Stephen Arnold Music, a leading creator of custom music and sonic branding for broadcast, sports and entertainment, has developed the original musical theme and sonic branding package for Gray Media and Raycom Sports’ newly launched slate of Atlanta Hawks basketball broadcasts on WANF (Atlanta News First) and Peachtree Sports Network.
Featuring live orchestration with an unmistakable Atlanta hip-hop influence, the music establishes a distinctive audio identity for Gray Media’s Hawks coverage while advancing the broadcaster’s broader strategy to build a cohesive sonic brand across its growing sports portfolio.
The new music package will accompany all non-nationally televised Hawks regular-season games produced by Raycom Sports available on Amazon's Prime Video, WANF and Peachtree Sports Network’s free over-the-air signal, as well as through WANF's carriage on major pay-TV systems including Xfinity, Spectrum, DirecTV, and DISH Network. Gray Media stations in Albany (WALB), Augusta (WRDW), Columbus (WTVM), Macon (WPGA), and Savannah (WTOC) will also carry games on their local stations. The music will also be featured in Gray Media’s pregame and postgame shows.
At the heart of the package are two long-form, modular themes composed and arranged to accommodate the varied demands of a live sports broadcast. A defining feature of the Hawks theme is its Atlanta hip-hop influence. To ensure the music reflected the city’s distinctive musical heritage, Stephen Arnold Music worked with a team of artist partners to help shape the hip-hop elements with an authentic regional sensibility. The resulting score blends the energy and attitude of Atlanta’s urban music culture with the dramatic scope of a fully produced, dynamic sports theme.
Chad Cook, President and Creative Director of Stephen Arnold Music noted. “Our goal was to give Gray Media a recognizable sonic identity as a sports content provider, with a musical foundation that could support an entire broadcast package,” Cook says. “We developed a long-form theme with multiple sections and dynamic variations to work across the different moments of a game broadcast. The arrangement also incorporates distinct melodic hooks and musical flourishes that can be isolated and edited into shorter elements, giving Gray Media a flexible sonic toolkit for everything from idents and transitions to promotional content.”
The work for the Hawks builds on Stephen Arnold Music’s previous sonic branding work for Gray Media’s regional sports partnerships with both MLB’s Atlanta Braves and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. While each package is customized to its respective sport, market and audience, each project shares a melodic foundation, creating continuity across Gray Media’s sports programming.
For the Hawks, Cook and the team explored multiple concepts and melodic hooks, refining the material to strike the right balance between the established musical identity and the distinct sounds of NBA basketball and Atlanta hip-hop. As Gray Media continues to expand its sports offerings, this approach gives the brand a distinctive sound that can grow with it.
For the Hawks, Cook and the team explored multiple concepts and melodic hooks, refining the material to strike the right balance between the established musical identity and the distinct sounds of NBA basketball and Atlanta hip-hop. As Gray Media continues to expand its sports offerings, this approach gives the brand a distinctive sound that can grow with it.
