On Acquiring A Sound Effects And Production Music Library [Over 1M Tracks Online]
Hi, my name is Craig Nimens and I am the Vice-President of SoundDogs.com. With over one million tracks, SoundDogs offers the world’s first, largest and finest online commercial sound effects and music production library. We travel the world to bring exclusive Academy Award-winning, authentic, and coveted royalty-free sounds that make any and all projects come to life.
The original version of SoundDogs.com was formed in August 1996, and after much planning and execution, the original website went online in May 1997. It was the world's first online commercial sound effects and production music library, long before the Apple iTunes music store came into the market. In November 2004, SoundDogs acquired the immense sound effects library of SoundStorm, a seven-time nominee and winner of an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.
We pride ourselves on owning a vast, easily accessible sound library for immediate download (available in .aiff, .wav, and .mp3 formats) and packaged on harddrive as the entire Soundstorm library.
SoundDogs' recent clients include Editors behind such films as:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Race to Witch Mountain, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, The Princess and the Frog, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, The X Files: I Want to Believe, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Generation Kill, John Adams, Mongol, Prince of Persia, Game Plan, 3:10 To Yuma, Blue State, Blades of Glory, Because I Said So, The Santa Clause 3, Gwoemul, Flicka, The Guardian, Gridiron Gang, The Shaggy Dog, Glory Road, All The King's Men, Invincible, You Me and Dupree, Flyboys, The Dukes of Hazzard, Sin City, Lava Boy, and Shark Girl, An Unfinished Life, The Nomad, Dead or Alive, Cheon Yeong, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, First Born, Million Dollar Baby, Ali, Seabiscuit, Dreamer, Miracle and many more as well as the TV series BONES.
What's your backstory and how did you get into entrepreneurship?
It all started over 40 years ago with my Father, Brian Nimens, who began his own sound effects company as a recording studio in Toronto, Ontario called Sound Ideas (a division of The Brian Nimens Corporation). Sound Ideas offers over 1,000,000 sound effects, production elements, and royalty-free music tracks for television, film sound design, game development, post-production, interactive media, and countless other professional audio production uses. With Sound Ideas’ acquisition of The Hollywood Edge Collections, Sound Ideas added over 70,000 high-end, professional royalty-free tracks that were designed by award-winning sound designers
My exposure to the world of sound effects, fostered by my Father, sparked a passion for the art and business of sound, which has grown into a successful family business that I am proud of.
It is important that you understand your industry and that you know your marketplace.
I attended Georgian College and received my BBA in Business, Management, and Marketing and afterward at Northwood University for my BBA in Business, Marketing, Management, and Finance, to ensure that I had all the necessary tools to pursue a career as a successful entrepreneur.
Over the years of working in the sound effects and production music business, I developed my expertise in management, marketing, finance, negotiating, networking, customer service, forecasting, advertising, organization, public relations, quality assurance, and administration.
Take us through your entrepreneurial journey. How did you go from day 1 to today?
I had spent several years of my youth by my Father’s side, learning the ins and outs of the royalty-free sound effects and licensed music industry. This first-hand experience gave me the skills and know-how to take the lead as Vice-President of SoundDogs when on June 1st, 2019, Sound Ideas acquired SoundDogs.com.
Sound Ideas has a long history of collaboration with SoundDogs.com and its owner at the time, Rob Nokes. To quote Brian Nimens, the owner of Sound Ideas, “Rob is a leader in the industry. His reputation as a sound recorder, designer, and editor is unmatched; and the skill with which he has developed and grown the SoundDogs.com brand and site is remarkable. I have known Rob for decades and I am thrilled that Sound Ideas will be able to move forward with the SoundDogs.com name.”
Since the acquisition of SoundDogs.com, we’ve cultivated a unique team of success-driven sound engineers, web developers, salespeople, and administrative staff to bring the new website into the future.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
SoundDogs.com’s year-over-year growth has been highly steady and competitive within industrial markets. Currently, with over 1,000,000 tracks available online, the SoundDogs.com library is continuously growing. Our goal is to always be the premier provider of the best quality, unique and royalty-free sound effects and licensed music worldwide.
We encourage and welcome recordists and musicians to submit their sounds to SoundDogs.com with an aim for distinctive sounds that have never been heard before. SoundDogs strives to remain the top source of sound effects and licensed music with a vast global reach, available to everyone, supported by word of mouth throughout the industry, and strong brand recognition.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
One of the greatest lessons I learned through my experiences and the process of being an entrepreneur, is ensuring that you collect only the best quality and unique sounds available.
When these unique sounds are not available, we actively seek them out so that we continue to stay well ahead of the competition. In the world of sound effects, the key is to know what is currently in demand and most popular, and then provide these new and unique sound effects to our customers through the ease and accessibility of our SoundDogs.com online downloads.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
Our website is bespoke with a proprietary interface and design. We also use Paypal at our online checkout to ensure a fast checkout experience that lets our customers pay how they want, without leaving our website.
We continually improve upon our SoundDogs.com website for the best possible ease of use and superior searchability for our customers.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
I believe that you need to make sure that you are doing work that you care about. With that, you will easily attract great people who are motivated to build an amazing team and are passionate about turning your ideas into reality.
It is important that you understand your industry and that you know your marketplace. I feel you can never do enough research; this will help you keep ahead in your goals.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are not currently hiring for any full-time positions, however, we always welcome recordists and musicians to submit their sounds to SoundDogs.com.
Where can we go to learn more?
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
