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Museumweek

Full musical production and sound design for the national Museumweek campaign, putting overlooked masterpieces back in the spotlight.

Musical production Post production Sound design
National
Broadcast across the Netherlands
Client
Nationale Museumweek 2019
Sector
Cultural sector
Year
2019
What we did
Music production, post production and sound design
What it achieved
700,000+ more museum visitors aged 4 to 18 compared with 2018
700k+
More young visitors to museums that year vs. 2018
3 disciplines
Handled end to end by Studio ZK
Watch the work
The challenge

Making the overlooked impossible to ignore

Museum Week 2019 was built around a beautiful idea: the objects in museums that are often walked past finally getting their moment in the light. The audio challenge was to match that feeling, something curious, warm, and a little playful, without ever turning reverent or stiff.

The approach

Music that moves the way museums do

Museums have their own rhythm, the quiet between rooms, the moment of recognition when a piece finally makes sense. We used that cadence as a starting point: something that carries the campaign from first frame to last without rushing. The score lands between curious and warm, with enough momentum to work on TV and enough restraint to let the imagery breathe.

The solution

Full production, start to finish

Musical production

An original score built for discovery, curious, warm, and paced at the tempo of a museum visit rather than the tempo of advertising.

Post production

Full audio post integrated with the picture edit from early cuts through to broadcast master, no surprises at the end of the process.

Sound design

Subtle atmospheric layers that bring the museum environment to life on screen, adding depth without overwhelming the music or the message.

How do you write music to the rhythm of a museum visit?

Museumweek 2019 was about the pieces visitors usually walk past. That called for music that invites you to look rather than to move on.

Museums have their own cadence: the silence between two rooms, the moment a work suddenly lands. That rhythm is slower than advertising normally keeps. The score was written to it, with enough pace for television but with pauses where the picture can breathe.

In practice that meant fewer notes than a campaign track normally carries, and the accents on the cuts rather than on the beat.

Why it matters

One track, a hundred objects

Museumweek 2019 drove real increases in museum attendance, particularly among younger visitors. Consistent, well crafted audio was part of what got them there.

700k+
Increase in visitors aged 4 to 18 vs. 2018
Museumvereniging
91/100
School age children who visited a museum during the campaign period
Museumvereniging
8.53x
More likely ads with a sonic identity are to be high performing
Ipsos, 2020
ClientMuseumvereniging
DisciplineMusical production, post production, sound design
StudioStudio ZK. Amsterdam

This project is one of seven Studio ZK made for the cultural sector. Campaign sound for museums →