In the dynamic world of advertising, music is a powerful tool. It’s not a simple background noise to accompany beautifully crafted visuals. It’s crucial in shaping the narrative, evoking emotions, and forging a memorable connection between the brand and its audience. If you feel that choosing what to listen to during the day is challenging enough, selecting the right track for any kind of films is an intricate skill.
Indeed, the music selection is a strategic decision that involves a deep understanding of the brand’s core identity, the message it aims to convey, and the emotional journey it wants to take its audience on. The right music can amplify a message, enriching the ad’s impact and making it stick in viewers’ minds long after seeing it.
Music can set the tone of the ad, from upbeat and energetic to sombre and reflective, dictating the pace and mood of the narrative. At the same time, music can serve as a brand’s signature. This sonic logo instantly reminds the audience of the brand whenever they hear it. There must be a song stuck in your mind that you’ve listened to in an ad. If you’re looking for a song played in an Apple ad, check out their playlist Heard in Apple Ads.
Let us give you an inside look into the specific criteria and an overview of the music selection process that music supervisors like Izrom use to achieve this delicate balance, ensuring that each advertisement reaches its target audience and resonates with them on a deeper level.
Who’s behind the music?
Music supervisors are the maestros behind the scenes of advertising campaigns. They are the ones who will select and integrate music that aligns perfectly with an ad’s objectives, visuals, and messaging. They are part curator, part legal expert, and part strategic thinker skilled with a deep understanding of music, marketing, and licensing laws.
At their core, music supervisors are experts in both the creative and administrative aspects of music selection. They possess an expansive knowledge of musical genres, trends, and artists, enabling them to source the ideal tracks for any advertising scenario.
They’re the ones who understand just how much influence music can have on emotions and behaviours, how it can align with a brand’s identity, and how it can be seamlessly integrated into the visual narrative of an ad.
They deal with everything from popular songs to less-known tracks and original compositions. They deal with record labels, artists, and composers to get permission to use the music. They also make sure that the music they pick can be used for commercial purposes.
Let’s dive deeper into the strategic aspect of a music supervisor’s work:
How Music Reflects a Brand’s Identity
A brand’s identity is how a company wants to be perceived by its audience. It can include visual elements, tone, messaging, and values that collectively form a brand’s unique personality.
But music is also part of building that identity since it has the unique ability to convey complex emotions and values in a universal language. It can mirror a brand’s personality, whether energetic, youthful, sophisticated, luxurious, or fun and quirky. Through rhythm, melody, and harmony, music communicates the intangible qualities that words and images alone cannot.
Several iconic advertising campaigns have masterfully used music to enhance their brand identity, creating memorable and impactful ads that resonate with audiences worldwide. Let us illustrate:
1. Apple: Known for its innovative music selection in advertising, Apple has a history of selecting tracks that reflect its cutting-edge, creative identity. Let’s look back at the iPod Nano commercial with Feist’s “1234” song playing. Apple already developed that unique and highly recognisable style of simple yet striking visuals, reinforcing its image as a brand at the forefront of technology and design.
- Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola’s choice of a feel-good, uplifting music selection in its ads reflects its brand identity centred around happiness, sharing, and togetherness. The globally recognised “Hilltop” ad with its song “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” is a prime and iconic example. There’s a reason why they’ve colour-corrected and remastered for 4K television.
- Nike: Nike often utilises a powerful, motivational music selection to complement its inspiring visual content, echoing the brand’s identity of inspiration, determination, and innovation. In 2018, they released the “Dream Crazy” campaign, narrated by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The ad was soundtracked by “The Beautiful Game” by Aloe Blacc and was widely praised for its powerful message, which resonated with Nike’s brand ethos of pushing boundaries and promoting social justice. #justdoit.
These examples demonstrate how music is an essential tool and its role in building an emotional connection with an audience. With the right music, brands can create a more profound and lasting impact, turning simple commercials into experiences that move and inspire. Scroll through some of the comments on these ads, and you’ll read some testimonials from people who still remember the day they’ve seen these ads.
However, not all brands have the same budgets as established companies like Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola. It’s the reason why we believe, at Izrom, that brands should move towards creating unique scores and soundtracks to power their campaigns thus creating a unique sonic identity. The creative freedom that comes with creating a sonic identity is unparalleled.
So, how do they actually do it?
A sneak peek into the music selection process:
We regularly support and accompany brands in the ad creation process to find the perfect soundtrack. We combine our creative intuition with strategic analysis, ensuring that the chosen music complements the ad’s visuals and message and resonates with the target audience.
Some of the crucial steps that can’t be overlooked are:
- Understanding the Brand’s Identity: We need to start by understanding the brand’s core values, personality, and market positioning. From there, we’ll be able to understand the musical tone to go after.
- Analysing the Target Audience: The audience research is crucial to understand the targeted demographic which includes their musical tastes, cultural backgrounds, and emotional triggers. These preferences will also guide us in finding the right track to appeal to them.
- Evaluating the Ad’s Message and Emotional Tone: It sounds obvious, but the music needs to match the core message and at least the intended emotional impact. We aim to enhance the narrative, whether that’s inspiring, comforting, motivating, or entertaining the viewers.
- Synchronising with Visual Elements: We need to ensure that the track’s rhythm, tempo, and dynamics match the ad’s visual pacing and scene transitions. Once we have found the one, we need to make sure it works so we integrate it with the visual elements for some initial tests.
- Considering Legal Aspects: If choosing an existing track, crucial legal steps must be taken to ensure that the music is appropriate and cleared for use. For more information on this, we break it all down here.
Challenges in Music Selection
Selecting the perfect piece of music for an advertising campaign comes with its set of challenges. From legal hurdles to creative mismatches, finding the right soundtrack is the most complex music selection process. In comparison, making a mixtape is a walk in the park!
Here are some of the most common challenges that a music supervisor can face and some tips on how to overcome them:
- Finding the Right Fit:
- Challenge: Identifying a track that complements the ad’s message, tone, and visuals.
- Solution: The more you do, the easier it will be. Conduct thorough research and analysis of the brand’s identity, target audience, and campaign goals. The music supervisors and their expertise will know where to go. If there’s nothing out there that’s right, consider custom music creation.
- Licensing and Copyright Issues:
- Challenge: Navigating the complex world of music rights, licensing agreements, and copyright laws.
- Solution: If no one in your team has the legal expertise needed, hire an experienced legal professional to handle negotiations and ensure compliance early in the process. Otherwise, you can also go for royalty-free or custom-created music.
- Budget Constraints:
- Challenge: Acquiring the rights to well-known tracks can be expensive.
- Solution: Explore emerging artists or lesser-known tracks that can provide high-quality music at a lower cost. There is always the option to create custom music.
- Cultural Sensitivity and Relevance:
- Challenge: Ensuring the music is culturally appropriate and resonates with the target audience across different regions.
- Solution: This is another important research project to understand your audience’s cultural preferences and sensitivities. You could also work with local artists or composers to create culturally resonant music.
- Keeping Up with Trends:
- Challenge: Staying up to date with musical trends to stay current and engaging with the target audience.
- Solution: Don’t doom scroll on social media, but visit it more regularly, monitor music charts and industry insights. If you have the budget, you can also collaborate with music consultants specialising in trend forecasting.
- Achieving Emotional Alignment:
- Challenge: Ensuring the music evokes the desired emotional response and aligns with the ad’s narrative.
- Solution: Work with focus groups or A/B testing with different tracks to gauge emotional responses. If you’re creating music, work closely with the composers to get every note right.
- Brand Consistency:
- Challenge: Maintaining a consistent brand voice across campaigns while introducing new music.
- Solution: The brand’s sonic signature is key here. Are there any distinguishing motifs or themes that can be incorporated?
No sound and music are randomly selected in a sea of tracks, including in advertising because it serves an actual purpose. Music supervisors leverage their creative expertise and legal knowledge to help brands take visuals from a good-looking video into an impactful experience. As a result of this experience, brands can continue growing by leveraging the power of music on existing and new audiences. A music supervisor won’t only scroll through a library of sounds but analyse and identify strategically what a project needs to sound like to the ears of its desired viewers. You can trust their ear.
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