About

About the International Sound Awards

Sound and music play an eminent role in modern everyday life. With the increasing digitization, audio is experiencing an enormous boost. Noise and bad acoustics affect our health much more than we are aware of. More than ever we need to ask ourselves how we want to shape our acoustic environment. Sound and music are also powerful and contribute to our personal well-being, to a better social and cultural interaction or benefit society in many other ways. They make the world a better place.


The International Sound Awards (ISA) promote innovative, smart and socially useful projects, products and services that contribute to the motto: Make The World Sound Better!

Vivid DJ setup with laptop and sound mixer at a lively indoor event.

About the Audio Branding Academy

The Audio Branding Academy, founded in Hamburg in February 2009, is the initiator of the International Sound Awards. Furthermore, it runs the International Sound Directory and the Audio Branding Society. The Audio Branding Academy presents a profound market overview and lends corresponding support to companies looking for exceptional audio branding agencies. With their network of experts from the fields of musicology, psychology, psychoacoustics, branding and marketing, the Audio Branding Academy offers a variety of services for audio branding, sound design, and music related projects.

Team

Kai Bronner – Managing Partner

Kai Bronner studied media economics and graduated with a diploma thesis about audio branding in 2004. Since then, Kai has worked on many audio branding, sound communication and sound design projects and conducted a variety of research activities. He has published several books and articles about sound and music. In 2007 and 2009, he became the editor and author of the first compilation books about Audio Branding. In 2009, Kai founded with his fellows Cornelius Ringe and Rainer Hirt the Audio Branding Academy which organizes the International Sound Awards and runs the International Sound Directory. Kai is a passionate record collector.

Dr. Cornelius Ringe – Initiator and Senior Partner

Cornelius studied business admin­istration at the University of Augsburg with major in advertising psychology and gained his PhD at Humboldt University Berlin. Since 2005 he has been working for international brands as a brand consultant. In 2009 he founded with his fellows Kai Bronner and Rainer Hirt the Audio Branding Academy. Since 2013 he is responsible for business development at the sound design agency WESOUND and was appointed managing partner in 2017. Cornelius is author and publisher of several trade publications. As lecturer he introduced audio branding as subject at several universities, such as Humboldt University Berlin or Uni­versity of Popular Music and Music Business Mannheim.

Jonathan Väth – Project Manager

Jonathan studied media management and helps to organize the International Sound Awards. His focus is on the radio and music business. In his bachelor thesis, he examined the opportunities for radio stations to personalize their program. Furthermore, he gained work experience in the field of event marketing at a German public service TV-station and a private radio station. In his free time he plays the piano and sometimes you can dance to his music when he works as a DJ.

Isabelle Saadatnejad – Communications 

Isabelle graduated in International Business Management in 2018 and has since then gained valuable experiences in the digital agency and music production studio environment. Besides her strong affinity for communications and audio branding, she is also active as songwriter and solo artist with her own musical project. Isabelle joined the International Sound Awards as Head of Communications in January 2023 and is responsible for all kind of PR and the network around the awards.