Robert Allan David Wilson, MBE, born in 1951 in the Scottish Borders, is an entrepreneurial business leader, musician and philanthropist. He lives in Knebworth, Hertfordshire. He was awarded an MBE in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours for services to the music industry and charity. [1]
Since 2023, Wilson has served as Chairman of Headline Audio [2] , a distributor based in Milton Keynes that distributes Nord keyboards and Solid State Logic (SSL) products in the UK and Ireland. Founded in Sweden in 1983, Nord is known for its high-quality, innovative digital keyboards, including the Nord Stage, Nord Electro, and Nord Grand, which are widely used by musicians in various genres around the world. SSL, headquartered in Oxford, manufactures professional tools for music, live sound, and broadcast.
Robert Wilson MBE founded Sound Technology Ltd in February 1978 [3] , where he served as Chairman until May 2018 [4] . Under his leadership, Sound Technology Ltd became one of the largest independent distributors of musical instruments, professional audio products and lighting in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Wilson also served as a Director of the Music Industries Association (MIA), the UK’s trade association for musical instrument and related product businesses, for over 40 years. His contributions were recognized in 2003, and he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Wilson retired from the MIA in 2019. [5] [6] [7]
Wilson continues to play an important part in supporting the music industry. [8] [9]
Wilson also recently appeared on Antiques Roadshow with a painting of Lauder Castle, reflecting his appreciation for art and history.
Wilson was a Director of Music for Youth, a national youth arts charity, from 1980 to April 2017. He also served as a Director of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) from 2008 to 2011 and contributed to the NAMM Oral History project in 2005 and 2018 [10] , receiving the NAMM Oral History Service Award. [11]
Headline Audio supports Future Dreams Breast Cancer Charity, which operates Future Dreams House, a breast cancer support center in King’s Cross, London.
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. Andy Mooney has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) since June 2015.
Solid State Logic Ltd. (SSL) is a British company based in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, England that designs and markets audio mixing consoles, signal processors, and other audio technologies for the post-production, video production, broadcast, sound reinforcement and music recording industries. SSL employs over 160 people worldwide and has regional offices in Los Angeles, Milan, New York City, Paris, and Tokyo, with additional support provided by an international network of distributors. Solid State Logic is part of the Audiotonix Group.
Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign brand was phased out. Avid Audio products will continue to be produced and will now carry the Avid brand name.
Shure Inc. is an audio products corporation headquartered in the USA. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of microphones, wireless microphone systems, phonograph cartridges, discussion systems, mixers, and digital signal processing. The company also manufactures listening products, including headphones, high-end earphones, and personal monitor systems.
The NAMM Show is an annual trade show in the United States organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which describes it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology communities". It is typically held in January at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
Alesis is an American company that designs and markets electronic musical instruments, audio processors, mixers, amplifiers, audio interfaces, recording equipment, drum machines, professional audio, and electronic percussion products. Based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, Alesis is an inMusic Brands company.
The Knebworth Festival was a recurring open-air rock and pop concert held on the grounds of the Knebworth House in Knebworth, England. The festival first occurred in July 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers and other artists attracted 60,000 people.
Hal Leonard LLC is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Currently headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it is the largest sheet music publisher in the world. It is now part of Muse Group.
QSC is an American manufacturer of audio, video and control products such as amplifiers, loudspeakers, cameras, video endpoints, and digital signal processors including the Q-SYS networked audio, video and control platform. QSC and Q-SYS products are used by audio and video professionals for commercial applications, including corporate, higher education, sports venues, themed entertainment, and cinema customers worldwide.
Universal Audio is an American company that designs, imports, and markets audio signal processing hardware and effect pedals, audio interfaces, digital signal processing, virtual instrument, and digital audio workstation software and plug-ins.
pointblank is a global network of music production schools founded in London in 1994 by musician and producer Robert Cowan, offering a variety of courses in electronic music production, sound engineering, DJing, singing, songwriting, radio broadcasting, and music business. In addition to its original school in Hoxton, North London, pointblank now has schools in Los Angeles, Ibiza, Mumbai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and online.
Philip Stephen Dudderidge is a British sound engineering entrepreneur. He is a notable figure in the professional audio industry, having worked as Led Zeppelin's concert sound mixer, and later co-founding Soundcraft Electronics Ltd before serving as Chairman of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.
National Life Stories (NLS) is an independent charitable trust and limited company based within the British Library Oral History section, whose key focus and expertise is oral history fieldwork. Since 1987 National Life Stories (NLS) has initiated a series of innovative interviewing projects funded almost entirely from sponsorship, charitable and individual donations.
The NAMM Oral History Program is an oral history project and archive of recordings of interviews with people from all aspects of the music products industry, including music instrument retailers, musical instrument and product creators, suppliers and sales representatives, music educators and advocates, publishers, live sound and recording pioneers, innovators, founders, and musicians.
Judith Sarah Jarman Craymer is an English creator and producer of musical theatre who has also worked in the film, television and music industries. She is the founder of Littlestar Services Ltd. Craymer worked on Mamma Mia!, which has been seen by more than 65 million people worldwide. Ten years after the film adaptation grossed more than $600 million around the world, Craymer produced an all-new original movie musical based on the songs of ABBA, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Since opening in July 2018 the film has become the most successful live musical movie sequel of all time grossing just less than $400 million. Craymer was nominated for the "Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film" at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards for the film version of Mamma Mia! She has been dubbed "the greatest showbiz impresario" of the first decade of the 21st century and has consequently been entered in Debrett's.
Dave Pensado is a Grammy Award-winning mix engineer. His career began in Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s doing live and studio sound engineering. He has lived in Los Angeles since 1990.
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is a not-for-profit global trade association dedicated to the music products industry. Originally founded in 1901, NAMM is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and represents 15,000 global member companies and individual professionals.
Chesbro Music Company is a privately owned American manufacturer and wholesaler of musical instruments, musical instrument accessories and sheet music. Chesbro Music was founded in 1911 and is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Chesbro owns Teton Guitars, and has been run by female CEOs since 1953.
Karrie Keyes is an American audio engineer and the executive director of SoundGirls, a non-profit organization that supports women in the sound industry. She has been the monitor engineer for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder for over 25 years and has toured with Soundgarden, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Neil Young, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Keyes was one of very few women working as a live sound engineer in the 1980s and is recognized for her contributions to helping women in the sound industry. She was a 2017 honoree of the She Rocks Awards.
Andertons Music Co. is a family owned partnership that sells musical instruments & professional audio equipment. The store & online operations are based in Guildford, Surrey, England. Its online store is one of the United Kingdom's top 150 e-commerce sites, with sales in excess of $70 million per year. Andertons has won numerous awards within the music industry, including the NAMM Music Dealer of The Year Award. Andertons is the only non-US based music store in the world to ever win this award. Andertons is widely known among guitarists & musicians for video demonstrations by co-owner Lee "The Captain" Anderton, Rob Chapman, and Peter Honoré a.k.a. "Danish Pete" as well as many other familiar faces on YouTube. Lee Anderton is also an investor in multiple musical equipment brands, including Chapman Guitars, Victory Amplification, EastCoast Guitars, Burns Guitars London, Landlord FX, and Ordo.