Substance

What Substance does

Substance is a boutique audio production services company based in Newburgh, United States, founded in 2010. The firm provides sound design, audio editing, mixing, and musical composition services, and operates with a headcount of between 1 and 10 employees. The company is founder-led by Rachel Bickley, who serves as Founder and Sound Designer, indicating a concentrated creative-leadership structure in which the principal's craft capability is central to service delivery.

There is no disclosed information regarding pricing models, target customer segments, contract structures, or revenue mechanics. The labor-intensive, craft-based nature of the service offering implies a project-based or retainer-style engagement model typical of small audio production boutiques, with revenue dependent on direct client billings for creative output. Substance operates a single public-facing digital presence at wearesubstance.com, which is currently set to private on WordPress.com and requires login to view, restricting external visibility into the firm's portfolio, client roster, and service catalog. No technology stack, integrations, AI tooling, or proprietary platforms are disclosed, and no funding rounds, partnerships, awards, certifications, or named customers are documented in the available data.

The combination of a 15-year operating history, sub-10-person headcount, single-founder governance model, absence of any disclosed technology or capital inputs, and a deliberately opaque web presence characterizes Substance as a small, craft-driven services business rather than a technology, platform, or venture-backed company. Substantive due diligence on revenue, customer base, and operating activity is not possible from public sources given the current posture of the company website.

Name

Substance

Website

https://wearesubstance.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Substance is a boutique audio production company based in Newburgh, United States, founded in 2010, specializing in sound design, editing, mixing, and musical composition. The founder-led firm operates with between 1 and 10 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Audio Production Services

NAICS

Sound Recording Studios (51224)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Audio Engineering Services (Tracking, Mixing, Mastering) (MPAIAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Audio Mastering & Deliverables (Loudness/Compliance, Printmasters, Stems) (MPAHAEAL), Sound Post-Production (Dialogue, ADR, Foley, Mixing) (MPADAGAC)

Keywords

• Sound design
• Audio post production
• Music composition
• Audio mixing
• Film audio services

Headquarters

HQ city

Newburgh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Substance is an audio production company that delivers sound design, audio editing, audio mixing, and original musical composition services for media projects. The studio serves clients who require professional, bespoke audio post-production work, combining creative sound design and music scoring in a single offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sound Design Creation of custom sound effects and sonic elements tailored to media projects such as film, television, or advertising, delivered to production clients.
• Audio Editing Professional editing of recorded audio, including dialogue cleanup and assembly, provided to media production clients.
• Audio Mixing Mixing of multiple audio elements into a final balanced soundtrack for media projects, delivered to production clients.
• Musical Composition Original music and score composition services for media projects, providing bespoke music assets to production clients.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• Q Department: Sound design and music company for advertising, film, and television. Similar founder-led boutique profile with overlap in sound design and composition services.
• Formosa Group: Independent audio post-production and music studio providing sound design, mixing, and composition for film, advertising, and streaming. Comparable multi-service boutique at slightly larger scale.
• Barking Owl: Audio branding and sound design company producing music, sonic logos, and mix work for brands and agencies. Closely aligned with Substance's composition + sound design offering.
• Antfood: Boutique audio production and sound design studio offering music, sound design, and mix services to agencies and brands. Directly comparable to Substance as a small, founder-led firm providing integrated audio post-production.
• Heard City: Sound design and music studio working in advertising and film. Similar small-team, multi-service (sound design + composition) operating model to Substance.
• Mophonics: Sound design and audio branding studio serving advertising, film, and interactive media. Comparable in scope (sound design + music) and boutique scale to Substance.
• Hooks: Audio branding and sound design firm offering custom sound design, music, and sonic identity work. Comparable boutique profile with overlapping service categories.
• Squeak E. Clean Studios: Audio post-production and music studio with sound design, mixing, and composition capabilities serving advertising and media. Directly comparable multi-service audio boutique.

Broad incumbents

• Skywalker Sound: Industry-leading audio post-production facility (Lucasfilm) offering sound design, mixing, and mastering for major film and streaming productions. Sets the quality benchmark and competes for the same downstream work as Substance, but at vastly greater scale.
• Technicolor (Post-Production): Global post-production services provider including sound design, mixing, and ADR for film and episodic content. Overlaps with Substance's audio post capabilities but serves tier-1 studio clients.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat1 record

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SubstanceNYC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Substance