News & Press

Sounds of the Big Game 2025

Sounds of the BIG GAME

The NFL championship game is officially in the books, and with it, another year’s worth of unbelievable advertisements from some of the world’s biggest brands. While we love sports here at Stephen Arnold Music, as a sonic branding agency, we naturally pay close attention to the sounds of every spot, knowing that no matter how funny or weird or dramatic your commercial, one of the most eloquent and memorable expressions […]

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SAM World Leader Winter 2025 projects

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

Our team at SAM has been busy with a wide range of exciting projects – custom music and sound for sports, news, experiential, augmented reality – as well as fresh music from our library, The Vault. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up to lately. TGL Golf – ESPN Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) created original music and sonic branding for TGL Golf presented by SoFi, the first-of-its-kind golf league […]

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illustration of a girl wearing headphones

What is Sonic Branding?

How a peacock gave birth to the first sonic brand. A true story. Way more mellifluous than a squawk. More memorable than any chirp, hoot, cluck or quack could ever be. Over ninety years ago, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) — the network that years later would be canonized as the proud peacock — aired three distinctive chimes on radio for the very first time. Chimes that global marketing experts […]

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Image of female pop-star AI robot

Human vs. Machine, Round 2: Can AI Write Better Songs Than Taylor Swift?

Earlier this year we put generative AI to the test to see if it could out-create a human composer when given specific musical briefs. The results (featured in Forbes) showed that while our human composer proved superior, AI’s creations rated highly for musical appeal. Its primary weakness, however, was emotional accuracy — inconsistently conveying specific emotional attributes in its creations. With rapid advancements in generative AI music platforms, we decided […]

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Stephen Arnold Music + WETA sonic branding

SAM & WETA PBS Hit All the Right Notes

At SAM, we’ve been creating music for PBS stations since we got our start over 30 years ago, and we’re especially proud of the collaboration we have with WETA PBS. Last year, SAM’s audio identity for WETA was rated one of the fastest growing sonic brands in the country according to The SoundOut Index 2023 report — a leading authority in sonic brand testing. Their research shows that listeners, including […]

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thumbnail image for travel & tourism

The Sweet Sound of Travel

Every destination has a distinct vibe, from the people and culture, to the food and entertainment, to the imagery, colors, and yes, even sounds. Stephen Arnold Music — friends call us ‘SAM’ — has been creating custom and production music for over 30 years. As the world leader in sonic branding, we’ve worked with destinations and tourism clients around the globe to ensure their advertising, social content, logos and more […]

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SAM Featured Projects video thumbnails

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

Our team at SAM has been busy this year with exciting projects for the Paris summer games, trending social media spots, experiential sound, news, trailer music and more. Hey, we’re even giving you a sneak peak at SAM’s new studio headquarters! Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up to lately: Aiming for Gold Paris – CNN Worldwide For the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, CNN approached Stephen Arnold Music […]

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Timing Is Everything

With Audio Branding, Timing is Everything

We’ve all felt that awkwardness when a friend tells a joke and rushes the punchline, or places it in the wrong order. You do your best to feign a laugh, but the joke falls flat — the moment is gone. Music, like comedy, is all about timing. When it comes to audio branding, the right music at the right moment means the difference between making a deep connection and just […]

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Featured image: Football player

Get Your Game On

It’s game time…are you ready? You bring the inspiration, and we’ll bring the punch and adrenaline to your sports coverage music needs. Do you have a new sports franchise this year? From custom music to custom lyrics to syndicated tracks – Stephen Arnold Music has everything you need to inject BIG energy into your sports packages. Get your game face on – with sports music from Stephen Arnold Music! Take […]

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SAM Wins 6x MUSE Creative Awards!

Stephen Arnold Music (SAM), The World Leader in Sonic Branding®, has been recognized for six awards at the 2024 MUSE Creative Awards in the categories of Audio, Experiential & Immersive, and Video. The MUSE Creative Awards is a prestigious international advertising awards platform, celebrating excellence and innovation for creative design, advertising, and digital media. The 2024 program attracted numerous high-profile creative agencies and brands vying for coveted recognition. Stephen Arnold […]

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