Composing a Theme: Premier Hockey Federation Sings a New Song Boutique agency Audiobrain crafted the league's anthem for branding and broadcast By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, January 14, 2022 - 8:19 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
There are many pieces of the live viewing experience that sear lifelong memories into the minds - and hearts - of sports fans. Perhaps one of the more underrated elements of madeleine in our collective sports conscious is music.
That is especially true of the sport of hockey, where, just last year, one of the most talked-about storylines of the NHL's reunion with ESPN was the return of the brand's iconic theme song.
On the women's side of the game, the top-flight North American women's professional hockey league was rebranding itself, and the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was looking to bring a fresh audible identity to its newly minted brand.
The PHF turned to the team at Audiobrain, a boutique sonic-branding agency based in New York City, to develop a pulsating, energetic theme that would not only accompany the league's new name and logo but debut on broadcast alongside a season-long live-distribution deal with ESPN in the U.S.
You have to engage and bring emotion to the consumer, says Audrey Arbeeny, owner and Emmy-winning executive producer/creative director, Audiobrain. They have to feel something. I've been doing this a really long time, and, when I listen to this piece of music, I get excited.
The process of developing a sports-television theme is an intriguing one, and, for the team at Audiobrain, it's one that includes a lengthy research process. Composers consumed anything they could about the league to identify its brand energy. That included watching multiple NWHL (the league's former name) games, consuming press conference, and talking to key stakeholders in the league: executives, coaches, and players.
By the time we start writing, says Arbeeny, we all sit down, and we say, What makes this different? What's going to make this stand out? And that music is so unexpected. It is as strong as any broadcast-brand theme that we've ever written.
https://www.sportsvideo.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/OpenMusic_re-encoded_edit.mp4
According to Arbeeny, the key qualities that were identified - and ultimately influenced the final product - were empowerment, inclusivity, and integrity. The team also aimed for a gender-neutral feel in its use of strings and brass.
We follow a branding process, she explains. There's a discovery, and there's research. How is the brand positioning itself, what does it stand for, what are its values, and what are its core attributes?
We're not just writing 15 demos and saying, Tell me which one you like,' she continues. Every one that we write, every concept that we write, the composers tie it back to what we heard from the brand, and that's how we get the right characteristics into the sound.
Audiobrain has quite a legacy in media music and sound effects: its r sum includes some Olympics work for NBC, the Microsoft Xbox 360, and a past edition of the Major League Soccer anthem. The group currently has six award-winning composers on its staff and has been serving the industry for more than two decades.
I knew not only of Audrey's [ability] to create and understand music as a business but [her ability to] understand how to use music to brand, says PHF's executive media consultant Michael Cohen. That was important for this project because, as the Premier Hockey Federation enters its seventh season, it's the most extensive production ever of games being on-air anywhere. We didn't want to just start and throw these things on a media platform without really starting with What is [the league] supposed to feel like, look like, and, importantly, sound like?'
In addition to the primary theme, the Audiobrain team also worked closely with Cohen and the broadcast side to develop a variety of teases and bumpers that fit a traditional broadcast package. What will hit viewers' ears at the top of a game broadcast vs. the open of a league-branded podcast, or when the game goes to a commercial in the middle of the second period, or during a Goal of the Week segment at an intermission break.
The PHF established this theme to be universal, not one designed just for the live game broadcast. This is a theme that will accompany the league in all environments, be it in-venue or on content across social platforms.
It's a cohesive, unified communication, which is where all of voice and sound are going now, says Arbeeny. It is gigantic.
The Premier Hockey Federation returns to action on Saturday wen the Metropolitan Riveters visit the Connecticut Whale at 1 p.m. ET and the Buffalo Beauts visit the Toronto Six at 2 p.m. Both games will stream live in the U.S. on ESPN+.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Composing a Theme: Premier Hockey Federation Sings a New Song Boutique agency Audiobrain crafted the league's anthem for branding and broadcast By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
