This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

Sound design is one of the more overlooked aspects of design,

but it's so critical to our enjoyment of the world. Few sounds please me more than the satisfying

woof that my car doors make when I get inside my VW. My current least favorite sounds are from credit card chip readers that Blair an

obnoxious warning buzz that clearly signals to normal humans that something has

gone wrong even though it actually means everything went, and it's time to remove your card.

My love of sound and story is why I was excited to find the new podcast 20,000 hurts, which

tells the stories behind the most recognizable and

interesting sounds. And I'm pleased to present one of their episodes today.

Here, host Dallas Taylor tells the story behind the most famous sound in broadcasting.

This is the National Broadcasting Company. For being only three tiny notes, the NBC Chimes have had a colossal impact on media and

culture for nearly 90 years. It was back in the late 1920s when NBC

started using this for the first time to identify itself on the radio.

They became so iconic and so popular.

They became so iconic and so popular that they were the very first sound to ever

be awarded an audio trademark and that's hard to get. Take for example the Harley-Davidson engine sound.

After six years of litigation and challenges from other companies they withdrew their application.

Courts also denied Motorola's request to trade its chirp, saying that, among other things,

they didn't do a good enough job promoting it as an actual soundmark.

Budweiser even tried to trademark the sound of an opening beer can.

I think I'm going to go with the courts on this one.

So there are only about a hundred sounds that have actually officially become US trademarks, and most of them are incredibly iconic.

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