The Future Of Stock Music: Testing AI-generated Branded Music

Published by: Hannah Cahill & Rex Hirschhorn | amp Research & Insights on June 4, 2023

We here at amp are extremely excited about our new suite of sonic tools: Sonic Hub®. Before we launch any new product at amp, we always test it thoroughly, to ensure the best experience for our clients. One of these tools, Sonic Space®, provides alternatives to both expensive custom or licensed music options and generic stock music. As we prepared to roll this new tool out, we conducted three separate studies to ensure our tools were performing to the highest standard.

All three of these studies showcased excellent results detailing the effectiveness of Sonic Space, specifically regarding likability and associated sonic principles. Further information on Sonic Space can be found here, and you can also read more about the future of AI in music in the remainder of our Best Audio Brands 2023 report.

Study 1:

Study 1 examined whether participants felt differently about visual advertisements when they contained music with Sonic DNA overlaid by amp’s AI Sonic Space or stock music. A total of 199 participants watched three separate advertisements where they were randomly shown a video with Sonic DNA enhanced music or stock music. The participants were asked to what degree they felt the video was relatable, memorable, and vivid.

Additionally, they were asked how much they liked the video. As with all three studies, we tested a handful of sonic principles that we believe all brands want to convey to their audience. This story has a clear conclusion: these principles are enhanced by implementing AI-infused Sonic DNA into ad campaigns. 

We found that participants had a clear preference for the videos with AI-implemented music over stock music (see graphs to the right). 

Additionally, participants found that videos with AI-implemented Sonic DNA were more relatable, memorable, and vivid than the stock music (see graph below).

We additionally ran correlations to see if the likeability of a video would be connected to the other variables demonstrating that videos with higher levels of relatability, memorability, and vividness would be liked more. We found this to be true for all sonic principles. Overall, we see that videos containing Sonic Space music are significantly more likable, relatable, memorable, and vivid when compared to content with stock music.

Study 2:

In study 2, we wanted to see if the same results could be found without the distraction of a video. As audio-only entertainment continues to rise in popularity, understanding the audio-only impact is just as important.

A total of 198 participants listened to five tracks. Each participant was randomly assigned to listen to one of two versions of the track: a Sonic DNA AI-enhanced track or a stock music track. In this study, the stock track was nearly identical to the AI-enhanced one, aside from the AI’s implementation of the sonic DNA. Participants were asked to rate the three same characteristics from study 1 but added the sonic principles “generic” and “trustworthiness.” Once more, participants were also asked how much they liked each track.

What we found further solidified the effect of Sonic Space as this time, instead of using random stock tracks like in study 1, we took the same track made by Sonic Space and removed its Sonic DNA. We found that people liked AI Sonic DNA music significantly more than stock tracks (see graphs to the left).

Additionally, we found that Sonic DNA enhanced music was more relatable, memorable, vivid, and trustworthy, while being less generic (see graph below). The correlations between all these sonic principles also proved significant as expected from the first study.

Study 3:

In study 3, we decided to test with an A/B design. Instead of showing the 100 participants one version of the content, we showed them both, allowing the individual to decide which they liked more, which they felt was more vivid, memorable, and generic. This study was used to give the participants full transparency in what they were comparing. There were three audio-only and three videos, both taken from the prior two studies.

We found that content from Sonic Space was preferred 65% of the time. Additionally, people thought it was more vivid 69% of the time, more memorable 70% of the time, and less generic 62% of the time. There was no difference between audio only and video. Once more, we found significance in favor of Sonic Hub for all four of the sonic principles tested (see graphs to the right).

Conclusion

It is clear to see whether with videos or without, Sonic Space music creates more likable, vivid, memorable, and less generic content. We believe in our products which is why we continue to test the effectiveness of our tools to ensure the quality stays consistent with our expectations. If you are interested in our design process, Sonic Space, or Sonic Hub, be sure to get in touch with our team.