It’s pretty common for companies launching new tickers to the Nadaq Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell, but getting to design how that bell sounds is unique.
Today when Sonos lists its shares for its initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq in New York City’s Times Square, it will debut its new redesigned sound for the bell.
“Sonos Sound Experience Lead Giles Martin and Academy Award-winning sound engineer Chris Jenkins worked with Nasdaq on the project. Experimenting with different instruments and techniques, our sound engineers artfully created a bell that both honors Nasdaq’s roots as a disruptor and speaks to our shared commitment to the pursuit of innovation, knowledge and improvement,” Sonos states in a blog post.
Focusing on sound design is a perfect marketing fit for Sonos, which sells a line of high-performance smart speakers. Sonos is trying to edge out competition from the likes of Apple, Google, and Amazon by focusing on speakers that music lovers can appreciate. So the idea of crafting a beautiful aural experience that mixes the familiar Nasdaq music with a cacophany of spirit-lifting rings and dings is an ideal way to start its public trading history.
The bell will be Nasdaq’s new market-opening siren from now on. Sonos shares what the new bell sounds like with some Soundcloud snippets and how it designed the sound with a Youtube video.
Here’s what the old Nasdaq bell sounds like:
And now here’s what the new Sonos-designed bell sounds like:
Here’s the video describing the design of the sound:
We’ll see if the sound of the bell takes on a new meaning based on how SONO performs today in trading.