What Is a Sound-alike?
A sound-alike is a piece of music or a vocal performance deliberately created to imitate an existing track, artist or voice that could not be licensed, coming as close to the original as possible without copying it outright. Advertisers use sound-alikes to evoke a famous sound at lower cost, a practice that carries serious legal risk.
Sound-alike in Practice
The practice became legally hazardous through two landmark American cases. In Midler v Ford Motor Co (1988), Ford’s agency hired one of Bette Midler’s former backing singers to imitate her recording of Do You Want to Dance after Midler refused the advert; the court ruled that a distinctive voice is protectable and Midler won damages. In Waits v Frito-Lay (1992), Tom Waits won a multimillion-dollar award over a Doritos radio advert that imitated his gravelly voice. Sound-alikes often begin with temp track love, when a team falls for an unlicensable reference. The safer route is to brief a composer on the feeling the reference evokes and create something original.
Famous Example
Midler v Ford (1988): Ford’s advert imitated Bette Midler’s voice and lost in court
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- Shepard Tone
- Skeuomorphic Sound
- Sonic
- Sonic Audit
- Sonic Brand Guidelines
- Sonic Branding
- Sonic DNA
- Sonic Identity
- Sonic Logo
- Sonic Palette
- Sonification
- Sound Branding
- Sound Design
- Sound Effect (SFX)
- Sound Symbolism
- Sound Trademark
- Sound-alike
- Soundscape
- Spatial Audio
- Startup Sound
- Stem
- Sting
- Sung Slogan
- Sync Licensing
- Synthetic Voice
A memorable jingle is one tool within a brand’s wider sonic branding.
