The Sonic Boom: How Sound Transforms the Way We Think, Feel, and Buy - Hardcover

Beckerman, Joel; Gray, Tyler

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544191749 ISBN 13: 9780544191747

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014

Synopsis

A surprising look at the hidden power of sound, revealing how people and brands can use it to inspire and persuade — or annoy

From horror movie scores to national anthems to the crunchy sound of potato chips, sound and music greatly impact how we feel about our lives and the messages and products we encounter every day. With the right tools and understanding, anyone can cut through the meaningless noise competing for our attention and learn to use sound as a rich storytelling strategy.

You don’t need to be a musician or a composer to harness the power of sound. Joel Beckerman explains how companies, brands, and individuals can strategically use sound to get to the core of their mission, influence how they’re perceived by their audiences, and gain a competitive advantage. The key to these sonic strategies involves creating “boom moments” — transcendent instants when sound connects with a listener’s emotional core.

The Sonic Boom draws surprising insights from real world examples: the way Disney parks score every second of their guests’ experience; how Chili’s restaurants uses lessons from evolutionary psychology to sell tons of sizzling fajitas, how the sound of a special edition Mustang’s engine is designed to make drivers feel like action-movie heroes. Sure to appeal to fans of Made to Stick and This Is Your Brain on Music, The Sonic Boom offers readers a powerful new vocabulary for sharing impactful messages with sound.

About this title

About the Authors

Hailed as “equal parts Philip Glass and Don Draper” by Details Magazine, JOEL BECKERMAN is an award-winning composer and producer for television. He is the founder of Man Made Music, a company specializing in sonic branding. Fast Company named him one of their “Most Creative People in Business” and Man Made Music one of their “Most Innovative Companies” in music. He created original scores for more than fifty television programs, won ASCAP’s “Most Performed” theme award for the past eight years, and has developed signature sonic branding programs for global giants such as Disney, AT&T, and Southwest Airlines. Beckerman has worked with John Legend, will.i.am, Moby, OK Go, Morgan Freeman, and the composer John Williams. He lives in New Providence, New Jersey.

TYLER GRAY is editorial director for Edelman in the New York City office. He was previously editorial director for Fast Company and is the author of The Hit Charade.

From the Back Cover

I've spent my life curating, creating, and collecting sounds. But Beckerman and Gray have shown here that there are still plenty of sounds that we ve all missed. The Sonic Boom reveals the music and structured cacophony of everyday life.
Moby

The only force more powerful than taste or smell when trying to create an emotional response? Music. The right sound at the right time can slam you right back to childhood, create dread, inspire empathy, turn you on a dime to an emotional jellyfish. The right song at the right time can change and has changed the world, leading directly to social change and even revolutions. Music defines us. Joel Beckerman knows. Let him tell you all about it.
Anthony Bourdain, chef, best-selling author of Medium Raw, No Reservations, and Kitchen Confidential

Pick this book up. Put it close to your ear. Riff through the pages. Hear that? Those are ideas Beckerman s ideas flying by a mile a minute. Reading The Sonic Boom is like seeing colors for the first time!
Fred Graver, writer/producer, TV creative lead at Twitter

Beckerman and Gray show how the right sound at the right moment forges bonds between brands and people and how bad sound breaks them. The Sonic Boom illuminates the surprising opportunities that are revealed when we utilize sound thoughtfully and strategically, not just tactically.
Andrea Sullivan, chief marketing officer, North America, Interbrand

Beckerman offers an intriguing examination of the manipulative and inspirational power of sound in our everyday lives. It made me listen to my ears!
George S. Clinton, film composer and chair of Film Scoring at the Berklee College of Music

We are all susceptible to the power and manipulation of sound, and Beckerman has beautifully described this mysterious process. This book makes my choices and use of sound as a producer not only more informed, but hopefully more effective.
Gordon Elliott, executive producer of ABC s The Chew

From the Inside Flap

This remarkable book describes and clarifies the exciting and complex world of sound.
Ellis Douek, emeritus consultant ENT surgeon, Guy s and St Thomas Hospital, London; author of Overcoming Deafness

From movie scores and national anthems to cell-phone dings and squeaky shoes, sound and music impact how we perceive the stories, situations, and products we encounter every day. The Sonic Boom reveals sound s surprising power to influence our decisions, opinions, and actions in ways we might not even notice: the evergreen Pavlovian effect of ice-cream truck jingles, the anxiety-inducing impact of discordant ambient noise, the reassuring chime of a computer s startup tone. This book provides a whole new framework for thinking about sound s effects on every aspect of our lives.

You don t need to be a musician or a composer to harness the power of sound. Joel Beckerman explains how companies, brands, and individuals can strategically use sound to get to the core of their mission, influence how they re perceived by their audiences, and gain a competitive edge. Whether you re a corporate giant connecting with millions of customers or a teacher connecting with one classroom of students, the key to an effective sonic strategy is the creation of boom moments transcendent instants when sound connects with a listener s emotional core.

Drawing on Beckerman s experience as a strategic sound consultant (his award-winning team at Man Made Music has created sounds, scores, and sonic branding strategies for companies like Univision, AT&T, Mercedes, and NBC) and the successful sonic strategies of companies and entertainment empires like Chili s, Mustang, and Disney, The Sonic Boom offers readers insight into a revolutionary area of marketing, providing a powerful new vocabulary for sharing meaningful messages with sound.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0544191749
• ISBN 13: 9780544191747
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208