ISA – International Sound Awards

We proudly announce the first jury results for the ISA2020.

Once again, every shape of audio innovation was represented in our ISA applications. Fascinating soundscapes and immersive experiences, catching sonic brands and amazing cases of audio usage for therapy and to support healthcare were very prominent in the pool of exciting projects. We received submissions from 9 different countries: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and Germany.

Congratulations! 17 projects in 11 categories managed to convince the jurors and claim a Better Sound Award. This also makes them potential candidates for a Winner or Grand Prix prize at our award show in September.

Have a look at the detailed descriptions and case videos of our Better Sound projects here.

ISA2020 Award Show

Due to the mass cancellation of live events and the travel restrictions that affect our winners and you as our audience, we decided to move our ISA2020 award show to the internet. On 17 September we will broadcast the show to make sure that everyone can enjoy the ceremony safely from home. To give you the classical ISA feeling, the show will once again be hosted by our veteran dream team Sara Kelly-Husain and Steve Blame. We will also have a live chat to make sure no one has to miss out on connecting with each other.

Today we present a new ISA Talk Podcast featuring Cherie Hu, music business journalist and expert in many fields regarding music tech and audio innovations. To keep the podcast at a reasonable length we focused the interview around three major topics: Musical AI, Artist Marketing & Fan Interaction and VR music experiences. Cherie gives some great insight into the current state of the fields, points out where they’re still lacking innovation and where their development and the music business in general will be heading in the years to come.

You can listen to the episode on our website here. You can also find the Podcast on Apple Podcasts here and on Spotify here.

Today we present a new episode of our ISA Talk podcast format. We talked to Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg – one of the driving forces behind the mp3 audio standard – about his experiences developing the standard that broke the music industry. In the talk he compares different ways of implicating 3D-sound and gives his take on the most exciting developments that are happening in the market at the moment.

You can listen to the episode on our website here. You can also find the Podcast on Apple Podcasts here and on Spotify here.

This week is your last chance to submit your case to the ISA 2020 and to send in all your material. The submission deadline closes on Thursday. You can find all submission details and the application form here.

We can’t wait to see your amazing submissions that #MakeTheWorldSoundBetter.

Today we present a new episode of our ISA Talk podcast format. Our guest in this episode is Emma Rodero who gives us more insight into the field of voice and speech in audio formats.

In the talk, Emma explains the most important characteristics of human speech and gives her expert opinion on what kind of voice to choose to target your audience. We also learned why Alexa and Siri are female and explored the reasons why synthetic voices won’t take over synchronization soon.

You can listen to the episode on our website here. You can also find the Podcast on Apple Podcasts here and on Spotify here.

We’re happy to announce our new partnership with Sound Hub Denmark, the world’s first international sound technology and innovation environment.

As a very special prize for the ISA2020, Sound Hub Denmark offers 5 selected winners among the sound start-ups and young entrepreneurs a free 3 months stay at their hub in Struer.

At Sound Hub Denmark, you can work and network with other sound enthusiasts and talents from inspiring startups and highly skilled sound tech experts from industry-leading corporates. This topped with access to unique world-class test and lab facilities, leading specialists and a nearby craft cluster of complementary industries.

Today we are launching our new podcast format: ISA Talk. In this format we invite interesting guests who also follow our vision to #MakeTheWorldSoundBetter to give their insight on different fields of the audio industry.

In our first ISA Talk episode Kai Bronner (Managing Partner) and Birgit Elke (Head of Communications) talk to Rainer Hirt, founder of audity, who gives insight into the impact of functional sounds.

During the talk, which we recorded a couple of days ago remotely from our home offices, Rainer explains what audity’s guiding principle “Sound follows function” means and what it implies for their work. Further, we had a closer look into one of their areas of expertise: sound for medical devices.

And, talking about MedTech and devices for intensive care units, we also learned what the corona virus sounds like.

You can listen to the Episode on our website here. You can also find the Podcast on Apple Podcasts here and on Spotify here.