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Music has a unique ability to shape the emotional and psychological impact of your content, elevating the message you're trying to convey. Whether it's custom-made, licensed from an artist, or stock music, the right soundtrack enhances storytelling, captures attention, and drives engagement.

Music has the power to evoke emotion, set the tone, and create memorable experiences for your audience—whether you're aiming for excitement, calm, tension, or inspiration. It also serves as an essential tool for brand recognition, allowing audiences to associate a specific sound with your brand, creating a deeper connection.

Furthermore, music brings rhythm and flow, guiding how people experience visuals, from videos to commercials to in-store environments. In a competitive market, having the right music can set your project apart, ensuring that your message doesn’t just get heard, but felt.

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CUSTOM MUSIC: Original Score/Music Track or Cover

Custom music allows a brand to tailor sound precisely to its messaging and emotional tone, enhancing recognition and making its visual communications feel more personal and aligned with the brand's unique story and audience. Some advantages of custom music:

✓ Uniqueness: Ensures that your commercial has a completely unique sound, specifically crafted to fit your brand’s identity and the message of the ad.

✓ Creative Control: Full control over how the music enhances your commercial. You can work with a composer to adjust the tone, tempo, and instrumentation to perfectly match the visuals and narrative.

✓ Tailored Emotional Impact: Can be precisely designed to evoke specific emotions and accentuate key moments in your ad.

✓ Flexibility and Adaptability: Can be easily modified to fit various versions of the campaign. You can also own the rights to the music, giving you the freedom to repurpose it across future projects.

✓ Avoids Overexposure: Will never feel overused or generic, unlike stock music or existing tracks. This ensures your brand’s distinctiveness.

Who Did It Right?

• The original score for Hennessy VS. Major works hand in hand with the compelling visuals and distinct sound design. Soft strings gradually build in intensity, reaching a climax during Major Taylor’s pivotal race, while bold brass and drums highlight his moments of triumph. The score concludes on a quiet, reflective note, offering relief after the tension and reinforcing Hennessy’s “Never Stop. Never Settle.” tagline.

• The score for Hennessy VS. Black Bear School combines original music with licensed tracks, creating a music collage that mirrors the mixtapes Maurice and his friends shared in the early ’90s. It draws from the musical influences that shaped Maurice’s mind: hard-bop jazz from beat boxes during matches, beats from New York hip-hop blasting from car stereos, and themes from Japanese martial arts films he loved. The spot’s crescendo, when Maurice gains control and becomes a champion, features “Confutatis” from Mozart’s Requiem, echoing its use in Amadeus, Maurice’s favorite film about another genius’s inner battle.

• The Mercedes-Benz cover of “Sunny” by Cruel Youth blends nostalgic and modern vibes, aligning with the brand’s image of luxury, sophistication, and innovation. Originally a 1966 song by Bobby Hebb known for its upbeat feel, the Cruel Youth version offers a more edgy, atmospheric, and darker reinterpretation. This fresh take on the classic complements Mercedes’ sleek, high-tech, and aspirational branding, adding a modern twist to the familiar song.

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LICENSED MUSIC (ARTIST)

Licensing music from an artist or having them cover an existing song allows a brand to create a fresh and unique sound that stands out, while adding an authentic, personal touch that aligns with the brand's messaging and emotional tone. Some pluses of licensing from an artist:

✓ Instant Recognition: Can instantly grab the audience’s attention. The familiarity of the music helps viewers engage with the commercial more quickly, creating a memorable connection.

✓ Emotional Resonance: Often carries deep emotional or cultural significance, which can help the commercial evoke a specific mood, feeling, or association without much additional effort.

✓ Brand Association: Elevates your brand’s perception, suggesting that your brand shares values, qualities, or style with the artist or song, which can be a powerful branding tool.

✓ Cultural Relevance: It can make your campaign feel timely and in tune with current social conversations, especially true with younger audiences who are often very attuned to musical trends.

✓ Pre-Established Storytelling: Often carries a narrative or story that aligns with your campaign, eliminating the need to build a new narrative from scratch.

Who Did It Right?

• Ruelle, known for her dark, cinematic pop, provided the haunting track “Where We Come Alive” for Lincoln’s Aviator ad. The partnership was intentional, with the ad’s release timed to coincide with the song’s debut. This collaboration reflects a broader trend of luxury car brands using evocative music from emerging artists to connect emotionally with audiences. It demonstrates how music can serve as a storytelling tool, enhancing the brand message without overshadowing the product.

• While Apple is known for often commissioning original music, they have also used stock or lesser-known tracks in some ads to great effect. In the iPhone X "Unlock" ad, Apple used a track called "Best  Friend" by Sofi Tukker, which was a relatively unknown at the time. The upbeat, energetic track perfectly matched the dynamic visuals of the commercial and helped the song gain popularity after its release.

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STOCK MUSIC

Stock music can be a cost-effective and time-saving option for brands, offering high-quality, pre-existing tracks that can quickly enhance visual communications without the need for custom production. Some benefits of using stock music:

✓ Cost-Effective: More affordable than hiring a composer to create an original score.

✓ Quick Turnaround: No waiting for custom compositions, you can select a track from a library and license it almost immediately, speeding up the process.

✓ Wide Variety: Offers a vast selection of genres, moods, and styles, making it easy to find a track that fits the tone of your commercial.

✓ Flexible Licensing Options: Often comes with flexible licensing terms, allowing to tailor the rights to your specific needs.

✓ No Creative Guesswork: You can audition multiple tracks and choose the one that perfectly fits your ad’s vibe without needing to rely on the uncertain outcome of a custom composition.

Who Did It Right?

• Squarespace’s “All You Need to Launch” campaign shows how well-curated stock music can deliver a sophisticated, professional touch when used strategically in advertising. It features various types of businesses and uses stock music to match the tone and personality of each. For the culinary empire ad, the music has a more energetic, dynamic feel that evokes a bustling kitchen. For the meditation school ad, it is more serene and atmospheric, with calming, slow-paced sounds like soft strings or chimes, evoking peace and mindfulness.

A Sonic DNA—also known as a brand anthem or sonic blueprint—is a longer piece of branded music that serves as the truest reflection of a brand. It should capture your brand’s positioning and values while being aesthetically unique and complementary to your visual identity. This distinctive asset should be deployed with consistent intent across all touchpoints.

Sonic DNA can also be viewed as a collection of musical assets, including chord progressions, melodies, a sonic palette, and textural or vocal elements, each contributing to the brand’s unique sound signature. With sufficient exposure, these musical elements can trigger brand recognition in listeners.

The Sonic DNA can also be adapted into various musical styles to suit different contexts while maintaining its core identity. It should contain the essential musical elements (or assets) that allow a composer or producer to creatively adapt it while retaining the recognizable, distinctive qualities that tie it back to the brand.

Here are several reasons why a brand anthem can benefit your brand strategy:

✓ Adaptable Sonic Identity: A memorable brand anthem can be easily adapted to various contexts (such as online, in-app, stores, and events) and touchpoints (from sonic logos to UX and product sounds), ensuring it stays relevant across platforms while preserving the brand’s core identity.

✓ Brand Familiarity: By using a consistent Sonic DNA, consumers develop a stronger, immediate recognition of the brand, reinforcing its presence in their minds.

✓ Consistency Across Touchpoints: A brand anthem provides a unified sound that can be applied across multiple touchpoints, creating a seamless brand experience.

✓ Stylistic Versatility: A brand anthem can be reinterpreted across a range of musical styles, offering creative flexibility while still preserving the brand’s identity across different contexts and audiences.

Who Did It Right?

• In 2018, HSBC launched a refreshed visual identity, featuring an updated logo and bold use of their signature red hexagon for a more modern and unified brand look. As part of this transformation, HSBC developed its first sonic identity in 2019, with electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre composing an anthem based on the tagline "Together we thrive." Jarre created seven variations of the core melody, tailored for different settings—online, in app, at bank branches, events, ad campaigns, in flight, and at airports. One version is also used as on-hold music.

• In 2019, Mastercard introduced its new sonic identity, spanning all products, communications, and experiences. Anchored by a memorable anthem composed by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, the melody is adaptable across genres and cultures, ensuring both global consistency and local relevance. Reimagined in styles like operatic, cinematic, and playful, the anthem extends to custom music tracks, sonic logos, ringtones, and UI/UX sounds. Mastercard’s partnership with Puerto Rican duo Domino Saints for the 2022 Women’s Copa America anthem, a reggaeton-driven track infused with Mastercard’s Sonic DNA®, further strengthened its sonic identity.

From music curation and sound system selection to acoustic design and architecture, sound shapes the physical spaces we experience daily, influencing our mood, perception, and even how long we stay or how much we spend.

Music curators play a key role in crafting memorable soundscapes and creating immersive sonic experiences. They design soundtracks that not only engage clients but also differentiate brands and elevate environments. Their focus is on curating bespoke sounds and playlists for brands, events, venues, and installations—whether it's for stores, hotels, restaurants, events, or runway shows.

Music curation in retail stores matters because it can:

✓ Enhance the Brand Identity: Music communicates what the brand’s image and values, making it more distinct and memorable, and helping it stand out in a crowded market.

✓ Set the Mood and Ambience: Music shapes customers’ emotional states, influencing shopping behavior. For example, fast fashion and sports brands might use uplifting tracks to create a relaxed environment, while many luxury brands opt for slower, minimalist music to evoke sophistication. Edgier stores like Rick Owens or Balenciaga use cutting-edge soundtracks for a dynamic, modern atmosphere.

✓ Boost Customer Engagement and Retention: The right in-store music encourages customers to spend more time in the store, engage more deeply with the brand, and potentially make more purchases, leading to greater loyalty and satisfaction.

✓ Help the Brand to Stay Culturally Relevant: Brands often curate playlists featuring emerging artists or avant-garde genres to appeal to trend-conscious shoppers, positioning themselves as cultural trendsetters and lifestyle brands.

✓ Create a Memorable Experience: By aligning music with store design and products, brands turn shopping into an immersive, theatrical experience, fostering a personal connection with customers.

Who Did It Right?

• Music is a key part of Balenciaga’s brand experience, with their platform offering custom playlists, exclusive content, limited-edition merchandise, and interactive campaigns. Curated by creative director Demna Gvasalia, the platform features mixes from global artists through collaborations, original compositions, and product tie-ins. It also catalogs soundtracks from runway shows, each with an original score. Fitting rooms feature tracks curated by Demna during the design process, and their latest clothing line includes NFC chips for exclusive music experiences. By scanning a garment’s chip, customers unlock new songs and playlists accessible only via encrypted links, pushing the boundaries of connected clothing.

• Music curation is central to Glossier’s in-store experience, with playlists that reflect the brand’s fresh, modern, and playful identity. Spanning indie, R&B, and pop, the music creates a feel-good atmosphere that resonates with Glossier’s millennial and Gen Z audience. This curated sound complements the minimalist store design and soft, pastel color palette, reinforcing the brand’s ethos of inclusivity and empowerment. The carefully chosen playlists encourage customers to linger, explore, and connect emotionally with the brand, blending sound, design, and color to create a cohesive, multi-sensory experience.

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Music curation is so effective in hotels and restaurants because it can:

✓ Enhance the Atmosphere: Music is curated to adjust the ambience throughout the day. For example, it might offer more upbeat tracks in the morning and softer tunes by evening, creating an atmosphere that aligns with the space’s evolving mood.

✓ Connect with Local Culture: Music selections reflect the local environment, fostering authenticity and deepening the brand's connection to the area, enhancing the guest experience by aligning with cultural nuances.

✓ Create an Immersive Experience: Tailored playlists or live music help make the experience more memorable, turning music into an essential part of the sensory journey for guests.

Who Did It Right?

• SoHo House, a global private members’ club, is known for its expertly curated music, tailored to each location’s unique style and cultural context. Each club blends local flavor with the brand’s signature design, featuring music that reflects its city’s identity—like Bollywood classics at SoHo House Mumbai or British indie and electronica at SoHo House London. The club’s music programming includes local artists and genres, ensuring each venue feels in sync with its environment. Members also enjoy exclusive playlists via Soho House Radio, with custom sets by artists and DJs. The playlists shift from soul and jazz by day to more energetic tracks at night, creating a dynamic atmosphere that enhances the club’s intimate, refined experience.

• Ace Hotel is known for its strong connection to music culture, with each location reflecting the creative energy of its city. Focusing on indie artists, DJ sets, and live performances, Ace embraces creativity and counter-culture. By collaborating with indie labels, local DJs, and artists, the hotel creates custom playlists that capture the distinct vibe of each location—like experimental tracks in New York or laid-back, sun-soaked tunes in Palm Springs. Music is integral to the guest experience, with many locations hosting live performances, DJ nights, and concerts, such as at the Ace Hotel Theater in Los Angeles. Some locations, like Ace Hotel New York, even offer vinyl players and curated record collections in guest rooms, allowing guests to personalize their music experience and connect with the hotel’s creative atmosphere.

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From branded events and private parties to large-scale concerts and brand activations, full 360 experience can ensure you make the right impression. It can:

✓ Strengthen Brand Presence: Thoughtfully curated music reinforces the brand’s personality and values, ensuring that the soundscape aligns with the event’s theme and helps create a cohesive brand experience.

✓ Shape the Event's Energy: Music sets the tone and pacing of the event, guiding the mood and energy, and keeping the audience engaged throughout.

✓ Craft a Lasting Impression: The right music transforms an event into a memorable sensory experience. It turns a simple gathering into a meaningful, immersive activation that resonates with attendees long after it’s over.

Who Did It Right?

• Gucci’s “Gucci Garden” in Florence offers a multi-sensory experience, blending fashion, art, and music into a cohesive event. Composer Alessandro Cortini created a custom soundtrack that reflects Gucci’s eclectic nature, mixing electronic soundscapes with orchestral elements to set the tone across different spaces. Visitors encounter everything from ambient electronic tones in contemporary art areas to classical Italian compositions in heritage rooms, nodding to Gucci’s roots. Select spaces feature live performances from indie and experimental artists, adding energy and contrast. By integrating these musical elements, Gucci Garden becomes an immersive journey where music plays a central role in the brand’s storytelling.

Music artist partnerships with brands have become a powerful tool for both musicians and companies, allowing them to tap into each other’s audiences while creating memorable marketing moments. These partnerships often blend the artist’s music, persona, and fanbase with a brand’s identity and goals, producing unique campaigns.

When done right, they go beyond just using songs in ads. They involve a shared vision where the artist’s music, image, and influence are seamlessly integrated into the brand’s identity, enhancing both the commercial’s impact and the artist’s visibility.

Here are several potential reasons for brand collaboration with music artists:

✓ Capitalizing on an Emerging Artist or a New Trend

✓ Finding an Aesthetic or Thematic Match

✓ Partnering for a Song or Album Launch

Who Did It Right?

• Essentia Water x Tate McRae collaborated on the “Stop for Nothing” campaign. Essentia capitalized on McRae’s rising prominence in the music world, positioning her as a symbol of perseverance and ambition, making her the perfect face for a brand focused on resilience and high performance. Partnering with emerging music artists allows brands to tap into a fresh, growing fanbase while aligning themselves with the energy and excitement of an artist's rise, creating authentic connections with younger, trend-driven audiences.

• YSL x Lenny Kravitz collaborated on the fragrance campaign Y Eau de Parfum. Kravitz’s bold, rock-star image perfectly complemented the luxurious and edgy branding of YSL, making him the face of the campaign. His presence in the commercial, combined with his well-known track "Are You Gonna Go My Way," reinforced the powerful, rebellious, and sensual image that the fragrance embodies.

• Mercedes x The Weeknd partnered for the launch of Mercedes EQC electric SUV. The Weeknd was not only featured in the commercial but also served as the creative director for the campaign. The collaboration tied into The Weeknd’s futuristic, cool aesthetic, reflecting Mercedes’ push toward innovation and electrification in their vehicle lineup. His hit song “Blinding Lights” was used as the soundtrack for the commercial, creating a dynamic, modern connection between his music and the sleek design of the EQC.

• Jaguar x Lana del Rey partnered for the launch of the Jaguar F-Type model. Her dreamy, nostalgic music and glamorous style were a perfect match for Jaguar’s sleek and sophisticated branding. The partnership featured her song “Burning Desire” in commercials, aligning her cinematic aesthetic with the luxury car brand, and blurring the lines between a music video and a longform commercial.

• Starbucks x Taylor Swift collaborated during the release of her re-recorded album Red (Taylor’s Version). Starbucks celebrated by integrating her favorite drink, a grande caramel nonfat latte, into their offerings and by featuring Swift's music in Starbucks store as part of a promotion, aligning with the cozy, fall-themed aesthetic that Swift is known for during that album cycle.

Branded cultural partnerships allow a brand to immerse itself deeply within authentic cultural movements and build long-term credibility and relevance in a specific community. By supporting creative platforms, festivals, or educational initiatives, brands position themselves as enablers of culture rather than just advertisers.

These partnerships allow brands to tap into the energy and creativity of a specific cultural scene—whether it’s music, art, or sports—while fostering genuine connections with key influencers and communities. They also create opportunities for exclusive content, events, and experiences that are both culturally significant and brand-aligned, building emotional engagement and loyalty with a targeted audience.

This type of partnership elevates the brand’s image from simply a product provider to a cultural leader, contributing value to the community in meaningful ways.

Who Did It Right?

• For over two decades, Red Bull has invested heavily in sound through branded experiences that align with electronic music culture, appealing directly to their target audience. Red Bull stands out among non-audio-centric brands for its cultural influence, forming impressive partnerships beyond the energy drink market. Through global music events, workshops, and festivals like the Red Bull Music Academy, the brand creates spaces for young artists to learn, collaborate, and showcase their talents. Red Bull’s long-term investments in music, sports, and fashion build loyalty and awareness, reinforced by editorial content and online radio shows that cater to a young, music-savvy audience.

• Spotify fosters deep engagement, making it an ideal platform for creators and brands to connect with target audiences through music. It offers powerful tools for both music promotion and brand building, with features like Spotify Sessions for live recordings, and curated playlists like “RapCaviar” and “Today’s Top Hits” that boost artist visibility. Spotify also supports collaborations between artists, co-creating playlists or remixing tracks to expand shared audiences. Through partnerships with Shopify, artists can sell merchandise directly via their profiles, enhancing fan engagement. Brands like Nike and Starbucks have successfully used Spotify to create branded playlists and sponsored content, aligning their identity with curated music experiences.

• COLORSXSTUDIOS is a unique platform that showcases exceptional global music talent with a distinct minimalist aesthetic. Using a simple, monochromatic backdrop, COLORS focuses entirely on the artist’s sound and personality, delivering raw, unfiltered performances that position the platform as a tastemaker. By featuring emerging artists across diverse genres and cultures, COLORS helps highlight talent that often escapes mainstream attention, creating a signature style for discovering fresh music and generating strong global engagement.

AI-generated music offers brands a cutting-edge, customizable solution that can serve them in several powerful ways.

First, it allows for the creation of endless, original music tailored to specific campaign needs, without the licensing complexities and costs associated with traditional music. This approach is perfect for brands looking for scalable, unique soundtracks that can adapt across different platforms, from social media to in-store experiences.

Additionally, it can be crafted to match brand identity with pinpoint precision, adjusting tempo, mood, or style based on real-time data or audience interactions, giving brands dynamic, adaptive soundscapes that enhance engagement. For campaigns that require constant content refreshes, AI-generated music ensures your brand stays fresh while maintaining a consistent sonic identity. It’s a forward-thinking, often cost-effective solution that aligns with innovative, tech-savvy brands, offering creative flexibility and efficiency that traditional music production can’t always deliver.

Some brands have also successfully partnered with music artists on AI-generated music.

Who Did It Right?

• In 2023, Mercedes-Benz partnered with Endel to create “The Sound of Electric Calm,” an AI-generated soundscape designed for its electric vehicle (EV) models. This adaptive soundscape responds to the driving environment, enhancing relaxation and focus by providing a personalized auditory experience. The collaboration aligns with Mercedes’ luxury and innovation ethos, blending the quietness of EVs with calming, AI-driven soundscapes. This partnership highlights the potential of AI to elevate the driving experience, making it more meditative and immersive, while setting a new standard for integrating technology into everyday life.

• For BMW’s “The Ultimate AI Masterpiece” campaign, experimental musician Holly Herndon collaborated with the brand to create an AI-driven soundtrack. The AI, trained on both classical and contemporary music, generated a composition that evolved as viewers interacted with the campaign. Herndon shaped the generative piece, blending classical influences with modern elements to create a dynamic, ever-changing soundscape that embodied BMW’s forward-thinking ethos. Herndon’s expertise in AI made her the perfect partner, elevating BMW’s image as a technologically advanced and innovative brand through cutting-edge sound design.

• In 2021, Grimes collaborated with Endel to create “AI Lullaby,” an AI-generated soundscape designed to help listeners, especially children, fall asleep more easily. Grimes contributed her voice and musical elements, which Endel’s AI used to generate adaptive, soothing soundscapes that evolved to meet the listener’s needs for sleep and relaxation. Grimes’ futuristic, tech-driven style made her the perfect fit for this AI project, blending her creativity with Endel’s generative technology. The collaboration pushed boundaries in both music and tech, demonstrating how AI and human artistry can merge to create personalized, functional music experiences.

• In 2019, Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin) collaborated with Google on the AI-driven music experiment “NSynth Super.” Developed by Google’s Magenta team, the AI synthesizer used machine learning to generate new sounds from a database of musical instruments. Lopatin composed music with this technology, blending AI-generated sonic textures with human creativity. The project pushed the boundaries of electronic music, showcasing the potential of generative AI in composition. Lopatin’s experimental style was a perfect fit, and the collaboration highlighted how AI can drive innovation in music while reinforcing Google’s leadership in cutting-edge technology.

• In 2021, R&B artist Miguel collaborated with Endel to create “Clarity Trip,” an AI-generated soundscape designed to promote focus and relaxation. Miguel provided unique sound elements and vocals, which Endel’s AI processed to create a continuously evolving sound environment. The project combined Miguel’s distinctive style with AI-driven adaptability, offering listeners a calming, responsive experience. Miguel’s smooth, atmospheric sound made him the perfect fit for this collaboration. Endel’s AI transformed his music into personalized soundscapes for mental clarity, blending artistry with technology. The partnership showcased how AI can enhance wellness through adaptive sound, pushing the boundaries of music’s role in promoting relaxation and focus.