Signal to Noise
Often deemed as an afterthought, music brings together the overall feeling and message of multimedia projects such as videos, advertisements or movies. But not all small companies have the budget to accommodate the continuing cost of music.
Unlike other aspects of production, most music does not have a one-time buyer's fee — you pay each time you use the song. At Signal to Noise, a music licensing and custom music design company, providing royalty-free music (meaning you buy it, it's yours to use over and over again) is a top priority.
Co-founders Jay Kooger and Mike Viele, both accomplished musicians, were fed up with the confusing web of the rules and regulations associated with music licensing. Before they founded Signal to Noise in 2005, buying royalty-free music usually meant buying low-quality tunes.
With Viele's experience running his own recording space and as a sound engineer combined with Kooger's past working as a technology consultant managing the licensing of intellectual properties and products to companies across various industries, the duo founded a company that could meet the needs of non-profits and low-budget firms looking for high-quality music.
Signal to Noise's in-house recording studios, producers, composers and engineers enable them to produce original, custom music to suit any type of project. Once purchased, the music is no longer owned by Signal to Noise — it is owned by the company or agency that purchased the recording.
Since its inception, Signal to Noise has hired two additional contributors to compose and produce original music for the company's clients. Composer/producer Tim O'Keefe, who has produced music for television, film and video games, and classically-trained musician Matt Everett joined in July 2005 to create signature sounds for local organizations and for Signal to Noise's online library.
Recognizing that some organizations don't have the time to wait for custom music and sounds, Signal to Noise provides an online library with music and sounds ready for immediate licensing. The library features a wide variety of pre-recorded material from a diverse group of local musicians with their own style.
With organizations focusing more on multi-media projects for marketing products and getting their message out, music has become increasingly more important to companies and agencies, and Signal to Noise is meeting that need.