An original theme song for your book, and what it is not

A theme song here is one piece of original music, composed for your book and used as an audio signature across its video output. It is available on Starter and Growth, where it sits alongside two trailers. It is worth being precise about what it is, because the phrase gets oversold elsewhere: this is a marketing asset that runs under your content. It is not a score, not a released single, and not something we register with performing rights bodies on your behalf.

What arrives when the track is finished

• One original theme song, written to a brief agreed with you, and delivered as a finished track.
• Stems and versions so the same piece can run under a video as-is, looped shorter, or used at a lower level under narration.
• Clear usage rights for your own channels — your social accounts, your website, your ads, your trailer.
• Placement in the video stream, so the track is actually used rather than sitting in a folder.

Why a recurring cue holds the first seconds

A theme does something text cannot. Every video in the stream starts from silence, and silence gives the first half-second nothing to hold onto. A short recurring cue gives the audience an audio identifier before they have read a single word of on-screen text, so the recognition accumulates across weeks of posting rather than having to be rebuilt each time. That is the mechanism, and it is why the track has to sit under content you are already producing rather than exist as a separate piece of branding nobody hears twice.

How a theme is briefed, written and revised

• Brief. We talk about genre, tone, pace and where the music will actually be heard. A thriller wants something different from a cosy fantasy romance, and the brief says so in plain terms.
• References. You give us two or three artists or tracks whose feel you want, which removes most of the guesswork.
• Composition. A melody first, then arrangement. You hear a rough version before the full production — this is the point at which changes are cheap.
• Mix and versions. The full mix, then the short-form edit, then it goes into the content calendar.

The references that stop composition going astray

A short brief of your own, and honest references. Most delays on this service come from vague direction. Something epic produces something generic, because there is nothing in it to push against. Ten minutes spent naming two tracks you already like will save a revision round.

Why the first version is too literal

Expect the first version to be too literal. A theme written to represent a specific plot moment often works as music and fails as a signature, because a signature has to be recognisable without a story attached. The other issue is loudness: a hook written to grab attention is often uncomfortable at the volume a phone speaker actually produces.

Who a written theme is not for

Not for an author who wants a commercially released song, a lyric video, or music for the reading experience of the book itself. We do not register the track with performing rights organisations, and we are not going to imply there is income waiting for you there. It is also not for most authors starting a first campaign. The video stream and the listing will earn their money back first; a theme song is a refinement for a book that already has some momentum behind it.

The listening time a theme costs you

Two listening sessions and one decision — a rough version and a finished version. That is the honest cost. The cost that matters more is the delay at the start of a campaign while composition is settled, which is why it is scheduled alongside the trailer work rather than bolted on afterwards.

What a recognisable theme actually sounds like

A piece of music a viewer could identify without seeing your name on the screen, and which gets used because it works rather than because it is a branding requirement. If the answer is that it sounds pleasant and will do, you have spent money on decoration.