Ideas in Sound · music by Shakil Ahmad
Economics you can hum.
Two concept albums that turn big books into songs. Every track is one idea, set in the sound of its time: a sea shanty for Adam Smith, 1920s jazz that crashes with the market, a ballad for a famine, a crowd shouting back at Amartya Sen. Streaming everywhere.
Album · 14 songs · inspired by Development as Freedom
Development as Freedom The Musical
Amartya Sen's argument that development means freedom, one chapter per song.
Album · 14 songs · inspired by What Would the Great Economists Do?
One World, Many Answers Songs Inspired by the Great Economists
Twelve economists, twelve musical worlds, from a Scottish sea shanty to 1920s jazz that crashes with the market.
The lyric videos
All 15 videos →Each song from Development as Freedom: The Musical also exists as a lyric video on the podcast channel, so you can read along while it plays.
How these are made
Book first. Then the beat.
Each track takes a single chapter or a single thinker and tries to get it right. If a line would not survive an economics exam, it is rewritten.
Shakil writes every lyric from the book, chasing a chorus you can remember and rhymes that sing naturally.
The music is generated with AI from detailed prompts describing the era, instruments and emotional arc, then re-run until the lead instrument feels like a real performance.
Published under the Ideas in Sound imprint on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music.
Ideas in Sound turns books, ideas and human stories into music. More albums are on the way; the podcast is where the reading happens first.