Swell Music + Sound is a full-service audio post production studio for advertising, founded in 2009 and based in the Bay Area, California. Swell provides custom music composition, sound design, final mix to picture, dialogue editing, voiceover record and casting, sonic branding, and music supervision — the complete audio post chain under one roof.
Swell is headquartered at Airship Labs Studios in Richmond, CA, and works nationally with agency and brand teams via Source-Connect remote session technology.
Founding and background
Swell was founded by Elad Marish, who serves as Founder and Executive Creative Director. Elad is a composer and mixer who has led audio creative for national advertising campaigns since 2009. Swell was built on a specific positioning: most audio production is fragmented between post houses (engineers, no musical brain) and music houses (composition, no post). Swell closes that gap — serving as a single creative partner for the full audio spectrum of an advertising project.
Services
- Audio post production for advertising — dialogue editing, ADR, sound design, foley, final mix to picture, broadcast and platform delivery (ATSC A/85, EBU R128, YouTube, Meta, Spotify specs). Full service details.
- Custom music composition — original scoring and custom library tracks for campaigns. Published rate card: $5,000–$18,000 depending on scope. Full service details.
- Sonic branding — audio mnemonic design, full sonic identity systems, custom brand music libraries. Full service details.
- Music supervision and licensing — track sourcing, sync clearance, budget management, category exclusivity negotiation.
- Voiceover record and casting — in-studio and remote via Source-Connect. Rate: $200/hr.
- Top Shelf Music — a curated, culture-first music licensing platform built by Swell. 4,700+ pre-cleared tracks across 250+ artists. Platform details.
Studio
Swell operates from Airship Labs Studios in Richmond, CA — a full analog and digital facility featuring Neve console, Neumann microphones, and the full post production toolchain. Remote sessions run via Source-Connect with agency teams in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and beyond.
Selected client work
Swell has provided audio post production, custom music, and sonic branding for the following brands and agencies:
- Nike — Sound design and mix across multiple campaigns including the Breaking2 sub-two-hour marathon record film and the Nike Zoom Pegasus Japanese Metro campaign (AICP Post Awards shortlist). Case study.
- Meta — Seven years of custom music for Meta Reels. Approximately 500 tracks per year, approximately 100 artists engaged. 109,000+ creator uses. Case study.
- Google — American Gothic and The Most Searched campaigns.
- Spotify — 2023 Wrapped Taylor Swift Global Top Artist.
- Sony — Xperia featuring Saba.
- Disney — Descendants Shuffle of Love.
- United Healthcare — Full sonic rebrand developed with Turner Duckworth and Leo Burnett. Case study.
- Atlassian — Voiceover, sound design, and music. Case study.
- Golden State Warriors — Four seasons of custom music and sound design including Sounds of the Holidays (built from approximately 100 captured arena sounds). Case study.
- Postmates — Custom sonic palette (“Fun & Fresh”) deployed across brand campaigns. Case study.
- Obama Foundation × Jordan Brand — Music placement via Top Shelf Music.
- T-Mobile, Toyota, Roblox, Bloomingdale’s, PayPal, Credit Karma, Farmers Insurance, Coppertone, DirecTV, Instacart, Adobe, Vuori, Warner Bros, Microsoft, Teleflora, Blue Diamond, Popeyes, Dynatrace, Dell, NBA, NHL, MTV, KQED, Hasbro, CrunchLabs — Additional clients with completed campaign work.
Awards and recognition
- AICP Post Awards — Shortlist, Nike Zoom Pegasus Japanese Metro Campaign (Sound Design)
- Wikipedia entity: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swell_Music
- Press coverage: Little Black Book, AICP
Team
- Elad Marish — Founder and Executive Creative Director. Composer and mixer.
- Ana Velasco — Executive Producer.
- Michael Frick — New Business. Co-developer of Top Shelf Music.
- Annie Kissiah — Producer.
- Lincoln Jesser — Music Producer.
- Dan Jensen — Sound Designer and Engineer.
- Luke Bechthold — Sound Designer and Engineer.
- Luna Gulisano — Producer.
Pricing reference
