User:Nevillezb/John Groves (Composer)

John Groves (* 9. August 1953 in Hamburg) is a composer and music producer for advertisements and sonic communication, as well as a leading consultant in the area of audio branding.

Biography

John Groves is a British composer, musician and producer, and specialist for the use of sound and music for communication purposes. He is known mainly for his memorable advertising jingles and songs. He was born in Hamburg on the 9th of August 1953 as the son of British parents. He grew up in Slough, England. As a keyboard player, he travelled all over Germany with the band the Statesmen Singers. At the end of the 1970s, he moved with the band to Sweden, where he left them and started to produce music for advertising. In 1983, he returned to Germany and founded the firm, GROVES Sound Communications. In 1985, he started consulting for the WDR (West German Radio) and the NDR (North German Radio) and developed new sonic identities for them. In 1988, he had his first encounter with Sound Branding by creating a holistic sound identity for DEA.

In the early nineties, he developed the first structured system for creating and managing brand sound identities. This methodology provided the basis for what now is known as Sound Branding. In recent years, John has dedicated a lot of his time to the study of psychoacoustics and the applied use of sound in a healthcare context. This has resulted in the development of Receptive Sound Therapy programs for helping to improve sleep, manage stress, and more. (www.sonictonic.io).

Lectures

John Groves lectures regularly at various European universities such as Brunel University, London • University of Surrey, Guildford • University of Art, Berlin | University of Music, Vienna • Steinbeis International Business School, Berlin • Danube University, Krems, Austria, the Hamburg School of Ideas, at the Miami Ad School, amongst others.

Workshops

John Groves holds workshops and master classes at various marketing, design and communications congresses, such as: PIAF, Prague • European Forum for Music Education, Salzburg • Cannes Film Festival, France • the International Television and Film Academy, Hamburg • Radio Days, Cologne • International Design Conference, Berlin • and the German Marketing Conference, Frankfurt. He is also a frequent panelist and jury member and often hosts music-political discussions.

Political Activity & Memberships

Member of the Artistic-Scientific Advisory Board at the Centre for Contemporary Music, Donau University, Austria • President of the Composers Club, Germany • Member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Department Marketing, Branding and Tourism at Middlesex University, London • Vice President of FFACE: the Federation of Film and Audio-visual Composers of Europe, Brussels • Deputy advisory board representative of the German Artists Insurance Fund, Berlin • Board member and treasurer of ECSA: European Composers and Songwriters Alliance, Brussels • Member of Art Directors Club • and former deputy for the advisory board of the GVL, Berlin (the German Collecting Society for Neighbouring Rights).

Career Highlights

"Heard it all before”, from the musical"Edgerounder" sung by Al Jarreau, was nominated for "Best Song" in the Musical of the Year Competition ’99 with Sir Peter Ustinov as moderator. • The Mentos Jingle has been featured in a number of films such as Clueless, Entourage, Unbreakable, and viewed millions of times on YouTube. It has even featured on the Dave Letterman Show and spoofed in a music video by the Foo Fighters. • In anticipation of the 2004 Olympics in Greece, John Groves produced a collection of songs by the famous Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (“Zorba the Greek”). The songs were recorded with the Camerata Orchestra in the Athens Concert Hall and sung by Vicky Leandros.

Publications

„ComMUSICation - From Pavlov’s Dog to Sound Branding", Oak Tree Press, Ireland 2011.
„A Brand Sound Trade Association as a Growth Accelerator - Generic Arguments for Sound Branding“. In: Bronner, Hirt, Ringe (Hrsg.): Audio Branding Academy Yearbook 2009 / 2010, 2010.
„A Short History of Sound Branding“. In: Kai Bronner, Rainer Hirt (Hrsg.): Audio-Branding - Entwicklung, Anwendung, Wirkung akustischer Identitäten in Werbung, Medien und Gesellschaft, 2007.
„Sound Branding - the Development, Implementation, and effect of Sound Identities in Advertising, Media and Society": Henning Meyer (Hrsg.):
„Marken-Management 2008/2009 - Jahrbuch für Strategie und Praxis der Markenführung", (German.) 2007.

Weblinks

John Groves' Website