Award Winning Composer/Sound Designer Joins Original Music/Sound Design Company

Jon Tropea Jr., the award-winning composer/sound designer known for his extensive advertising, television and independent film work, has joined original music/sound design company Ear Goo, Inc. as Creative Director. In that role Tropea will both compose, sound design and mix, as well as work with Paul Goldman, Ear Goo President/Senior Creative Director, overseeing the Ear Goo creative and production staff.
"We're very excited to add Jon to our staff," said Goldman. "Besides having one of the most impressive commercial reels I've ever seen, Jon is also known for partnering creatively with his clients to make every project as great as it can be, which something Ear Goo prides itself in as well."

Literally born into music (his father is the noted session guitarist John Tropea Sr., whose recording and touring credits include such artists as Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Paul Simon), Tropea comes to Ear Goo following nine years as a sound designer/composer and engineer at Snyder Music, New York, where he worked on an array of award-winning national campaigns. Prior to that, Tropea was a sound designer/composer and engineer at Michael Levine Music and Crushing Music, both in New York.

"Music from an early age has been a huge part of my life ¬ from watching my dad work in the studio and in concert, to learning how to engineer and mix in our home studio," said Tropea. "I look forward to bringing that collective experience to Ear Goo. I had been looking for a new challenge and was introduced to Paul through a mutual friend. After meeting with him and discussing his vision for the company and the industry as a whole, I knew this would be a great fit. I'm excited to be a part of what he's building."

While at Snyder Music, Tropea worked on some of the most acclaimed ads of the last decade, including work for AT&T, Dr. Pepper, Nokia, Miller Lite (the infamous 'Catfight' campaign) and an array of classic spots for American Express, including campaigns featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Tiger Woods. Tropea also worked on the 'Seinfeld & Superman' short online films for American Express directed by feature filmmaker Barry Levinson. His indie film work includes the short Gasoline, which won a 2003 Jury Prize at Sundance, and The Shovel, which won Best Narrative Short at last year's Tribeca Film Festival.

"Just in this past year alone the company has grown tremendously," said Goldman, "and having someone of Jon's caliber on our staff means we can offer our clients even greater creative options."

Founded with the idea of being incredibly versatile while maintaining a boutique creative experience for their clients, Ear Goo has grown enormously in the last 12 years. Today their clients include MTV, VH1, TBWA/Chiat/Day, McCann Erickson, Y&R, DDB and Leo Burnett, among many others. In 2006 their audio work on MTV's campaign to inform people about the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region resulted in an Emmy Award for the network. The company was also honored with a 2006 BDA Gold for Best Original Sound Design for MTV's spot "Dots."

In addition, 2005 saw Goldman team with noted designer/visual effects artist John Yu to form the broadcast design boutique Element, LLC, which recently completed work for ABC Sports' coverage of the NBA, as well as ABC Sports coverage of Super Bowl XLI, MTV, and Time Warner's In-Demand HD network.