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Frequently asked questions

Everything you might want to know before reaching out — sonic branding basics, process, rights and files, and how to get started.

Sonic branding basics

Sonic branding is the strategic use of sound and music to express a brand's identity, sonic logos, brand anthems, UX sounds and full audio guidelines that work alongside your visual brand. Think of it as the audio equivalent of your logo and colour palette. A signature you carry into every ad, app, store, podcast and event, so people recognize you with their ears as quickly as their eyes.

A sonic logo is a short audio mnemonic, usually 2 to 5 seconds. Used to close an ad or open an app it truly is the audio version of a logo mark. A jingle is sung and lyric-led, the classic "earworm" style of older advertising. A brand anthem is a fuller piece of music built to carry an emotional tone across campaigns without literally selling anything in its lyrics. Most sonic identities we build include all three, composed to share the same melodic DNA so they reinforce each other.

Yes! This isn't a creative hunch, it's measured. Ipsos found ads using sonic brand cues are 8.53× more likely to be high-performing than visual-only ads (2,000+ TV ads studied), and audio assets are 3.44× more effective than visuals alone at producing high-performing ads. Mastercard saw a 77% increase in customer trust within 12 months of launching its sonic identity. We treat every brief with that weight of evidence behind it.

Especially then. Sonic cues currently make up only around 8% of brand assets, according to Ipsos, despite outperforming visuals on memorability and recall. 60% of consumers say music in marketing is more memorable than visuals (PHMG). Most categories haven't claimed an audio identity yet, which makes this a genuine first-mover advantage rather than a "nice to have."

Yes. UX sound (notification tones, success chimes, loading states, onboarding moments) is one of the fastest growing parts of sonic branding. We design these alongside ad and brand music so every touchpoint, from a TV spot to a push notification, sounds unmistakably like the same brand.

Process & timelines

It depends on scope. A sonic logo can take a few weeks from brief to final delivery. A full sonic identity or ad campaign typically runs 4 to 8 weeks, covering strategy, composition, review rounds and broadcast-spec mastering across every platform you need it on.

Pricing depends on scope. A single sonic logo is a smaller investment than a full sonic identity system spanning ads, UX sound, and brand guidelines documentation. Tell us about your project on the contact page and we'll come back with a clear, no-obligation quote, usually within a few days.

Absolutely. We regularly take an existing stock track and reshape, re-record, or re-time it until it fits your content perfectly. Often a faster and more budget friendly route than composing entirely from scratch, without sacrificing the "made for you" feel.

Yes! You don't need a full sonic branding project to work with us on mixing, mastering, or post production alone. Many clients come to us just to finish an existing edit, tighten a mix or get a broadcast-ready master across formats.

No. Every composition we deliver is crafted by hand, tailor made to your brief by real composers and sound designers. We don't have anything against AI as a tool, it's a fascinating space, but we believe deeply in the craft of making music and in the personal touch that comes from human creativity. When you work with Studio ZK, you get something built from the ground up around your brand, not generated by a prompt.

Rights, files & delivery

Usage rights are agreed per project and detailed in your contract. Typically you receive a license covering the agreed use, platforms, territory, and duration with full buy-out options available on request for brands that want exclusive indefinite ownership.

We deliver broadcast ready WAV and MP3 stems and masters, formatted to spec for TV, radio, social, and streaming platforms. Plus any specific loudness, codec, or duration requirements your media planner or platform gives us.

Active clients get a members login where final files, stems and project documents are available to download at any time. No chasing a shared drive link that's expired or hunting through old email threads.

Getting started

Reach out through our contact page or book a call directly. We'll ask a few questions about your brand and project, then propose next steps and a clear no-obligation quote.

Nothing formal is required. You can start the process by thinking about a brand or two whose sound you admire, a rough sense of where your audio will live (ads, app, events, all of the above) and any existing brand guidelines you can share. That's enough to make a first conversation genuinely productive.

We're a good fit if your brief has a clear brand angle, even if the sound itself is still undefined. We work best on projects where the why behind the sound matters as much as the what: brand anthems, sonic identities, advertising music, and post production work that needs more than a competent finish. If that sounds like your project, we'd love to hear from you.

We start with a strategy session to align on brand tone, reference sounds and deliverables. From there, we move into composition or production, share a first round for feedback, refine based on your notes, and deliver broadcast-ready files once approved. Most projects run 2–3 feedback rounds. You'll always know exactly where things stand.

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