21
1998
New York, NY
Founded by composer Joel Beckerman, Made Music Studio has been the world’s leading sonic branding agency for over 25 years. Born from entertainment, we create iconic music and sound that impacts audiences, builds emotional connections and ignites fandom for your brand. We are dedicated to solving human and business challenges through sound, and evolving the ways that brands can move the culture with emerging technologies and media platforms. Our services include sonic branding, composition for film, tv and streaming and experience and industrial design, which uses innovative audio solutions to connect audiences with physical spaces, ranging from flagship stores to themed attractions. A trusted partner for AT&T, PepsiCo, Lexus, General Mills, HBO, Disney, AB InBev, iRobot, and American Express; Made Music brings a legacy of collaboration with everyone from John Williams to John Legend, from Wieden+Kennedy to Gensler.
14
Misfit
Being independent has allowed us to tackle each brand project as its own challenge, not having to conform to larger industry or even company norms. We bring in the right team for each client, from the project managers to producers and all the musicians needed to get the right sound for each brand. We begin each client project with a sonic soul session, becoming almost like method actors to really understand the behaviors and the personalities of each brand, which can then come through in the sonic expression. That’s why every sonic identity or theme we create is unique, bespoke and becomes iconic and identifiable for that specific brand. When you hear a sound and immediately connect it to a brand, then we have done our job well.
We’ve had the opportunity collaborate with some of the world’s biggest brands such a American Express, Lexus and PepsiCo, and have partnered with leading agencies and design firms, from Gensler to Meow Wolf, Wieden+Kennedy to adam&eveDDB. We pride ourselves on approaching sonic branding with the same rigor as these global leaders.
We work with our clients to create bespoke music and sound that’s:
Scalable as brand ecosystems expand into new platforms like digital, social and immersive experiences
Culturally informed as trends and consumer behavior shifts
Effective and gets results that brands need in a modern marketing landscape
While some sonic agencies explore alternate solutions such as AI-generated music, we pride ourselves on centering the human touch in our work. We look to technology as not a replacement, but an extension of our skills as a creative company.
Since 2020, Made Music Studio has worked to define simple standards based on the idea that what’s good for people, is good for business, which is good for people. We are proud to have cultivated a company culture that helps us provide the highest level of creative for our clients.
Currently this policy includes:
A hybrid work model for our NYC-based team that centers trust and belonging
Democratized PTO designed to set a new industry standard
A 4-day workweek pilot program geared toward maximizing creativity and productivity
When it comes to creative talent and partners, we are committed to being progressive company that pushes against the status quo of our industry, which favors access and privilege. We put this in action through:
Behavior: Every person working with MMS is welcome to show up as they are without expectation of assimilation.
Talent:
At least 40% of all music creators and collaborators on our projects are from historically marginalized communities including Black, Latino/Latina/Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, female & members of the LGBTQIA+ community
At least 15% of our writers will be women or non-binary
Our hiring framework seeks untraditional talent by defining each hire not by education level or corporate experience, but by life experience, track record, and skill
We do not ask for work on spec, a systemic approach to sourcing creative that benefits privilege
We are committed to crediting all collaborators responsible for our creative output on every project
We are proud of all areas of our business. Below are three recent examples of work that showcase our breadth and scope, rooted in independence.
Continuum™ Platform: Through VentureSonic, a music technology group backed by Made Music Studio, we have been able to build innovative music solutions that transform how the world experiences sound. Our mission is to bring together the superpowers of sound and technology to amplify and productivity for brands, agencies, editors, and creators everywhere.
This venture has led us to creating Continuum, an enterprise music platform that simplifies music curation, licensing, and use for brands looking to get the most out of their audio assets including sonic logos and identities. The platform was built on over 25 years worth of data and insights from our clients, and solves for some of the biggest marketing challenges brands face when it comes to music and sound. This includes scalability for all sound-on consumer touchpoints both digital and physical, on-brand music curation & discovery, and access to music sources that are brand safe and legal to use.
Corona Global Sonic Branding: While many audiences consider sonic identities to be jingles or a single sonic logo, we approach our work from a holistic point of view. We don’t create music that scores a single campaign — we create systems of music and sound for our clients.
This was especially valuable when it came to our work with Corona Global, for whom we would need to create a track that could be the sonic symbol of the Corona brand internationally, creating an emotional memory trigger that could resonate with numerous markets.
We were able to tap into our network of global talent and bring in musicians who could bring a sense of authenticity and old-fashioned studio serendipity to the recording. The resulting brand theme instantly expresses the feeling of relaxation for every listener, no matter the market. Data from Ipsos’ audio research platform demonstrated uplift across the board: a 22% boost in brand linkage, a 65% boost in association with active relaxation, and a 37% increase in performance overall. The evocative sonic identity has scored Corona campaigns all over the globe, including in Canada, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, Peru, South Africa and the UK. The work has also earned several international industry awards, including 2 Gold Transform Awards and recognition at the Clio Awards.
So Delicious Sonic Branding: Made Music Studio has become the de facto experts in sonic branding for Gen Z, with successful work for General Mills’ Fruit Snacks brands, Totino’s Pizza Rolls and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. But we couldn’t become the experts in Gen Z marketing without talent who brings unconventional creative concepts to the table, informed by trends, culture and many years of non-agency musical experience.
This factored into our collaboration with Danone’ So Delicious brand. We needed to create a sonic identity system that could elevate their multisensory brand experience and capture the attention of their target audience: Zillennials and Gen Z. So we delivered a complete sonic toolkit of music designed for social, and leaning into the musical genres that resonates with young, modern audiences. The result is 5 bold, flavor-inspired tracks featuring bass, synth and unexpected musical moments that capture and keep Gen Z’s attention.
The company was founded in 1998 as Man Made Music by composer Joel Beckerman. We were “Born from Entertainment,” with our work beginning in scoring for film and television.
As non-entertainment brands began to understand the importance of sound and identity, we recognized the need to help brands better tell their stories through the lens of entertainment: turning audiences into fans by ‘scoring’ the world of a brand with music and sound. This is where our pioneering work in the world of Sonic Branding began.
AT&T was one of the first non-entertainment brands we worked with to bring in sound and identity, and were able to use sound across multiple touchpoints like how music and sound could welcome you to a retail experience, the sounds you hear in Cowboy Stadium, advertisements, call centers, employees, customers service and many more.
In 2021, the company was rebranded to Made Music Studio, inspired by the collaborators of many different backgrounds who create music for all audiences. With the support of an accountability partner, Decolonize Design, we recentered our values with the goal of serving all clients with iconic, enduring and effective creative work.
