Is Ambient Music Made in Spatial Audio the Path to Wellness? This new label is betting on it

Walk into any particular spa or yoga studio and you're likely to hear music or soundscapes designed to help you relax. Sometimes the sound is of a pan flute or a gentle rain. More often than not, however, you'll hear some form of ambient music: soft, often instrumental “chill out” productions meant to enhance the peaceful atmosphere.

Now, two longtime stalwarts of the electronic music industry, partnering with leaders in the wellness technology and audio music spaces, are entering the genre through a new label: Sacred Society Music Group.

The label is a founder project Bradley Roullierwho also founded electronic music digital download store Beatport in 2004, and Barbie Beltran, wellness expert and co-founder of a wellness center in Denver also called Sacred Society. Co-founders include; Paul Morris — the founder of online agency AM Only, which was acquired by Paradigm in 2017, and Tiësto's longtime manager — and Dolby Atmos expert Adelio Lombardi. Matthew Everchen handles A&R and special projects.

With Sacred Society, the label's founders aim to improve the quality and effectiveness of ambient music by producing its entire catalog in Dolby Atmos — a move they believe can increase the well-being of listeners who use the genre for relaxation, sleep and various types of wellness. practices.

“As label owners, we thought we could make this music that's part of life great,” says Roulier Advertising sign.

Based in Denver, the label launched this week with a collection of more than 55 tracks and over six hours of immersive content. A piece called “Ancient Chant” features a drum, a rain stick and water with various bells and a voice repeating, “You've got it all in you.” A meditative track, 'Inside The Womb Of The Earth', is exactly 11 minutes and 11 seconds long.

This music, organized by more than two dozen tags to help users find the ambient sounds best suited for specific activities and times of day, is currently available on Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music. (It's not yet on Spotify or YouTube, as those platforms don't currently support Dolby Atmos.) So far the label features music from nine contributing musicians, including Dynasty Electric, Matthew James Kelly, Cobane Ivory, Sean Stolar and Roulier himself. artists appearing under the name “Holy Company”.

While a barrage of ambient music already exists on the market (a search for “ambient” on Spotify turns up over 30 playlists), the founders of Sacred Society believe their production is distinct from its Dolby Atmos production. Spatial sound technology adds dimension and depth to music and can only be produced and reproduced through specialized equipment. The company's founders claim that listeners will benefit from this technology. as Roulier says, helping them “explore the meditative and ambient soundscapes deeper than [they] ever thought possible.”

Sacred Society's music is produced exclusively at side3 Denver's Dolby Atmos-equipped studio, built by Lombardi. While building the studio required, as a Sacred Society spokesperson says, “significant financial investment,” it was more intensive to define the precise technical specifications necessary to record in Dolby Atmos.

But that investment was worth it, Lombardi says Advertising signbecause “adding immersive sound to it [music] Experience raises it significantly.”

This may all sound like a niche endeavor, but there is potential to tap into a wide audience given the number of people who engage in home wellness practices and how often this music is licensed for use in facilities such as spas and yoga studios. Roulier says the band “want our music to be widely available in the wellness space worldwide” and have discussed creating a subscription service tailored for professionals, hotels and spas that would allow them to use Sacred Society's content commercially.

The demand for background music is also expected to increase. the company cites a report that says the genre was valued at $1.8 billion in 2022, with that number expected to grow to $3.21 billion by 2030. Demand for Dolby Atmos is also expanding, with the company reports statistics that 90% of Apple Music users have engaged with the format, and that music playbacks available in spatial audio have more than tripled in the past two years.

All of this work is ultimately intended to achieve the founders' goal of sharing the holistic benefits embedded in the species.

“I've always loved ambient music and I really believe that music has the power to heal,” says Morris Advertising sign. “With anxiety, depression and mental health issues escalating to unprecedented levels in our society, I can't think of a more appropriate time to release Sacred Society Music. I've lived through music my entire career, and by helping to get that music out into the world, I feel like I'm giving back in a small way through a medium that has given me so much.”

“We're about providing a unique and serene musical journey for our listeners, regardless of market trends,” adds Beltran. “We aim to offer a path to serenity, self-discovery and inner harmony through the transformative power of sound.”