Ten Years of ‘Sonic Boom’: A Q&A with Made Music Studio Founder Joel Beckerman

Ten years ago, composer and Made Music Studio Founder Joel Beckerman introduced marketers, entrepreneurs and casual readers alike to a new way of thinking about sound with his book The Sonic Boom: How Sound Transforms the Way We Think, Feel, and Buy. 

If you’ve picked up a copy since, you’ll have learned about the many ways that music and sound impact not just marketing and advertising, but our day-to-day experiences. Has the sound of sizzling fajitas inspired you to change your order at Chili’s? Has the loud crinkling of a chip bag caused you to pick a different one off the shelf? Those are both examples of ‘boom moments,’ or when sound has an instant influence on the way you feel. 

A decade later, the ideas in Sonic Boom — like Sonic Humanism and the issue with “sonic trash” — are more relevant than ever in an increasingly sound-on world. 

We sat down with Joel to reflect on Sonic Boom, and how sound continues to shape our daily lives.

It’s been 10 years since Sonic Boom. What do you remember about writing it?

Joel Beckerman: The precursor of the book came from my experience scoring television projects. When you design sound for film or TV, music sets the tone, establishes relationships, hints at what might happen in the next scene and connects the audience to the story on a deeper level. I realized how much of what I did as a music composer applied to sound in the real world.  

Sound scores every moment of our lives. Whether we realize it or not, music and sound is always impacting us, always providing context, always telling a story. Sonic Boom was my attempt to apply what I know as a music composer to analyze the role of sound in our lives — how could it impact the way we feel about experiences, spaces and even products? Whether that’s the sound of an electric car or a Roomba vacuum cleaner. 

How does sound shape our perception? 

One of my favorite examples is the Ford Mustang. There was a version of the car that was featured in the Steve McQueen film 'Bullitt.’ For the film, the sound of the engine was tweaked up, which was better to tell the story. 

Bullitt | The Car Chase | Full Scene | Warner Classics

Years later, Ford reissued a version of the Mustang meant to hearken back to that era. It was a bomb. Just nobody was buying the vehicles. Why? Because the car just didn’t sound the same. They went back and realized that people hadn’t fallen in love with the look of the car: they fell in love with the way it sounded in the movies. So Ford engineered the car to match that guttural, cinematic roar, and it sold. The emotional connections there — and the need to feel as cool as Steve McQueen — were so powerful that it led directly to sales. 

What about sound in everyday environments? 

The same logic applies in experience design as it does in industrial design. Sound is our fastest sense. We respond to it faster than any other sense, including 30 milliseconds faster than visuals, so it’s guiding our first impressions wherever we go. 

If you walk through a neighborhood near a highway, and you’ll hear blaring horns, highway noise, and maybe barking dogs. Those sounds affect how safe or comfortable you feel. But simple adjustments — like adding trees that attract chirping birds or installing a sound barrier — can completely transform that experience for the better.

This sounds a lot like a concept you introduce in the book — Sonic Humanism. Could you describe that for us? 

Sonic Humanism is about designing sound from a human perspective. Just as architects think about light and space, brands and product designers need to think about how sound impacts people emotionally and physically.  

We’ve developed quantitative ways to measure this through subconscious research, including the work we do with our partners at Sentient Decision Science. For example, we know the sound people most positively respond to is a baby’s laugh, while one of the most negatively perceived sounds is a pain scream. By charting reactions across the Sonic Humanism Spectrum, we can evaluate whether a brand sound or product sound actually improves the experience, or hurts it. 

It goes to show that we really need to be paying attention to sound’s quantifiable impact to ensure we’re providing lift in people's experiences with brands, spaces or products. That’s the heart of sonic humanism: using sound intentionally to make our lives better, not worse. 

But sound can also damage our experiences, which leads us to “sonic trash.” 

Exactly. Sonic trash occurs when designers don’t consider sound at all. Think of those barking dogs and honking horns from the neighborhood by the highway. There may be many wonderful things about an experience, but if the sound isn’t right, it won’t mean much.

Have our sonic experiences gotten better since you wrote Sonic Boom? 

Definitely, we’ve seen improvements in a lot of areas. I live in New York, and ten years ago, subway announcements were gritty and hard to hear, doors made jarring sounds that contributed to a horrible, stressful commute. Today, newer subway cars feature a more pleasant experience: intuitive door sounds, clearer announcements and even subtle soundproofing. You can tell someone spent a lot of time thinking about sound. These small, relatively inexpensive adjustments have made the environment much more enjoyable. 

It proves how much sound can play into our daily lives. Get it wrong, and you can increase stress. Get it right, and you can improve day-to-day life. 

How has culture embraced sound in new ways over the last decade? 

TikTok is the most fascinating development. Unlike other platforms, TikTok is an audio-first medium. So much of the experience is about trending music, memes and remixes. It’s where sound itself becomes the meme and drives engagement. A song clip can take on a life of its own, with millions of people expressing themselves around it. 

When TikTok had disputes with music publishers, the user experience suffered immediately. People realized how integral sound and sonic branding were to the platform. It’s a perfect example of how deeply sound influences behavior and creativity. 

Looking ahead, what’s next for sound and customer experience? 

Healthcare is a huge opportunity. Hospitals are full of sonic trash — beeps, alerts and machinery all contribute to stress and anxiety for both patients and providers. It’s a phenomenon called alarm fatigue. Imagine instead a hospital soundscape, less harsh device sounds and a thoughtfully designed acoustic environment, all which could soothe patients while still communicating clearly to doctors and nurses. The impact on wellness could be enormous. 

Technology is another frontier. As we move beyond screens into AI-driven interactions, sound will become central to how we connect with technology. Voice interfaces, sound cues and sonic branding will define which platforms feel human and trustworthy.  

When treated as much more than an afterthought, but rather a core part of the human experience, sound will continue to improve our lives. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.