YouTube Gets a New Start-Up Sound, And That’s Considered Important

If you have a smart TV or a TV box or stick, prepare for the new way YouTube will greet you. As you launch the app, you will hear the unique sound that sounds like no other app audio introduction. And this new sound comes with a unique insight on how it has been created and recorded.
 
The sound can be described as “sophisticated” despite being short enough at about two seconds (the official video on YouTube is 4 seconds long, yet the fadeout part of it is nearly as long as the sound itself). It’s easily recognizable, though, starting with a low note, unfolding into an upward glissando, and ending with a high brief two-note phrase and a major 7th chord. Once you hear it, hardly will you confuse it with anything.
 
The blog post characterizes the sound as “human, connected, expressive, and story-driven”. Yes, the mood it builds up is just about this. Electronic through and through, it doesn’t feel synthetic, rather like some exotic acoustic instrument. It comes with an animation that suits it greatly, being just as laconic and expressive.
 
The names of the authors, though, remain undisclosed. Instead, YouTube addressed Antfood, a popular sonic branding studio, and Buck, the one that created the animation for that introduction. No persons like Brian Eno (who famously created the Windows 95 startup sound) seem to have been involved.
 
If you want to see what this sound (and the animation as well) consists of, YouTube got this covered – or rather uncovered. The blog post explaining the story and the ideas behind this new intro will take much longer to read and view or listen than the intro itself. Yet it does read easily.
 
Did you like the new way your YouTube experience on TV begins? What would you compare it to? Doesn’t it feel annoying or too aggressive? Share your impressions with us in the comments section!