Big Picture Big Sound

If you watched the Grammy Awards earlier this week, you may have spotted a new ad from wireless speaker maker SONOS. The piece reveals a desolate landscape of families living separate lives in common spaces: eyes glued to phones and tablets, ears glued to headphones. Everyone is together but apart: there is no human interaction. This condition is something SONOS calls, "The Silent Home" and their belief is that this silence and lack of social interaction exacerbates the stress of modern life. The solution is simple, according to the company. We just need to listen to more music. Together. Out loud.

In a follow-up to their "Music Makes it Home" study from 2016, SONOS has done a new survey of 9,000 households and spoken to neurologists, psychologists and other experts in various fields to try to figure out just why the art of listening to music together has been lost. They've identified a number of different causes. "Screen-induced isolation" (paying more attention to your phone or tablet rather than the person in front of you), acute hyper-scheduling (where "free time" is a crime), 24/7 work weeks, anti-social music listening (in one's room or on headphones), and overly complicated sound systems are among the top causes of the silent home.

To combat this condition (and, of course, to sell more wireless speakers), SONOS is launching a multi-media ad campaign in print, on TV and on the Web. The first TV ad, which debuted this week on the Grammys begins with dissonant unsettling background music as we peer into the lives of these hapless automatons, stricken by the silent home. A lone freedom fighter in a hoodie hurls a SONOS Play:1 speaker through a plate glass window and suddenly there's music - Thin Lizzie, no less! - and everyone is happy. The commercial is a bit dark and dystopian and also a bit jarring. But it's effective. Here it is:

Symptoms of a Silent Home:

• 71% of Americans in the survey report a shortage of meaningful conversations at home.
• Over half (54%) note their households spend more time interacting with technology than with each other.
• 79% admit to having a silent home -- not playing a single song -- when hosting guests or entertaining.
• 86% of Americans shared that they'd like to spend more time doing activities in-person with family and friends.

Benefits of Listening to Music Out Loud

• Couples who listen to music out loud together regularly have 67% more sex than couples who don't. 'Nuf said about that.
• 83% of the participants found it easier to do chores while listening to music.
• About 50% said they enjoyed cooking more with music in the background.
• Many respondents claimed that music made them happier, with 43% saying they felt "extremely loved" when listening to music oud load on a regular basis (this was an 87 percent increase from before there was music in the home).

I was at SONOS East Coast headquarters in Boston last week and got a sneak peek at some of the upcoming print ads and themes as well. The "Wake Up the Silent Home" campaign will stress the benefits of listening to music out loud in a communal setting and will highlight the simplicity and sound quality of doing this with SONOS speakers. "Just press play."

So what are you waiting for? Start listening to music out loud. It might just make you happier.

You can read more about the campaign on the Sonos web site:

• sonos.com/en-us/wake-up-the-silent-home