The Most Heard, Least Known Composers In America
The time for another Stephen Arnold Music giveaway has arrived – but this one goes beyond guitars.
You can win a 4-day, 3-night trip for 4 to our awesome house and studio in beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico! Imagine waking up in a beautiful Old World manor with a view of the Jemez and Sangre de Christo mountain ranges, eating breakfast on one of the decks, and going into town for some shopping or skiing … you deserve it!
Wondering how to enter?
It’s easy: Simply listen to our expanded “All About Early” audio/video campaign bundle – which now includes a new morning show package and image song. Just leave a comment below to be eligible for the giveaway.
All elegible entries will be placed into our trusty fishbowl, and a winner will be drawn on Friday, June 7th.
For a full description of the house, as well as all the rules and regulations for the drawing, please click here.
Good luck, everyone!!
On the gambling floor at the Cosmopolitan with PMOL Directors Adam Routh and Patrick Wilson
Paul Gulmans – Music Director, The Netherlands
Noelle Alanis with FOX KVVU On-Air Promotion’s Sergio Rodriguez and Tai Howard
Little Elvis at The Palms
We came, we saw, we ruled the Roulette table. NAB 2013 was quite an experience…. from DTS’s 11.1 Surround Sound Headphones to the American Idol judges that seemed to be at every session. But alas we were not there to purchase the latest technologies or try our hand in a singing competition but rather for a chance to meet clients, colleagues and eat pricey dinners on the company credit card!
Special thanks to all our sub-publishers for sitting down with us – particularly Fred and the lovely Lynn Woods at Red Igloo, Jean at Music for Productions and Paul Gulmans at Music Director who still does NOT eat fish despite us taking him to a seafood restaurant…
Also, station owners Carole and Peter Kozloski from WAGM for a fantastic breakfast, Adam Routh and Patrick Wilson of PMOL for their lovely bottle of scotch that still hasn’t made it onto the boss’s desk, and of course the On-Air Promotion boys at Las Vegas’s KVVU-TV for showing us around town Tuesday night and introducing us to Corona martinis (very fancy)!
Finally what a great creole meal at Emeril’s with Fox Business’s Ray Lambiase and CNN design guru Jonathan Kemp.
And, of course we met Elvis – he’s much shorter in person!
Until next year, hope to see you there!!!
Wait… is that NAB or the circus?!?
Either way the greatest show in broadcasting is upon us. It’s going down next week in Vegas, and I can’t wait!
Although Stephen Arnold Music has been many times, this will be my first trip to THE SHOW, and I’ll be taking it in with another NAB-newbie Whitney Arnold.
Rumor has it NAB is a ginormous conference of all things broadcasting. I’ve heard it’s a techie paradise with plenty of educational sessions, industry heavy-weights, and social networking opportunities (AKA parties)! Can’t wait to experience for myself! Please let me know if you have any NAB advice! And hope to see you there!
So an interesting thing happened last week. A very good, but only moderately popular* TV show that was cancelled in 2007 (!) was very suddenly brought back to life by its loyal fans. Granted, it’s only coming back as a movie and not a full TV series, but it could kinda change everything. Rob Thomas (no, not that one) the creator of Veronica Mars decided to give Kickstarter a try … and the response was instant and huge.
But before I go any further, just what the heck is Kickstarter?!? In short, it’s “a funding platform for creative projects.” Backers pledge money to creators so that creators can complete their project. In return, backers receive … whatever they were promised by the creator of said project. And here’s the really great bit: If a creator doesn’t reach their funding goal, no money exchanges hands. A backer’s pledge is not collected until the end of a set time period, and then only if enough people have pledged enough money to reach the monetary goal set by the creator. Think of it as pre-purchasing a product that will only exist if enough people decide they want it.
Okay, back to Veronica. As I said, the response was incredible. Rob had set his time limit at thirty days and his goal at $2,000,000 … and reached it in roughly nine hours. Keep in mind, this money was pledged in small amounts by over 50,000 people. So for about forty bucks, a diehard (no, not that one) fan could help bring his/her favorite show back to life … no ‘record label’ required … and receive in return not just a movie version of their favorite TV show, but also some very interesting exclusive merchandise. Like I said, it kinda changes everything.
So what does this have to do with anything? Well, while Kickstarter has been around for a few years, this really proves in a pretty public way that it really works. And that opens up a whole new avenue for independent musicians and artists of all stripes. No longer do you have to rely on record labels or wealthy patrons. Now, you can go straight to your own personal social network (virtual and flesh & blood) and whatever fan-base you may have cultivated, and use those connections to fund your project. It also exposes your work to an audience that has never heard of you. Plus (and this might be a bit of a negative, actually) you’ll learn very quickly just how much support your supporters are actually willing to give.
But don’t take my word for it; go check it out. There are a lot of really creative people out there offering some pretty cool projects (everything from music to art books to card games to innovative electronic devices). You may find something wonderful from someone you’ve never heard of that you just can’t live without. Here’s one to get you started 
* okay, for a UPN show it was VERY popular, but we’re talking UPN here
“Music education is being stripped from our nation’s public schools at an alarming rate due to budget cuts,” Keith Hejna, Communications & Outreach Coordinator for Little Kids Rock says. “It’s up to the adults to stand up for our children’s right to rock… and ensure that they receive music education, which is vital to their development as students and human beings.”
That’s why we’re so excited to support Little Kids Rock. Here at Stephen Arnold Music we know a thing or two about writing a good tune; and we know what a blast it is when we’re hitting all the right notes. But we also know what it takes to get there: a lot of hard work – from bleeding fingers to ringing ears – a little luck, and that first person to say, “Here you go!” and put an instrument in your hand. The first part, that’s all on you. But Little Kids Rock is on a mission to make sure every kid gets the chance to rock by getting instruments and music lessons into the hands of underprivileged school kids.
“Little Kids Rock is an all-volunteer organization that’s very efficiently run,” says SAM president Stephen Arnold, “It’s amazing how far they can make a dollar go.”
And because each dollar counts, we’re donating $1 for each new “Like” to the Stephen Arnold Music Facebook page. Help us raise $5,000 for this awesome charity. You can’t buy a guitar for every kid out there, but with just the click of a mouse you can make a difference in the lives of some extraordinary kids.
It’s not just music they’re playing on those Super Bowl ads – the smart sponsors are applying Sonic Branding.
Sonic Branding done right reinforces memory recall and the message, and connects products and services with emotions. Combine story, visuals, and sound in an appealing alchemy – especially during the Super Bowl – and you’ve got a spot that everyone will be talking about at the water cooler for weeks. Later on, they’re revisiting it on YouTube.
It’s the reason that the aural jigsaw puzzle of three frogs croaking “Bud…Weis…Er” still stands out years later, as does “Have a Coke and a Smile” and Mean Joe Greene 33 years removed from its first airing, as well as the use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” by Budweiser in the latest Super Bowl.
Stephen Arnold Music has assembled an all-time list of the Super Bowl spots that best used music and sound to their advantage, over the years. Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please — we present the Super Sonics:
Mean Joe Greene accepts a cool bottle from a kid, “Have a Coke and a Smile” kicks in, and Super Bowl sonic branding history was made forever. The positive associations from this ad endured for generations, as evidenced by the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII remake for Coke Zero featuring Troy Polamalu.
The darkly tense hip hop track captured the soul of the city, and perfectly reflected the spot’s visual imagery. This emotion-stirring “Imported from Detroit” commercial starring local artist Eminem inspired people to talk about Detroit — and Chrysler by extension.
Talk about a watercooler classic – the three frogs croaking “Bud…” “Weis…” “Er” strongly associated an innovative sound design with this iconic American brand. It was funny, and gave the world something they could gladly croak along to.
A pint-sized Darth Vader used the Force when he discovered the all-new 2012 Volkswagen Passat in the driveway. The essential use of John Williams’ classic motif from the Star Wars franchise is a huge part of why this ad remains strong in people’s minds, two years later.
The mega-brewer returns with “Brotherhood”, the tale of a trainer reunited with a beloved Clydesdale. Fleetwood Mac’s emotional “Landslide” was the perfect backing track – it’s oft-covered status makes it a song choice that spans time. Will people think of Budweiser now when they hear it on the air? We’re betting yes.
Not surprising that brand messaging masters like Coke make these Super Bowl ad lists multiple times. Here, the famed “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke” theme is in full swing in a follow-up to the original commercial, called “Hilltop Reunion”, aired during coverage of Super Bowl XXIV featuring the singers and their children, and culminating in a medley of this song and the then-current “Can’t Beat the Real Thing” jingle. “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” has had a lasting connection with the viewing public. Advertising surveys consistently identify it as one of the best commercials of all time, and the sheet music continues to sell more than thirty years after the song was written.
This spot, starring a kid sucking on a straw who launches himself straight into a Pepsi bottle, captures honors for its adventurous use of sound. In our humble opinions, the bold sound design is the true star here.
Already larger than life, Will Farrell expands still more into our universe with this grand vision. His heroic stroll through a field of hops takes on magnificent grandeur courtesy of the classical symphonic score that accompanies it. Intentionally jarring sound at the end provides an interesting counterpoint to everything that preceded it – part of a sound (and video) combo that makes this spot memorable.
Here is the famous commercial Budweiser produced after 9/11. They aired it only once — during Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002. This one-minute spot features the beer company’s trademarked team of Clydesdale horses trudging across snow-covered ground into New York City where they stop to gaze upon the Statue of Liberty and the city’s skyline before lowering their heads on bended knees in a gesture of respect. Music and images drive the whole commercial – everything is very emotive, thanks to the simplicity of this moving tribute and the music.
Joe Namath — and a jingle for the ages — stars here. “Let Noxzema cream your face, so the razor don’t!” is belted out by an unknown session singer, with massive levels of mucho gusto. We dare you to forget this jingle anytime soon. No, wait, we DOUBLE DOG DARE you. Some rockin’ funk makes this the grooviest shaving cream commercial in broadcast history. Meanwhile, onscreen, don’t miss the Most Obvious Lip Synch Ever Seen.
We continue to scrutinize the archives. Stay tuned, because we’ll add some more Super Sonics soon!
We’re pleased to announce our winner, Gene Kirkconnell at WVTM-TV.
Congratulations, Gene! We hope you enjoy your guitar!
It’s time once again to give away one of Stephen’s guitars. We’re doing something a little different this time, though. The winner gets to pick their guitar from these three great axes.
Fender Squire Telecaster – Brown … Fender Telecaster – Sunburst … Fender Squire Vintage Modified Mustang – Red
The rules are simple:
And that’s all there is to it.
Click here for contest rules and eligibility requirements
Read more about it on Shoot Online
Sonic Branding Leaders Update Their Long-Running Show Package with Dubstep, Dance, and Indie Rock-Style Arrangements
Updating one of the top daily entertainment shows on TV can be a daunting challenge. HLN’s long-running program “Showbiz Tonight” stayed with the sonic branding of Stephen Arnold Music for their makeover, turning once again to the original music creators that helped launch the show in 2005.
The composers at Stephen Arnold Music wrote five new arrangements to match up with a fresh graphics package and set for “Showbiz Tonight,” which is hosted by A.J. Hammer, from the network’s New York City studios. Built around the memorable four-note hook that Stephen Arnold Music first wrote for the show seven years ago, the bold new package incorporates a range of dubstep, dance, electronic and indie rock themes.
“A common thread of long-running daily entertainment shows is an unforgettable melodic theme,” Stephen Arnold, President of Stephen Arnold Music says. “A strong musical signature is essential to pop-culture based programs, and the lasting power of our sonic brand for ‘Showbiz Tonight’ reflects that. The new music package builds on the original hook, evolving it within modern styles to keep it catchy and current.”
Depending on the genre, Stephen Arnold Music employed everything from filtered loops and programmed beats, to live guitars and drums to drive the energetic new themes. In addition to the primary arrangements, Stephen Arnold Music also provided HLN with a large supply of long beds, short logo stingers, and other transitional elements. Culled from moments in the longer themes, the shorter elements sync up with the “Showbiz Tonight” sonic stamp, providing the show’s producers with a flexible toolkit to match their fast-moving graphics.
The “Showbiz Tonight” update was the latest in a long string of collaborations between Stephen Arnold Music and CNN/HLN. Other recent projects that the Dallas-based music company has created for the networks includes “Jane Velez-Mitchell,” “Dr. Drew,” and “Morning Express with Robin Meade.”
For Stephen Arnold Music, recharging the sound of “Showbiz Tonight” was a welcome opportunity to go deeper with the music they make.
“A project like this gives you the chance to explore all the different angles of a sonic brand,” Chad Cook, VP/Creative Director of Stephen Arnold Music says. “These new themes are a natural progression for an established show. They provide a fresh direction, while maintaining a familiar connection with its dedicated audience.”
Promo Credits
Client: HLN/Showbiz Tonight
Project: “Showbiz Tonight” music package
Music: Stephen Arnold Music, Dallas
About Stephen Arnold Music
As a multiple Emmy, Addy and Promax Gold award-winning music production company, Stephen Arnold Music has over 20 years of success in delivering the sounds that make a difference to networks, television stations, advertising agencies, film studios and video game companies the world over. The company’s Commanding Sonic Branding approach to music production and commitment to industry-leading service is at the core of its promise. For more information, please visit www.stephenarnoldmusic.com.
Billboard Top 100
