“It’s just the way music is consumed. My kids went to summer camp, and they wanted to, like, bring music with them. But they’re not allowed to have electronic devices, like, they can’t bring a phone. And my son was, like, ‘Oh, I’ll just take my phone.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you don’t understand, like, you’re not going to have internet.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, how do I get the music from, like, Spotify, like, on my phone?’ I’m like, ‘You can’t without internet.’ And just the whole concept, like, you used to carry a record or even a cassette or a CD, and it was physical, and you had it.” – Sherene Strausberg

This episode is the second half of my conversation with Emmy-nominated art director, sound engineer, and founder and creative director of 87th Street Creative Sherene Strausberg as we talk about her work to bring diversity to sound, how streaming audio is creating a generation gap and what that might mean for marketers, and whether the days of going to the movie theater have come and gone.

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(0:00:00) - Creating Audio for Visuals

Our conversation picks up as Sherene shares her approach to combining visual and sonic elements for an effective branding strategy, and her recent work on a particularly compelling, and challenging, animation project. “It was for a nonprofit named Womankind, the opening part of this animated video I did for them was about, you know, these really devastating statistics,” she tells us. “But then it kind of changed tone... and so we needed a real shift, and no track was able to really do that in the timing that we needed. So I ended up using two different tracks and through the power of music editing we were able to very smoothly change that tone.” She tells us more about her work with diverse composers and voices, and partnering with such groups as One Percent for the Planet. “I make animated videos,” she explains, “I can’t clean the carbon out of the air with my business, right? That’s not what I do… but it’s finally getting me to put sort of, like, you know, my money where my mouth is.”

(0:08:24) - Evolution of Audio Technology

We look at how sound technology has moved from big and loud to small and private, and how sound has shifted from a communal to a personal experience. “You know, go back to the ‘80s when suddenly there were Walkmans and you were listening on these tiny headphones,” she says, “but then it became the tiny music file that went into the tiny headphones.” The discussion turns to where such a trend might lead, and she wonders if a theatrical experience like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice could ever be replaced by streaming media. “Sure, yeah, it fills your peripheral vision,” she says about virtual and augmented reality. “It’s bigger in scope but smaller in experience, you’re obviously not experiencing it communally... I feel like I’ll be saying to my kids, ‘In my day we went to movie theaters.’"

(0:17:02) - Power of Sound in Media

We discuss the generation gap that the digital audio age is creating, and why sound matters to Sherene. She shares how she met one of her clients, a video production company that shares her perspective on the importance of sound. “One of the reasons they hired me was, they were, like, ‘we used to, even though we film, we also worked in sound and we could hear the quality of your animated work with the quality of the sound,’” she recalls. “I’ll give them a shout-out: Dam + West.” Sherene tells listeners how they can get in touch, and her thoughts on the importance of sound in making a good impression. “There is this, like I said, emotional thinking,” she explains, “just full body experience that you get when you hear something and it’s good. And it can work in the other direction.”

Episode Summary

• Sherene’s approach to building brand synergy and the value of inclusivity.
• Audio technology’s evolution from public spectacle to personal playlists.
• How streaming content and the digital age are shaping our perception of sound.

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