Google is rolling out a new startup sound and opening animations that play when opening the app, similar to Netflix’s famous “tudum” sound.
- What’s happening? Google is rolling out audio branding that plays when the YouTube app starts up, similar to the famous “tudum” startup sound on Netflix.
- Why care? A cheerful startup sound is better than no startup sound.
- What to do? Listen to the new sound in the YouTube PlayStation 5 app right now.
Google unveils a new YouTube startup sound
Check out the new YouTube boot sound and opening animation in a video at the top. The new startup sound is now rolling across YouTube’s apps on a TV.
Right now, you can hear how the startup sound sounds in YouTube’s app for PlayStation 5. It was unavailable on YouTube for Apple TV at the time of writing and on YouTube apps for other consoles and set-top boxes.
The opening animation starts with a quick CRT-style power up, a subtle nod back to early YouTube days. “Its color shifts serve as a poppy attention-grabbing intro.”
This is a staggered release, with the audio branding being rolled out in stages to all places where YouTube is available. The new startup sound and animation, Google says, will start to appear “in more places over the next few weeks and months.”
A lot packed into just three seconds
According to the Google blog, they created this vibrant startup sound in partnership with a sonic branding studio, named Antfood. The team was tasked with creating a three-second sound that’s expressive, story-driven and connected.
- Human. A sound that conveys the emotion, texture and organic imperfection of humanity.
- Connected. A sound with musical gestures like melody, harmony and modulation that reflect the idea of connecting interests, people and cultures.
- Expressive. A sound with dynamic textures and bright melodies, ranging from small to large, close to far and intimate to bold.
- Story-driven. A sound that, even though it’s short, gives a sense of a narrative arc, with a clear beginning and end.
Whether you like YouTube’s startup sound or not is a matter of personal preference. Perhaps you didn’t initially like the now-famous “tudum” sound that plays when you launch the Netflix app either. But now, people instantly associate “tudum” with the Netflix brand whenever they hear the sound playing.
Other streaming services use their own signature startup sounds. Apple TV+, for example, doesn’t have a specific startup sound but it plays a short intro at the start of every video. Read: How to use Apple TV to find your iPhone, iPad or Mac