By Nick Field, Senior Consultant

Audio is personal. Everyone hears the world differently. We all have unique perceptions of what “great sound” actually is. But one thing is universal: audio has the ability to make or break an experience. You can’t enjoy a top quality live sports stream, gig or a movie in the same way if the audio is scratchy or distorted. But you can easily stay hooked on something with solid visuals – or none at all – if the audio is clear, immersive, and authentic.

The good news for audiophiles and audio brands is that there’s innovation everywhere. Live is thriving. The UK trade body LIVE found consumer spend on festivals, events and concerts was up 9.5% last year – that’s one gig every 137 seconds. Immersive theatre, arts and event spaces are investing in interactive and spatial audio. Consumer headphones are smarter than ever. People are getting used to feeling sound as much as hearing it. Audio brands are responding.

Spatial audio opportunity

Spatial and immersive formats have moved from niche to normal. Dolby Atmos is available across billions of headphones, soundbars, TVs and cars. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video offer immersive audio content. Broadcasters are experimenting with Next Generation Audio (NGA) in live TV for immersive, accessible and personalized audio options – letting viewers adjust dialog levels, switch commentary tracks, or choose different languages. Artists, producers and sound editors now have a range of spatial audio formats inside music creation tools like Avid’s Pro Tools.

Spatial audio and listener behavior was front and center at Futuresource’s Audio Collaborative event in London last week. New research found that 87% of people have now listened to spatial audio across movies and music, with immersive formats quietly becoming a part of everyday listening. Futuresource also highlighted generational divides in what listeners value. Audio quality always wins, but younger audiences gravitate toward new features, visually aesthetic devices, immersive formats – and they’re interested in AI-enabled functionality. Older listeners, often with higher spending power, prioritize clarity, richness, and a more traditional feel. For brands launching products – and tech vendors delivering new solutions – that means deftly tailoring your message to different buyer personas is essential.

In-car audio shifts gear

Cars have always been a core listening environment. The evolution of media connectivity has made in-car entertainment a massive market, with many modern vehicles now ready to bring live TV and streaming services directly to passengers. The automotive audio market alone is now worth over $30 billion, according to Futuresource data. Alongside vehicle autonomy, continuous listening experiences as you move from your mobile phone to your car, and new agentic AI interactivity features, in-car spatial audio is picking up speed. Why? Partly because cars give you a defined environment to immerse listeners with spatial sound – unlike at a festival ground or in a kitchen, you know exactly where every person is seated, all the time. 

Making people listen

Here’s the issue: none of this innovation will reach its potential if people don’t understand why it matters to them. Why should someone care about spatial audio – what’s in it for me as an artist, or a listener? Why stick with a streaming service that prioritizes sound quality? Why invest in a better car just for the audio experience? 

The right storytelling makes those answers obvious.

We help brands across the audio market create narratives that resonate and drive sales – including music and audio post leader Avid (Pro Tools), radio and TV pioneer Telos Alliance, or sustainable charging start-ups like Klvr. We’ve been in the business for decades – our team has delivered global campaigns for household names like Sonos and Napster.

If you’re thinking about an audio product launch before events like NAMM or ISE, you want to get into a new market, or need a stronger message to stand out above all the noise, you know where to find us.