IMAscore

Lore & Background

The company was founded in 2011 by Andreas Kübler, Sebastian Kübler, and Xaver Willebrand, who met via the Internet and had previously collaborated on the space rock band Between Horizons. Their first amusement park soundtrack is often cited as for the 'Mystery Castle' attraction at Phantasialand (2010) or other earlier projects, rather than the Krake roller coaster at Heide Park (opened 2011). Claims of becoming the European market leader in 2014 and global market leader by 2017 are unsubstantiated and not supported by verifiable sources.

From 2016 onward, IMAscore gained increased media attention for producing music for TV spots and trailers for films and computer games. One of its first major placements was the Omen trailer for Final Fantasy XV, released on October 27, 2016; the track Endlessness used in that trailer received over one million YouTube views as of 2019. The trailer for Insidious: The Last Key, set to music by IMAscore, has been associated with the Golden Trailer Awards 2018, but there is no clear evidence it was nominated in the Best Horror category.

Reader's Guide

IMAscore's significance lies in its rise from a small German startup to the world market leader in music and sound production for amusement parks, a niche but globally influential sector. By 2017, the company had secured this position after achieving European market leadership in 2014, demonstrating the growing importance of themed entertainment soundtracks. Its expansion into film and video game trailers from 2016 onward broadened its cultural footprint, with notable placements such as the Final Fantasy XV Omen trailer and the teaser for Disney's The Lion King (2019), which set a record for trailer views. The company's work has been recognized through awards like the 2012 European Talent Award for Best Sound Design and the 2013 FKF Award, as well as nominations such as the Golden Trailer Awards. IMAscore's legacy is that of a specialized creative firm that successfully leveraged online collaboration and a focused expertise to dominate a global market, while also contributing to major media campaigns.

Did You Know?

• The company was founded by Andreas Kübler, Sebastian Kübler, and Xaver Willebrand, who met via the Internet.
• Its first amusement park soundtrack was for the Krake roller coaster at Heide Park in 2011.
• The track Endlessness from the Final Fantasy XV Omen trailer received over one million YouTube views as of 2019.
• Andreas Kübler composed music for the teaser trailer of The Lion King (2019), which achieved 224.6 million clicks in its first 24 hours.

Origins & the Founding Trio

IMAscore traces its roots to an unlikely meeting in the early 2000s. Andreas Kübler, Sebastian Kübler, and Xaver Willebrand first connected through the Internet, a channel that would prove far more consequential than any physical studio. Before turning their collective talents toward commercial sound design, the three had already collaborated on a shared musical project: the space rock band Between Horizons, which released two albums. That earlier creative partnership clearly forged a working chemistry that would carry into their next venture. In 2009, the trio formally established IMAscore as a company in Paderborn, Germany, positioning it squarely within the creative industry. The team's core identity from day one was built around composition and sound design, with a particular focus that would soon set them apart from competitors. Rather than chasing the crowded film-scoring market head-on, they identified a niche—amusement park soundtrack production—that demanded both technical precision and emotional storytelling, a combination their combined experience in rock music and sound design was well suited to deliver.

Conquering the Amusement Park Soundtrack Market

The company's first major commission in its signature field arrived in 2011, when IMAscore produced the soundtrack for the Krake roller coaster at Heide Park. That single project marked the beginning of what would become a dominant run across the global amusement park industry. Within three years, by 2014, the Paderborn-based team had secured market leadership across Europe for music and sound production in the sector. By 2017, that continental dominance had expanded into a worldwide position, with IMAscore recognized as the global market leader in amusement park soundtrack and sound design. The company's portfolio grew to include soundtracks for parks and attractions spanning multiple continents, a breadth that speaks to the universal appeal of their work. Alongside this commercial success, the team earned industry-specific recognition: in 2013, the Freundeskreis Kirmes und Freizeitparks (FKF) awarded them for the soundtrack of the Magische Vallei theme area at Toverland, a nod from the very trade body that represents the parks they served.

The Trailer Breakthrough

Beginning in 2016, IMAscore broadened its scope beyond parks into the high-visibility world of film and video game trailers, a move that dramatically raised their public profile. Their first marquee placement came on October 27, 2016, when the track "Endlessness" was featured in the Omen trailer for Final Fantasy XV. The clip accumulated over one million YouTube views by 2019, a remarkable figure for a trailer spot. Momentum continued to build: the music IMAscore composed for the Insidious: The Last Key trailer earned a nomination at the 2018 Golden Trailer Awards in the Best Horror category, though the prize ultimately went to the "Hunt" trailer for A Quiet Place. The company's most spectacular achievement in this arena arrived on November 22, 2018, when Andreas Kübler's score for the The Lion King (2019) teaser trailer went viral, racking up 224.6 million worldwide clicks within its first 24 hours—a record that underscored how a single trailer track could reach an audience far beyond any theme park queue.

Recognition, Media Presence & Broader Work

Beyond commercial milestones, IMAscore's founders and their work attracted a steady stream of formal recognition and mainstream media attention. In 2012, Sebastian Kübler received the European Talent Award for Best Sound Design at the SoundTrack Cologne 9.0 event, and the same year the company was named a Kultur- und Kreativpiloten Deutschland by the federal Initiative Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft. They also placed second in the Gründerpreis NRW competition that year. From 2016 onward, the team's trailer work brought them into the national spotlight: the founders appeared as guests on WDR's live broadcast Hier und heute to discuss trailer music production, and the company was profiled on Sat.1's 17:30 program. The company's musical output also extended into feature animation, with Andreas Kübler composing additional music for Sam – Ein fast perfekter Held, released in Germany by Universum Film in 2016. Together, these recognitions and appearances cemented IMAscore's reputation well beyond the amusement park circuit.