Your Music Choices are Hurting Your Brand: How to Ensure Brand Consistency Across Audio Platforms in a Sound-On World
You walk into Williams Sonoma, excited to fill your registry with elegant cookware sets and premium pots and pans. But instead of soft, relaxed background music, you're greeted with blaring '80s hair metal. It’s not what you’d expect from a store known for refined, upscale living.
The jarring misalignment between the Williams Sonoma brand and heavy metal music isn't just confusing and annoying to shoppers — it's damaging. It subtly erodes the trust your brand has built over time, diluting your brand identity and creating a negative brand experience.
From social ads to retail stores to the music your customers hear while on hold, music is everywhere. We live in a sound-on world where every touchpoint shapes brand perception, only amplifying the need for consistent, on-brand experiences.
We're breaking down why music consistency matters, the risks of getting it wrong, and how you can deliver and scale brand consistency across audio platforms with Continuum™.
The Brand Value of Music in a Sound-On World
Brand music is much more than background noise. It's a powerful branding tool that, done right, evokes emotion, strengthens the connection with your audience, increases brand recall, and makes your brand more memorable:
Corona's sonic identity drove a 22% uplift in brand linkage and a 37% increase in overall performance.
After launching its sonic logo, Lexus outperformed 97% of sonic logos, with 59% of listeners recalling the logo after a single exposure.
Tostitos increased brand recall by 38% with its sonic identity, and lifted brand appeal by 13% and uniqueness by 18%.
75% of listeners rated the Perdue sonic logo as memorable, and the brand scored 12% above the industry benchmark for brand recall.
Visual branding — logos, color palettes, typography — has long been the standard, but, despite music's ability to drive tangible results, many brands still overlook sonic branding and showing up consistently across all audio touchpoints.
The problem with that? Music is everywhere your brand shows up:
Social media
Live events and brand activations
Podcasts and branded audio content
Customer service interactions, like hold music
Each of these channels can reinforce — or diminish — your brand identity. And that's why brand consistency across audio platforms is crucial. When your music's consistent and on-brand at every sound-on touchpoint, your audience feels your brand, building trust, recognition, and loyalty.
What Brand Consistency Across Audio Platforms Looks Like
Audio branding consistency is about more than just using on-brand assets across channels. It involves using sonic assets strategically at every brand touchpoint to reflect your identity and create a recognizable, memorable experience that fosters trust and loyalty.
When executed well, every time someone hears your brand — in-store, on social, or waiting on hold — the experience feels intentional and cohesive. Just look at Kroger and American Express. Both brands exemplify brand consistency across audio platforms.
Kroger
Kroger's sonic brand theme, 'Doin' It Fresh,' reinforces its 'Fresh for Everyone' brand platform across 20+ retail banner brands. Its sonic identity includes:
A brand theme
Sonic logo
Ownable melody
Library of arrangements for digital and social content
Curated collection of on-brand music through Continuum
Kroger's sonic system was strategically designed to work across key touchpoints — ads, retail, hold music, events and sponsorships, and even internal communications — allowing the brand to show up consistently anywhere customers might interact with it.
The result? A memorable, distinct, and emotionally appealing sonic identity that creates a consistent, on-brand experience everywhere.
American Express
American Express worked with Made Music Studio to create a full sonic identity system to span markets, languages, and audiences. Its sonic brand is far-reaching and ensures the brand's music and sounds are consistent across Amex's many channels.
Whether it's a sound for contactless payment, music for ads or social, background music for Centurion® Lounges, or tracks for brand activations and events, every touchpoint reinforces the Amex brand, creating memorable customer experiences.
Brand consistency across audio platforms like this builds trust, loyalty, and emotional connection. Consumers start associating specific sounds with your brand, driving brand familiarity while reflecting the brand perception you want to convey.
Over time, these consistent audio touchpoints become as integral to your brand identity as your logo, color palette, or typography — delivering true ROI.
The Risks of Getting Audio Brand Consistency Wrong
Brand consistency across audio platforms isn't a nice-to-have idea. It's crucial to creating a cohesive brand that resonates with customers and fosters long-term loyalty.
Inconsistency comes with real risks that can diminish customer trust, damage the perception you worked so hard to build, and even push people away from your brand.
“Research from PwC found that 32% of customers would leave a brand they love after just one bad experience, and 59% would walk away after a few bad experiences.”
Here are the biggest risks of inconsistency:
Brand disconnect. Imagine walking into a luxury hotel that's blasting EDM. Feels odd, right? That's because off-brand music confuses customers and creates friction in the brand experience. You're creating an unexpected experience, but not one that feels aligned with the brand—one that leaves customers scratching their heads, wondering who your brand really is.
Negative customer perceptions. The wrong music can feel off-brand, but it can do more than that: it can actively annoy your customers and increase perceived wait time, creating a negative brand experience. Like listening to the endless loop of staticky muzak while on hold — it creates a lasting impression, and not a good one.
Lost trust and loyalty. Whether they're at your retail shop or watching your TikTok, consumers expect consistency across every touchpoint. When your music doesn't align, it feels careless and sloppy. Consumers may decide that your brand isn't as thoughtful as it claims to be. Over time, that inconsistency and negative perception chips away at customer trust and loyalty.
In a sound-on world, these simply aren't risks you can afford. Inconsistency confuses, frustrates, and drives customers away, slowly weakening your brand with every off-key touchpoint.
How to Scale Brand Consistency Across Audio Platforms
Scaling brand consistency across audio platforms sounds pretty straightforward, but with brands showing up everywhere, it's far from simple. You have countless touchpoints — from social media and digital ads to retail spaces, live events, and even customer service hold music — all of which should feel consistently on brand.
On top of that, many teams are typically involved in producing content for those touchpoints. And without a centralized sonic branding strategy, each team makes music decisions in silos. The result? Inconsistent execution that lessens brand impact.
Just look at the Oscars broadcast as an example of how powerful — or distracting — sonic choices can be.
But one of the biggest challenges is avoiding the urge to take the path of least resistance: stock libraries. They're convenient and probably have tracks that could work. On the flip side, they don't have curated tracks or catalogs hand-picked to reflect your brand. And they simply can't compare with an ownable sonic identity that sets you apart.
So, how can you scale effectively without compromising consistency or brand? Follow these three steps.
Step 1: Establish Your Sonic Identity
The foundation of audio brand consistency? A strong sonic identity. It's not just a catchy jingle you slap on campaigns — it's a system with music that reflects your brand’s values and personality. It includes your sonic logo and brand theme, plus custom campaign underscores, on-brand music for digital content, and more.
And the best way to uncover your sonic identity and build out the sonic toolkit is to work with a sonic branding agency that'll make sure your music does more than just sound nice. At Made Music Studio, we help you create a system of assets built strategically to evoke emotion, drive recall, and differentiate your brand across every channel.
Step 2: Create Sonic Branding Guidelines
If you want to ensure brand consistency across audio platforms, you need clear sonic branding guidelines that leave zero room for confusion about how to use your sonic assets. Think of these guidelines like the audio version of your visual brand handbook — they should define where, when, and how to use sonic elements.
For example, do you use your sonic logo at the end of an ad? Which tracks are cleared for social content? Do you play the brand theme music while customers are on hold or another catalog on repeat?
Step 3: Build a System
When teams are working on a tight deadline, consistency is often the last thing on their minds. That's why a centralized system for selecting and deploying on-brand music is crucial.
Instead of sifting through hundreds of generic tracks from stock libraries, you can use a platform like Continuum that has a curated catalog of pre-cleared and on-brand tracks that make selecting the right tracks quick and painless — even on a deadline.
This system (or platform) ensures everyone's pulling from the same set of approved assets, whether it's for an in-store playlist, an Instagram Reel, or a national ad campaign — creating a cohesive sound and brand experience across touchpoints.
Continuum: Scaling Brand Consistency
So, you've got a clear sonic identity, guidelines, and a system in place. But how do you scale across teams and channels? You can do it manually, but this approach is time-consuming and can lead to errors along the way. Or, you could use Continuum.
Continuum is a centralized platform that brings together everything you need for consistent, on-brand music — all in one place. It combines:
Curated, record-credible music. You get a catalog of tracks, pre-cleared, record-credible, and handpicked to reflect your brand’s personality and values.
Built-in brand guidelines. With sonic guidelines and recommendations built in, teams know exactly how to use assets, creating brand consistency across audio platforms.
Risk mitigation. Continuum limits compliance risks with blanket licenses and ownership built in, so you avoid rights issues and get rid of legal headaches.
With Continuum, consistency becomes scalable. Every team — social, retail, events, or customer service — has fast, easy access to the same approved assets. With this all-in-one music platform, your brand sounds intentional and recognizable everywhere it shows up.
Your Brand Deserves Consistency
Choosing the wrong song for a social post isn't going to make or break your brand identity. But when you make the wrong music choices more than once and across different channels, you confuse and frustrate customers and weaken your brand equity in the long term.
And in a sound-on world, audio brand inconsistency is a costly risk.
But the right music? It builds trust, recognition, and an emotional connection with your audience that has long-term ROI, like brand loyalty. Just like your logo, color palette, and typography, your sonic identity should be treated as a core brand asset—one that shows up consistently at every touchpoint.
With Continuum, you finally have a way to make audio branding scalable and strategic. By centralizing your sonic assets and guidelines, you ensure that every sound your audience hears strengthens the brand experience instead of undermining it.
Ready to show up consistently with on-brand music that amplifies your brand? Try Continuum.
