You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.

The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.

I'm Dallas Taylor.

This is 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.

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— W.E.A.F. New York.

They became so iconic and so popular that they became the 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 trademark 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 U.S. trademarks,

and most of them are incredibly iconic.

Oh!

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