Clear evidence
Brand meaning, attention and memory
Music changes how listeners interpret a brand and a speaker. It can also support attention and memory, depending on the execution. This is the best-supported part of the research.
Research · music in commercials · November 2026
What does music do for your brand?
Every day, we compose, select and mix music for radio and TV commercials. The research confirms what we hear in the studio: music can shape how people experience, notice and remember your brand. The condition is that the music fits the message and becomes linked to your brand. Here is what the science says.
- 8studies
- 486participants in the brand choice experiment
- +6%brand choice with recognizable music
- 132listeners in the radio experiment
What music does for your brand
Music can influence brand associations, attention, memory and brand choice. But a recognizable or popular piece of music is not automatically good for the brand. What decides it is how well the music fits the message and how strongly it is linked to the brand.
Promising
Brand choice and a consistent campaign melody
In experiments, recognizable music increased brand choice by 6 percent. That a consistent campaign melody builds more brand value over time is plausible, but it has not yet been robustly measured.
Familiar is not yet linked
Music can change how a brand comes across without people rating the product more highly. And a familiar song does not automatically bring your brand to mind. That is why we ask four questions separately.
Question
What you measure
What does not automatically follow
Does someone recognize the music?
Familiarity with the piece of music
A link to your brand
Does the music evoke the right brand?
Correct brand attribution
The desired brand meaning
Does the music convey the right qualities?
Brand meaning and personality
A higher rating of the product
Does a relevant choice change?
Behavior or behavioral intent
Return after all music costs
Recognizing a song is not the same as recognizing a brand. The best music helps people recognize the right brand, understand the message and build the desired associations.
What the research lets you hear
Six lines of research show when music carries a brand. They also show where it goes wrong.
01
Music gives the brand meaning
In an experiment with 132 participants, the same radio commercial took on a different meaning with different music. The impression of the brand and the speaker changed; the overall product rating did not. So music helps determine what kind of brand is speaking.
Zander, 2006
02
Vocals grab attention
Versions with vocals performed better on attention and memory than instrumental versions or a commercial without music. That does not produce a general ranking of hits, covers and original music.
Allan, 2006
03
Fit depends on the message
Fitting music helped most in radio commercials with a lot of information. At the same time, absorbing music can actually disrupt a complex message. What works depends on the script and on how much attention the music demands.
Lavack, Thakor & Bottausci, 2008
04
Recognizable music steers choice
In two experiments with 486 participants, recognizable music increased brand choice by 6 percent. The more people liked the music, the stronger the effect. This was a choice in an experiment, not realized revenue.
Anglada-Tort et al., 2022
05
Emotion is a stepping stone
Happy and sad music produced different outcomes for recognition and purchase intent. The emotion music evokes is an intermediate result, not automatically the end result for the brand.
Dogaru, Furnham & McClelland, 2024
06
Surprising is fine, irrelevant is not
Fitting music in TV advertising helped people retrieve information later. Music that was both unexpected and irrelevant actually hindered recall. A surprising choice works when the listener can connect it to the message.
Eat to the Beat, 2022 · research on congruence in TV advertising
Where music and voice come together: a control room and the recording booth of studio 2.
How true are the familiar music rules?
There are plenty of beliefs about music in commercials. Some hold up, others depend on the execution. Here is how they compare with the research.
Music changes the brand impression
Different music gave the same commercial a different meaning for brand and speaker.
True
Music helps attention and memory
Supported, but it depends on the execution and the message.
Under conditions
Recognizable music steers brand choice
Demonstrated in choice experiments, not yet in realized sales.
Under conditions
A consistent melody builds brand value
Plausible, but there is no robust general effect estimate yet.
Plausible
Music is always better than no music
Music works best when it fits the message. That is why we also compare with a sparser version.
Depends on fit
A hit works better than original music
What works depends on fit and the brand link. Original music has the advantage of being yours alone.
No fixed rule
More emotion means more sales
Emotion is a stepping stone. What counts is whether that emotion fits the brand and the message.
Stepping stone
Music delivers a fixed percentage of revenue
There is no general figure. You test the effect in your own campaign.
Test it yourself
This classification is our summary of the sources on this page: an indication, not a meta-analysis.
Music has to fit in six ways
‘The music fits the brand’ is too vague to steer by. So in a brief we look at six connections. And not at a genre as a fixed formula: classical does not automatically mean premium.
BRAND
Music and brand
Does the music support the personality your brand wants to convey?
MESSAGE
Music and message
Does the music support what the commercial wants to say?
PICTURE
Music and picture
Does the music fit the visual storytelling or the deliberate contrast?
VOICE
Music and voice
Do the delivery and meaning of the voice-over stay intact?
AUDIENCE
Music and audience
Which associations and preferences does the listener bring along?
CAMPAIGN
Music and campaign
Does the music build recognition across multiple executions?
This is our working framework, based on the research. It is not the outcome of a single study.
Hit, cover or original music?
There is no fixed ranking between existing songs and custom music. That is why we assess every choice on six points.
Property
The question
How we approach it
Familiarity
Is existing familiarity really needed?
We check whether a new theme achieves the same.
Lyrics
Do the words strengthen the message?
We assess lyrics and voice-over together.
Artist
What meaning comes along with the performer?
We map those associations in advance.
Brand link
Does attention go to the brand or to the song?
We test brand attribution without the brand name.
Reusability
Can the theme carry several campaigns?
We compose themes that return in new arrangements.
Costs and rights
Does the choice fit budget and usage?
We handle licenses and rights in-house.
What problem does the familiarity of a hit solve that a new piece of music does not? We ask that question for every existing song.
Expected or surprising?
Fitting music does not have to be predictable. The difference lies in two questions: does the listener expect this music, and does it contribute to the message?
EXPECTED AND RELEVANT
Clear
Clarity and recognizable category codes.
UNEXPECTED BUT RELEVANT
Surprising
A surprise that gives the message meaning.
EXPECTED BUT IRRELEVANT
Safe but empty
A familiar style without a clear contribution.
UNEXPECTED AND IRRELEVANT
Confusing
A risk of confusion and distraction. In research, this hindered recall.
An unusual music choice can be justified. The test is whether the listener can connect it to the commercial, not whether the creative team finds it surprising.
How we use this for your brand
The most beautiful track is not automatically the best choice. The difference lies in the brief, selection, composition and mix.
01
A brief on six connections
We translate your brand into what the music needs to do: which personality, which message and which role alongside the voice.
02
A version without music too
That way you know whether music really makes the commercial better. Sometimes the sparser version wins. We want to know that too.
03
Several tracks per direction
We do not compare one random track, but several options per direction: from the TRX Music Library or composed to order.
04
Testing the brand link
Do people recognize your brand by the music, even without the brand name or picture? That is the real test of music as a brand carrier.
05
Mixing around the message
Music quieter around the brand name, or only after the main claim? We treat choices like these as hypotheses. We always judge the complete execution.
06
Radio and TV separately
A radio version is more than the TV spot without picture. For each medium, we decide what the music needs to carry.
The research at a glance
The studies answer different questions. So you cannot add them up as if they measured the same effect.
Study
Design
Key finding
Limitation
Kellaris & Cox, 1989
Product preference after a single musical pairing
Three experiments did not confirm that effect.
Applies to this design, not to all use of music.
Allan, 2006
Vocals, altered vocals, instrumental or no music
Versions with vocals performed better on attention and memory.
No conclusion about sales or return.
Zander, 2006
132 participants, three versions of one radio commercial
The impression of brand and speaker changed; the product rating did not.
Several musical features varied at once.
Lavack, Thakor & Bottausci, 2008
Music fit with simple and demanding radio copy
Fitting music helped attitudes mainly with demanding copy.
Specific messages; no general rule.
Research on congruence in TV advertising
Familiarity and fit of background music
Fitting music supported retrieval of advertising information.
Memory experiment; no sales measurement.
Eat to the Beat, 2022
Unexpected and irrelevant music
That combination hindered recall.
One category: restaurant advertising.
Anglada-Tort et al., 2022
486 participants, two experiments
Recognizable music gave 6 percent more brand choice.
Choice in an experiment, not revenue.
Dogaru, Furnham & McClelland, 2024
134 participants, happy and sad music
Different outcomes for recognition and purchase intent.
Four ads; no version without music.
In addition, Allan’s chapter Commercial Sound (2021) organizes experimental research on attention, memory, attitude and purchase intent. It does not provide a universal effect percentage.
About this overview
This critical literature review is about music as a brand carrier within the commercial, not about radio or television as an advertising medium. We distinguish background music, existing songs, instrumental versions and music made specifically for advertising. The reference date is November 1, 2026.
We used accessible research articles, abstracts, university publication records and review literature. We did not fill in missing sample data or effect sizes with assumptions. Industry benchmarks, such as a secondary discussion of Nielsen research, do not count as evidence that music itself makes the difference. This is not a systematic review or meta-analysis.
This overview belongs with our studies on sonic branding and voices in commercials. You can find all three together on our research page.
Read more
More about music for your brand.
SERVICE
TRX Music Library and custom music
Pre-cleared production music or a brand theme of your own by our composers.
SERVICE
Music rights and licensing
An existing song in your campaign? We handle the rights and licenses.
STUDIO
Our music studio
In studio 3, we make custom music for brands, jingles and sonic logos.
RESEARCH
What does sound really do for your brand?
The same kind of overview for sonic logos and audio identity.
RESEARCH
What does a voice do for your brand?
The same kind of overview for voices in radio and TV commercials.
RESEARCH
All research at a glance
Sonic branding, voices and music: what the three studies let you hear together.
FAQ
Does a famous hit work better than original music?
Not automatically. What counts is fit and the link to your brand.
FAQ
Does music always make a commercial better?
No, not always. That is why we also listen to a sparser version.
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