Wedemark, June 30, 2008 – It can be a mini melody, a compact sequence of notes or a chord – the main thing is that the new Sennheiser Sound Logo sticks in your mind. All around the world, professional and amateur musicians are busy composing and mixing to find the sound that best embodies the qualities of the audio specialist. The international event is now entering its crucial phase, as music fans have just two weeks left until July 17 to take part in the Sound Logo Contest and upload their creative ideas in MP3 format onto the Sennheiser website www.sennheiser.com/soundlogo. The winner will receive a prize of € 5,000, plus an optional € 30,000 should Sennheiser choose to acquire the unlimited user rights to the submitted sound logo.

Sennheiser launched the Sound Logo Contest in January with the aim of finding a sound that best embodies Sennheiser products. “Around 700 participants from 60 countries have already submitted their sound logos since the start of the competition,” said Susanne Seidel, President of Global Marketing at Sennheiser. “We are delighted to have received so many creative suggestions from all over the world and look forward to further sound ideas.”

The final countdown is now on. Music fans have until July 17 to take part in the competition and submit their audio ideas. Each entrant can upload a maximum of five tracks, each of which can be up to eight seconds long, in MP3 format (stereo, 128, 192 or 256 kb/s, max. 10 MB) onto the Sennheiser website www.sennheiser.com/soundlogo. The logo should be unmistakeable and innovative, top-class and contemporary – an “acoustic trademark” that embodies the same impressive qualities as Sennheiser products.

Every contest has its prizes …
Creativity has its rewards, of course. The winner will receive a prize of €5,000 as well as an optional €30,000 should Sennheiser choose to acquire the unlimited user rights to the submitted sound logo. Second to tenth places will be rewarded with top-quality Sennheiser sound: they can choose between a pair of Sennheiser’s dynamic top-of-the-range HD 650 headphones or an evolution wireless ew 300 G2 microphone system for their rehearsal room.

By the middle of August, 30 finalists will be chosen from among the contributions submitted. And then it gets really exciting as the favourite sound logos are appraised by an international jury. The panel includes some renowned sound specialists: Paul Sandweiss is one of the most famous American sound designers and has mixed almost all music industry highlights for TV broadcasting – from the American Music Awards and the Grammys to the MTV Music Awards and American Idol. The jury of five also includes Jon Thornton, Head of Sound Technology at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He has been teaching students all there is to know about miking, mixing and studio work for twelve years now. Sennheiser is represented on the panel by Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Susanne Seidel, President of Global Marketing. The fifth jury vote will be the result of online voting by the public on the Sennheiser website. From August 15 onwards, music fans will be able to vote for their acoustic favourites and have the chance to win one of ten pairs of CX ear canal head-phones.

Background Information: Sound Logo
We are all familiar with them and hear them every day: sound logos are catchy sounds that stick in our memory – from the acoustic trademark of a radio station and the theme tune of a news programme right through to mobile phone ring tones and advertising jingles. They are short, unmistakeable and above all unforgettable sequences of sounds. “A sound logo can be a melody, a characteristic and self-contained sound or simply a noise. What is most important, however, is a strong idea. And that can be as bold and unconventional as you like,” said Jan Lohrengel  Head of Soundbranding at Hastings Audio Network. These qualities turn them into acoustic trademarks. Centuries ago, bells or trumpet fanfares were already used for what we now call audio branding: acoustic trademarks that announce something and have a symbolic value. For many companies today, an acoustic trademark is just as much a part of their corporate image as their logo, their letterhead or the sign on their office building. “It should emotionally support the graphical trademark or brand image,” Lohrengel continued. “And if it also works on its own, all the better.”

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