Personal Sonic Branding
Even though jingles have been around since the early 1900s, brands are just starting to embrace the true power of intentional sound. Mastercard, Southwest, AT&T, Shell and others have realized that sound not only generates a unique emotional connection, but humans also process sound signals faster than visual signals. If applied thoughtfully and consistently, these sounds establish credibility and connectivity to listeners across many platforms. Some musicians even embrace these calling cards. DJ Khalid comes to mind as his songs famously begin with him shouting his own name. Over the last few years, voice driven web interactivity like Alexa has sparked further exploration of a sonic presence. Brands will likely have a massive footprint in the Metaverse, but there will be opportunity for individuals to stand out in the crowd.
Could traditional sonic branding actually apply to individuals?
Just like an avatar or a YAT, imagine owning a unique arrangement of sounds and musical elements ordered in time that announce your presence in virtual worlds like Dencentraland or at a Roblox concert event. NFTs present a perfect framework to capture and arrange these unique personal assets. It’s in our nature to associate ourselves with like-minded groups. Throughout history, humans established cooperative relationships to ensure survival. Could themes start to emerge where we find new connections and friendships based on our unique sonic identifiers? Some would argue how those that aren’t musically minded could accomplish something as complicated as scoring their own virtual existence. I would present that we don’t have to be graphic designers to own a Cryptopunk. Could this be another new opportunity for talented musicians and sound designers?
Most sonic brands come to life as a collection of theme-aligned assets in a library with some sort of governance for usage by platform or media type. The strategies can vary by creator, but a common approach is to compose a longer form piece and identify sections of the song that could be used in different ways. Songs are pretty amazing collections of individual parts that can be arranged in smaller combinations and organized within shorter timelines. For example, the rhythm track and vocal hook can be isolated and matched to a motion graphic, or a synth pad and drum click could be combined to drive brand navigation functionality within an app or branded experience. Either way, all sub-assets have a similar feel, like songs on a record by a single band. Another approach aligns with the goldfish analogy. According to a study, goldfish have an attention span of about nine seconds, while sadly humans fall short of that at about eight seconds. I’ll save the deep dive on the myth of multitasking for a later post. Whether you support the study or not, in the attention economy, you have a small window to make an impression. Keeping the limitation of human attention in mind, some creators begin with a more tactical use case and a shorter timeline. For example, a company may have a specific requirement like a motion graphic logo that needs some audio support in a broadcast commercial. The framework for this composition will likely fall between the :07 — :10 realm. Sometimes constraints can be powerful creative tools.
Back to individual identity in the Metaverse, could we see a personal sonic element start to emerge? If you read the previous post Walk Up Music For Avatars, couldn’t the sonic identity unfold from that longer form asset? With the growing trends of freelance work, entrepreneurship and collective-based collaborations like DAOs, personal sonic identities could even evolve to become business assets. What would you want to sound like in the Metaverse? The good news is there is an abundance of talented musicians and sound designers to help you figure that out.
