Serial: The "This American Life" podcast spin-off

This American Life just launched a new podcast spin-off called Serial. Unlike TAL, it will cover one story across many episodes in a serialized manner. Two episodes are currently available. It is engrossing and leaves you wanting to know more as they investigate one case. Beyond the journalistic work that has gone into making the series possible, it may single-handedly introduce a lot of people, all the TAL listeners, to the idea of podcasting, via a page that explains how to download podcast with an adorable video. 

Mark Ronson: TED Remixed & The Exhilarating Creativity of Remixing

 TED Remixed: Sampling isn't about "hijacking nostalgia wholesale," says Mark Ronson. It's about inserting yourself into the narrative of a song while also pushing that story forward. In this mind-blowingly original talk, watch the DJ scramble 15 TED Talks into an audio-visual omelette, and trace the evolution of "La Di Da Di," Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's 1984 hit that has been reimagined for every generation since.   

What Does Sound Look Like?

NPR's Science Tumblr Skunk Bear uses a a clever photographic trick so you can actually see sound waves as they travel through the air.

Noise: A Short Film

Film inspired by synesthetic perception, visualizing sound disconnected from what creates it. It's a game of imagination provoked by sound. Check out the making of the film. Full credits here.

What Does Your Brand Sound Like?

Laurence Minsky and Colleen Fahey for the Harvard Business Review Blog:

To gain advantage on this leveled playing field, there’s one powerful branding tool that has been generally overlooked — or perhaps undervalued — by most marketers: sound. With of our increasingly audio-enabled media environment, the strategic use of sound can play an important role in positively differentiating a product or service, enhancing recall, creating preference, building trust, and even increasing sales.

Called audio branding, sonic branding, sound branding, or acoustic branding, cognitive studies show that relevant sounds and musical cues can truly influence people in ways marketers want. According to research presented at the 2012 Audio Branding Congress, congruent sound cues can increase the speed of a visual search for products (a key for success in both online and retail settings), as well as improve the perceived taste of food and wine (PDF).

Some marketers have long employed sound and music as part of their brand experience, including the familiar chime of an Apple Computer launching, the pop of the Snapple lid, and the aggressive howl of a Harley in rev mode.

A few years ago, at the beginning of Lady Gaga's ascent in pop music, I was at the gym with a friend. I found myself mindlessly singing along to one of her songs. My friend pointed this out to me. I didn't own any of her albums, didn't own the song, had never seen the video for the song and yet her sonic presence was so ubiquitous that I had managed to learn all the lyrics of the song totally unconciously. That kind of earworm quality is what makes sonic branding such a powerful tool that few people are utilizing.