Menu

News & Press

Featured Video Play Icon

SAM’s New Studio Mural by Andrea Holmes

To commemorate our new studios, SAM commissioned local McKinney artist and fellow Cotton Mill tenant, Andrea Holmes, to paint an original mural depicting inspiration from our 30+ years of experience creating world-leading sonic brands. Andrea is the preeminent mural artist in North Texas having painted countless pieces across the region. From concept to creation, it was exciting to watch the artwork come to life across the month-long process. Every aspect […]

Read More »
Featured Video Play Icon

AINSOF’s Realm-Defining Music Catalog Joins The Vault

Step into a new realm of emotional storytelling with AINSOF, the groundbreaking music catalog from Stephen Arnold Music and The Vault. Featuring more than 30 albums and 1,500 tracks, AINSOF delivers a vast spectrum of cinematic sound perfectly crafted for trailers, television, promos, advertising, digital content, gaming, and beyond. This collection has been meticulously built for today’s creators – and is now available in the US for the very first […]

Read More »
SAM World Leader Winter 2026 featured projects

What’s new from The World Leader in Sonic Branding – Winter 2026

Our team at SAM has been busy with a wide range of exciting projects — creating custom music and sound for advertising, sports, news, experiences, and lots more, as well as syncing fresh tracks from The Vault, our premium production music library. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up to lately. TGL Golf Season 2 – Sonic Identity Founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports in partnership […]

Read More »
digital glitch girl wearing headphones, happy sad smiley face wallpaper in the background

Good Commercial Music Targets Emotions – AI Music Is Bad at That

In her article ChatGPT Needs More Cowbell (Source: The Atlantic) – Nancy Walecki describes the history of jingles and the influence that human creativity has on emotional response. The piece centers on the idea that great commercial music – the kind that gets stuck in our heads – is built on crafting catchy, pop-like mnemonics, but also a willingness to take musical risks, which humans are more prone to do […]

Read More »
Featured Video Play Icon

Watch Battle of the Promo Superstars 2025 – Virtual Edition

Get ready for the ultimate showdown as TV station marketing superstars apply their promo magic to the same news story! Thanks to all who attended our 9th Annual (and second virtual) Battle of the Promo Superstars event. For folks who couldn’t make it to our session (or if you simply want to watch it again), here’s the BATTLE. And a special THANK YOU to our 2025 participants. We couldn’t have […]

Read More »
SAM World Leader Summer 2025 featured projects

What’s new from The World Leader in Sonic Branding – Summer 2025

Our team at SAM has been busy with a wide range of exciting projects this year, creating custom music and sound for sports, news, and immersive experiences, plus offering fresh tracks from The Vault, our production music library. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up to lately. MLB All-Star Game – Image Engineering Image Engineering was asked to create an immersive, projection-mapped, pyrotechnic-filled tribute to Hank Aaron for the […]

Read More »
Featured Video Play Icon

SAM Adds Emotional Depth to MLB’s All-Star Game Tribute to Hank Aaron

At the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, Major League Baseball commemorated the 51st anniversary of Hank Aaron’s historic, record-breaking 715th home run with an unforgettable tribute created through a ground-breaking blend of projection mapping, pyrotechnics and immersive music and sound. Immersive entertainment pioneer Image Engineering produced, while sonic branding leader Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) created the soundtrack for the emotionally charged spectacle broadcast live on Fox Sports and experienced in […]

Read More »
red headed stranger concert

Red Headed Stranger Turns 50 and SAM Had a Front Row Seat

Many folks might not be familiar with Garland, Texas, but they have most certainly heard it, whether they realize it or not. This artsy town northeast of Dallas is home to Audio Dallas (formerly Autumn Sound Studios) where Willie Nelson recorded one of his most celebrated albums, Red Headed Stranger, in January of 1975. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this seminal work and the City of Garland decided […]

Read More »
Featured Video Play Icon

SAM New Studios | Highlights

Welcome to the new home of Stephen Arnold Music (SAM)! Our brand new studios have been custom built from the ground up and feature 5,500 sq. ft. of creative space in the newly renovated Cotton Mill building in McKinney, Texas. The new space is outfitted with a custom designed live room capable of recording everything from solo musicians to live orchestras. We’ve also constructed a state-of-the-art control room and tuned […]

Read More »