a conductor brings to a performance; or the value an architect brings to the built environment. It’s not always necessarily the difference between failure and success — but it’s often the difference between success and grand success.

I recently came across one of John Groves’ Brand Sounds podcasts, out of Hamburg, and was delightfully suprised to find that Groves is, without a doubt, of a like mind as well. I’ll stay strictly on-topic here — no chit-chat about NPR or water gurglers of the Amazon — and point you to a recent Brand Sounds vidcast in which Groves expands on the comparable relationship between “sound strategy” and architects. Enjoy — and thanks to Groves for spreading the gospel of audio identity.

Elias Arts recently composed music for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Great stuff! And, interestingly, very much related to the growing connection between bands and brands, says the LA Times. For better or worse:

That connection is a “mixed blessing that can introduce underground artists to a wider fan base (as a current Motorola phone spot has, creating a minor ring-tone hit out of glitch-hop artist Dabrye’s “Hyped-Up Plus Tax”). But just as often, ad pop adulterates musical chestnuts (such as EMF’s 1991 hit “Unbelievable,” repurposed as the jingle “Crumbelievable” in the service of Kraft cheese) and can distort a song’s original intent, as a 1995 Mercedes-Benz commercial did by using Janis Joplin’s lampoon of consumer culture “Mercedes Benz” as a straight-ahead product endorsement.”

The NY Times writes that only “one sad conclusion” can come from their search for a “song of the summer.”

Which seems silly to me, really — this idea of a sound for the summer. Who needs it, methinks, until I realize that yes, a good handful of songs serve as mental filters for my memories of every single one of my teenage summers. (I refuse to reveal which songs for the sake of pretending to retain your respect.) These songs are part of me, and I just can’t shake ‘em.

Fortunately the good folks at Weekend America aren’t as dour on all this. They’ve asked WFMU’s Liz Berg, CMJ Music Editor Kenny Rose, and XXL Music Editor Leah Rose for their predictions on the songs of the summer. Follow the link to listen. (Props to Metafilter for the pointers.)

– Noel Franus

Water instruments galore. Because it’s Friday. And because we hear that Starbucks is looking for more artists to add to its HearMusic label.

Podcast: Slate music critic Jody Rosen and cultural editor Julia Turner explore the musical aesthetic of Starbucks.

It’s an interesting conversation if you spend any time in coffeeshops, and moreso if you consider the two-pronged role Starbucks plays as both a coffeeshop and cultural ambassador: the music you hear in the retail space is carefully calibrated to open you to influence; and the CDs for sale at the counter serve to reinforce your perception of the Starbucks brand as an acceptable tastemaker. The former sells coffee, and the latter sells culture. One is a profitable product, the other a profitable relationship. Smart.

Also of interest:

• The hosts suggest there aren’t any living black musicians on the Starbucks HearMusic label. Perhaps they overlooked worldy diva Angelique Kidjo. (Though one certainly ain’t much.)
• You won’t necessarily hear some of SHM’s own CDs actually playing in stores because, well, not all good music is helpful in a retail environment. Don’t want to scare anyone away.
• Which leads us to the indie aesthetic: just as independent musicians and labels will push artistic boundaries long before a major label usually does, independent coffeehouses are usually a bit more willing to actually play innovative, boundaries-pushing music before a Starbucks would.
• (Obvious followup: what is the sound of an independent coffeeshop, versus Monolith Coffeehaus, and how does that affect perception/reputation/brand? For another day…)

Do cell phone companies intentionally add minutes to your calls with those slow, lengthy “to leave a voice message, press 1″ instructions? David Pogue has your answer (scroll to the bottom).