Twenty Thousand Hertz cover image

Twenty Thousand Hertz

TikTok’s Boom-Bling

May 8, 2024
Music producer and sound designer from MassiveMusic discuss the creation of TikTok's iconic sonic logo, detailing the meticulous process, covert marketing strategy, and final debate over a single note. The podcast explores the unexpected impact of a dog bark in the logo, TikTok's Sonic DNA strategy, and the fusion of science and art in sonic branding.
26:04

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Creating TikTok's distinctive Sonic logo involved thousands of iterations, covert marketing, and consumer testing to choose an E major seventh chord.
  • TikTok's strategic placement of its Sonic logo at the end of videos on other platforms led to rapid recognition and success in branding through sound.

Deep dives

The Evolution of TikTok's Sonic Branding

TikTok, with over 700 million users, lacked a distinct Sonic identity despite its heavy focus on adding music to videos. Partnering with Massive Music, TikTok aimed to create a unique Sonic logo. After a lengthy pitch process and thousands of iterations, TikTok's Sonic logo, known as the boom bling, featured an 808 kick drum and an ascending chord to convey joy and creativity. The logo's E major seventh chord was chosen over a simpler E major chord after consumer testing revealed that it resonated better with TikTok's desire to appeal to a broader audience.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode