In our inaugural Earwitness, I suggested that each column would have an interactive aspect in that each would come with its own soundtrack which you, the reader, would have playing in your head while reading. So cool. In that column the soundtrack was Pharrell’s “Happy” and many of you commented afterward that your legs were moving and heads bobbing while reading. So happy for you!
For this column we’re going back in time a little bit, to 1975, and play the O’Jays disco hit “I Love Music” in your head. For some of you this may bring back painful memories of childbirth (your own). For others, regrettable drug experiences in black-lit clubs. For most of us, memories of an irrepressibly infectious song celebrating the joy of music. Okay, turn it up.
In a recent column for The New York Times, Stuart Elliot somewhat sarcastically noted the proliferation of awards ceremonies within the ad industry and the self-congratulation self-evident in all of ‘em, from the ACE Awards to the Andys, the Effies to Cannes Lions, the Obies and Reggies to the Clios—which just this year added music to their basket of category offerings. Fair enough. Almost.
By the time you’re reading this, the 2nd annual AMP Awards for Music and Sound will have taken place at City Winery in NYC before a packed house of advertising, marketing, music production, record label and publishing professionals. An awards celebration that is undoubtedly still flying under Mr. Elliot’s radar. I invite him to push away from his desk, stand up and dance with me. I love, I love, I love, I love, I love muuusssic. Sing it, Stuart!
Sorry. The AMP Awards is the first industry forum for the recognition of excellence in music and sound for advertising, branding and media in the U.S. Why is that important? The mission statement of the Association of Music Producers ends with an oxymoron: “It’s amazing what you can see with your ears.” Meaning, of course, the remarkable power of music and sound to shape the way you feel about what you are seeing, and tell you how to react to it. Music provides an emotional trigger that augments the scripted message being presented visually. Here’s an easy example from one of AMP’s 2014 Hall of Fame honorees, Budweiser: The Super Bowl “Puppy Love” commercial featuring the song “Let Her Go” by Passenger. 50 million YouTube views. That’s a powerful combination of sound and visual—bring a hanky! And now, any time you hear that song, you’re going to see the “Puppy Love” spot in your head. (But right now, you’re hearing “I Love Music” and probably seeing bell bottoms and Afros!)
In the AMP Awards category Best Use of Music for Web or Interactive Branding the extraordinary winner was an animated clip called “The Scarecrow” for Chipotle. The music is a deftly scored adaptation of the song “Pure Imagination” sung by Fiona Apple. Again, when the picture comes to an end, the subtly seductive song lingers in the viewer’s imagination, rewinding and replaying the visual images again and again. That is a unique power that music possesses over memory, thought and emotion. If you are responsible for your brand’s media dollars you should be very interested in a message that replays in your customer’s head—where it’s always prime time. (And if I knew fully how and why it happens, I’d give it away for free, plus $5.98 s&h.)
As you know, we have five senses…unless you are a person with a special connection to the spirit world. If so, please send me your contact info. Thanks. Of these senses, only sight and hearing are applicable to our discussion here. And as I’ve pointed out in the past, you only see what you’re looking at. But you hear everything, from every direction, every part of the room or space you’re in. Your ears are the eyes in the back of your head. What they hear, if the sound waves are aligned properly, is the key to what you’ll remember.
And that’s what’s important about the AMP Awards, Stuart. They turn up the volume—sharpen the focus, if you’ll allow the visual metaphor—on a crucial aspect of all broadcast branding. (Now if we say a certain spot stinks we’re not literally making reference to our sense of smell, that’s clear, right?)
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Lyle Greenfield is the founder of Bang Music and past president of the Association of Music Producers (AMP)
To read the debut Earwitness column, click here. For the third installment, see Related Posts below.
