World's first generative music on hold

The Sound Agency has completed installation of what is believed to be the world’s first piece of generative music on hold, for leading relationship marketing agency Chemistry Communications Group plc, at Chemistry’s head office in London.

Generative music is composed on the fly by a computer programme, according to rules and probabilities defined by the designer; it continually changes, never repeats itself, so it is forever fresh and interesting.

“We believe that generative sound has a great future for on-hold,” said The Sound Agency Chairman, Julian Treasure. “This is one of the first experiences most companies give their potential customers, and it’s important to avoid making it boring, repetitive or derivative. While some companies choose their on-hold music carefully, many don’t – and some are still playing Greensleeves. We hope this will open the way to a much more individual and interesting experience for people while they wait.”

Chemistry commissioned the innovative installation because clients were getting bored with the same old songs, and also because commercial music is by definition somebody else’s idea: what Chemistry wanted was something new, original and their own.

“We advise our clients to optimize every aspect of the customer experience, so it seems only right that we do it ourselves,” said Chemistry Managing Director Diane Charlton. “We’re delighted that now our music on hold reflects our own personality and values –particularly in that it’s always original.”

The generative piece, in the style of lounge/funk music, was composed and programmed by Paul Weir with creative direction by The Sound Agency and runs on a standard PC. It can be heard by calling Chemistry’s main switchboard on 020 7736 5355 and asking to be put on hold.

Contacts
Julian Treasure, Chairman, The Sound Agency: 020 7439 0833 or julian.treasure@thesoundagency.com
Diane Charlton, Managing Director, Chemistry Communications Group plc: 020 7736 5355 or diane.charlton@chemistrygroup.co.uk

THE SOUND AGENCY (www.thesoundagency.com) is the world’s first strategic sound consultancy. It helps clients achieve better results through strategic, appropriate and intelligent use of sound, from defining their Brandsound™ to creating and installing custom soundscapes in buildings and websites, to producing powerful soundtracks for their communications.

Research shows that sound is a powerful tool. It affects people physiologically, psychologically, cognitively and behaviourally. It can change feelings, moods and brand relationships, and it can instigate or terminate actions. It is a major factor in people’s reactions to advertising, and to commercial environments like shops and offices.
The Sound Agency helps clients harness the power of sound with a mix of business, marketing, sound technology, psychoacoustics, sound design and music composition skills. Its SoundFlow™ tool ensures that each client’s sound exactly matches the brand and campaign objectives, from ring tones and sonic logos to TV commercials and complete soundscapes.

The Sound Agency’s clients include Tesco, The Body Shop, BAA, London InterContinental Park Lane, Shetland Museum, Homebase, Brandhouse WTS and Interbrand.

CHEMISTRY COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (www.chemistrygroup.com) is one of the UK’s mostly highly-regarded and fastest growing independent marketing communications groups.

The Group comprises three agencies: Chemistry, a London-based integrated relationship marketing agency; Nottingham-based interactive agency, Chemistry Digital, and Bearpark, a publishing and events company specialising in IT. The Group caters for international clients through its membership of TheNetworkOne, a network comprising leading independent marketing communications agencies.

Group clients include Yell, Diageo, Unilever, Transport for London, Kodak, Toshiba, the COI, Avaya and SCA Hygiene.

PAUL WEIR is a leading composer and sound designer working across media including games, theatre, television and film. For five years he has been running the London based audio post-production company, Earcom (www.earcom.net), specialising in merging music and sound design through the use of interactive entertainment technologies.

Recent music, sound design and speech production credits include the film Stagknight and the games Constantine (based on the Keanu Reeves film), Crime Life: Gang Wars, where he worked with the Hip Hop group D12 as well as coordinating recording sessions in Detroit and New York, and the critically acclaimed Ghost Master which was nominated for a best game soundtrack award and has been chosen as a launch title for a new soundtrack CD company.

Other recent projects include the sound design for the films An American Haunting (starring Donald Sutherland), Lady Macbeth and the sci-fi short, Psychi. Paul has written music for the West End stage adaptations of Little Women and Anne of Green Gables and provided additional sound design for the final two series of the BBC Radio 4 programme, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

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