Anyone who loves movies is aware that audio elevates storytelling. A new sound studio is bringing that impact to brands 每 and beyond.
It＊s kind of cheating to quote from a press release, but I was intrigued by the pitch for the new London-based sound studio Take Your Medicine: ※We＊re happily stuck between the commercial music world and advertising.§ A soundbite, appropriately enough. But what exactly does it mean?
※Those two worlds feel way more distant than they should,§ explains managing director Simon Whitebury. ※So one of the big premises for TYM was to bring the commercial music mindset into the world of advertising. We felt that advertising music often didn＊t have the authenticity or stylistic integrity that you find on the commercial side. We wanted to merge those worlds and create music you＊d want to listen to on Spotify, regardless of whether it＊s for an ad or not.§
Which brings us neatly to the name, Take Your Medicine. ※We basically wanted to be the remedy to the current state of music and advertising.§
Simon and creative director Michele Balduzzi, better known as electronic music wizard Phonat 每 who make up the core of Take Your Medicine 每 certainly have previous when it comes to making addictive music. Phonat has worked with the likes of Skrillex, Dizzee Rascal and Avicii. Simon, who＊s also a drummer, has been involved in composition and sound design for brands like Adidas, Google and Toyota, among others.
Audio completes the mix
More recently they＊ve been creating advertising tracks that make your ears prick up. As Simon puts it: ※We try to think of the music as something way more than just a soundtrack to an ad. It should be able to live on its own.§
Like pop songs, tracks can be remixed, extending their lifespan and adding new dimensions for avid listeners.
The studio sits inside a group structure that＊s a little complex to explain. It was started by Golden Wolf, a 12-year-old animation studio that＊s edging into the creative agency space, collaborating with clients on campaigns from scratch. In 2023 Golden Wolf was acquired by Doodles, a US-based Web3 media and entertainment company. To add another layer, Golden Wolf grew out of a design studio called I Love Dust (they have a talent for catchy names).
Golden Wolf＊s MD Dotti Sinnott (pictured right) says: ※I think it＊s pretty visible from our portfolio that we＊re trying to bring a new perspective to the creative. There＊s a sense of fun and exploration. Take Your Medicine makes a lot of sense for us because it completes the trifecta, bringing audio into the mix for our own brands and all of our clients.§
The sound studio was operating behind the scenes for a while before being officially unveiled 每 almost like a soft launch. But the genesis of the offering goes back even longer than that, says Dotti.
※If you think about the lifespan of creative work, the advertising usually goes by in 30 seconds and then you forget about it. But what we＊ve tried to do at Golden Wolf and now Take Your Medicine is expand the relationship you have with the entertainment you＊re experiencing. We have a pretty active social presence, and we found that people were responding to these 15 second animations and asking where they could listen to the music, or where they could get the track.§
Simon adds: ※That＊s a badge of honour. If for every project we get comments asking for the full track, we＊ve done our job right.§
We try to think of the music as something way more than just a soundtrack to an ad.
Music beyond the brief
There is of course a precedent for this kind of thing: in the 80s and 90s the soundtracks to Levi＊s ads from the agency BBH regularly became top ten hits, either resurrecting old soul tracks or launching new talent.
The TYM offering is broader in that it also acts like a music label, making and promoting music that＊s unrelated to any client brief. In fact it＊s just released its debut EP, Nothing Is Imaginary. It also plans to build a roster of established and upcoming musicians.
The relationship between artists and brands has evolved from the days when musicians were considered ※sell outs§ if they partnered with advertisers. Dotti observes: ※Artists themselves are brands now, so the state of that whole relationship has changed. They have more clarity about why they＊re doing it. And at Take Your Medicine, they＊re not going to be doing an audio track that isn＊t true to their creative vision. It＊s about finding brands that have the right tone of voice for them 每 and then it＊s a collaborative moment.§
Meanwhile, last year, the nascent TYM helped Golden Wolf win a Clio award for its work for quirky new Coca-Cola brand OOHA. As you can hear, sound is integral to the short films.
Another landmark project was a collaboration with Doodles and G-Shock that tapped into the lo-fi music trend. Simon says: ※We married spacey alien visuals to an hour-long lo-fi stream, which we put out on YouTube. That was a really good example of something that massively outlived the initial campaign.§
Sonic branding has gone full circle.
One thing＊s for sure, music is never an ※add on§. Simon confirms: ※We arguably think about the music first, maybe even before the visuals. So everything we do, the visuals and the audio, are deeply ingrained.§
Audio has been a branding tool forever, of course, from the unmistakable sound of a Mac booting up to the advertising jingles 每 the industry prefers the term mnemonics 每 that stick in your head.
※I think sonic branding has kind of gone full circle,§ says Simon. ※When TV and radio were in their heyday, there were all these earworms that everyone knew instantly. Then they stopped being fashionable for a while. But now, with the rise of streaming, digital, and sensory overload, brands need a sonic advantage. So the rise in partnerships with artists is obvious. Sound is definitely back up there as a superpower.§
