Wieden + Kennedy's boards are among the most sought-after in the business and its music and sound design jobs are no different.

W+K producer Vic Palumbo says that Nike spots either take on their own natural rhythm during post or, as in the case of last year's blockbuster "Freestyle," are by necessity, pre-scored.

"There is always a lot of discussion beforehand: do you force it into some kind of rhythm? Or let it find its own rhythm, as was the case with 'Move'?," says Palumbo.

Elias Art's Jonathan Elias recently scored the Jake Scott-directed "Move" with an uplifting and emotive piano piece that sonically alludes to folktronic band Four Tet's plaintive "Everything Is Alright" used in the recent Nike spot, "Raining Runners."

Originally, creative director Hal Curtis had sought out a contemporary hip-hop beat to accent the spot's transitions. Elias and another Nike musical mainstay, Jeff Elmassian of Endless Noise, took several cracks at scoring "Move" before Elias hit upon the piano piece.

"A lot of things worked, but nothing had that extra something, so Hal said to Jonathan, 'Just do what you feel works.' Jonathan's track was completely different; it flowed and changed the tempo of the spot and the way it was viewed. It's catchy, but a bit emotional and helps to pull you in. It elevated the visuals."

Palumbo says relationships between composers, creatives and producers such as himself, Jeff Selis and Ben Grylewicz, facilitate a sort of musical shorthand that helps prevent music from becoming an afterthought to production. Additionally, W+K in-house music heads Jessica Vacek and Eric Johnson help keep the agency up to the second in terms of the sounds of now.

That said, pre-scored jobs such as the W+K/Elmassian/Bambaata collaboration of 2001, demand aural acumen and deconstructive thinking.

Elmassian also scored Nike's Tiger Woods "Hacky Sack" spot, the David Fincher-directed campaign for the 2000 Olympics, as well as "That's Why," a Nike spot starring Michael Jordan that broke during the 2002 Super Bowl.

"For the Jordan spot, 'That's Why,' his heartbeat and a bouncing basketball sound fuse together, so by the end you have the feeling they are one. The concept can be simple, but the process is about an enormous amount of introspection," notes Elmassian.

Another recent Nike gig for Elmassian was "Dog Gone," starring David Duval and directed by Noam Murro. When Grylewicz and CD Jim Riswold asked for a country-fried yodel version of "Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone," Elmassian pulled together the prerequisite yodler and pedal steel player.