Born in 1956 in Sheffield, UK. After leaving school worked in computers for 3 years, in 1978 formed The Human League. Formed production company/label British Electric Foundation in 1980 and formed Heaven 17 the same year. Martyn has written, performed and produced two Human League, two BEF and nine Heaven 17 albums. As record producer and artist has featured on recordings totaling over 50 million sales worldwide – producing Tina Turner, Terence Trent D’Arby, Chaka Khan, Erasure, Marc Almond and Mavis Staples, etc.
Founded Illustrious Co. Ltd. with Vince Clarke in 2000 to exploit the creative and commercial possibilities of their unique three-dimensional sound technology in collaboration with fine artists, the performing arts and corporate clients around the world. Clients include: BP, Ogilvy, The British Council, The Science Museum, The Royal Ballet, Amnesty International, The V&A Museum, Mute Records, BBC TV, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, BAFTA , Museum Of London. Tate Britain, Red Bull Music Academy, City Of Westminster Council, etc.
Martyn produces and presents a series of events entitled ‘Future Of Sound’ (21 so far) in UK and around the world and has created sonic architectural works at the British Pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale in 2006 amongst many others. He also lectures extensively on music production, technology, and creativity at universities and colleges across the world and he is Head of Sonic Experience and co-founder of the leading sound-branding agency – SonicID.
Presentation: The Future of Sonic Branding
Sonic branding is growing rapidly as a relatively new discipline and agencies within this space will soon be growing to the size of larger marketing and advertising companies.
What lessons can we learn from this nascent creative field? What are the differentiators between different companies? Is the field big enough to accommodate specialisation? What works and what are the pitfalls? What is the future of sonic branding and how can we all ensure a prosperous and successful future in this world?
