Music sounds better with you

“Our purpose is to make life sound better; we’re trying to bring joy into people’s lives.” The words of Cambridge Audio CEO, Stuart George, who sat down with Jack Cheeseman to talk about how the brand’s love of music defines its place in the changing audio sector.

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When Cambridge Audio’s Stuart George last sat down for an interview with ERT back in 2018, he was only three years into his role as CEO – although he’s worked for the company since 1996. Reflecting on the past five years, he says with a wry smile: “It’s been interesting”.

Despite all the challenges caused by the pandemic, Mr George confides that it was actually a booming time for many consumer electronics brands. “It changed everything,” he tells ERT, “from how we work and how we operate as a business; but that aside, we did see a real boost to revenues during that time.

“I think we’ve definitely moved further forward in these past five years; we’re definitely positive about the future and what it may bring.”

Since Mr George (pictured below) last spoke to us, the company has also had changes at the top. Chairman, James Johnson-Flint, is now the sole owner after he bought out his former business partner, Julian Richer (Founder of the Richer Sounds retail chain), in 2021. Cambridge Audio has always had a close relationship with Richer Sounds, and this will remain, Mr George points out…

“It’s such an iconic retailer in the UK because of its principles and the importance it puts on customer service, and I think that’s definitely informed the way that we operate ourselves. It’s a big part of our culture – to make sure that the customer is considered at all times.”

We’ve seen a whole host of brilliant new products from Cambridge recently too, not least some updated models in its line-up of Melomania True Wireless earphones – named after the company’s purpose-built music venue at its UK headquarters in South-East London. This range was originally unveiled back in 2019 – its first ever foray into the True Wireless world; we’ve since had the second-gen Melomania 1+ and Melomania Touch.

Then there’s the StreamMagic app platform – “the jewel in our crown”, as Mr George refers to it. It’s been at the heart of Cambridge’s Network Audio Streamer range since 2011 and there are now six different products offering this technology. In fact, two new Network Streamers have launched recently, plus a new CD Transport Evo CD.

As well as that, the British brand has had great success with its flagship just-add-speakers systems, the Evo 150 All-in-One Player, and its baby brother, the Evo 75. And Mr George reveals that Cambridge will build out that category this year.

Q&A

Q: There’s such a mix of product categories in the audio sector, so how do you make sure that Cambridge Audio continues to appeal to the various needs of today’s consumer?

Stuart George: We see the business as having three pillars of product categories – core Hi-Fi, portable, which includes headphones, and then straddling those is a more mainstream lifestyle home audio offering. The Hi-Fi products that we make are more specialised, whereas the headphones are a little more mainstream and we believe this helps us reach a much broader audience.

We’ve been quite successful in that space in the last few years, so we want to build on that and go further. The market is huge, and can we really compete with the likes of Apple? That’s a tough question. But Cambridge Audio offers something different – it’s our passion for music that distinguishes us and our products stand out for their audio performance.

Our product development never really stops. Later this year we’ll have brand new headphones coming out and we’ll have new Home entries as well. In addition to that, we are going to build out the EVO lifestyle range.

Key to all of this is our new R&D Director, Matt Dore; he’s joined us with a wealth of experience in consumer and professional audio and we’re really excited about what he’s going to bring to the business.

Q: Within retail how do you think Cambridge Audio is perceived by consumers when compared alongside your competitors in the market?

SG: The retail environment is a big challenge. We operate in 70 countries and we have different retail partners in all of them. For core Hi-Fi there is no question that the support of a retail network is absolutely critical because people ideally want to see and hear those products before they make a purchase.

But with headphones, the opportunity to deliver a product through an online channel is more relevant. From a digital standpoint, we can control the way products are presented, whereas in the wider marketplace having a three stage distribution to reach the end consumers means it’s near impossible to operate at a competitive price point.

Our products are not commoditised by any means. We want them to be accessible and affordable and that’s something we offer with our latest range of streamers, AXN10 and MXN10; they’re part of a trickle down of the StreamMagic ranges but they’re some of the most affordable products that we’ve ever made.

Q: You’ve just launched a new podcast series called Made By Music, which features some familiar faces. What’s it about, and what’s the idea behind it?

SG: This has always been something that we have wanted to do, as we spend a lot of our time listening to and talking about music – so it seemed like a natural step. It’s a series of exclusive interviews with various music icons from across the generations; we talk about their own music moments and the specific tracks that mean something to them. We’ve managed to get some big names in like Boy George, Guy Pratt and Fatboy Slim, all with such brilliant stories – it really is fascinating.

I suppose from a business point of view we wanted to do this for ourselves to draw attention to the brand, but to share this kind of content with people is really special. Then from a technical point of view, all the interviews are done here in person, which is very exciting, but that’s because we want the best sound quality in the recordings. Often you’ll hear podcasts that are done over the phone or over Zoom and they can sound poor.

Q: We’re sitting here in Melomania – your UK HQ but also your very own live music venue, which must be a very special place for you guys? How important is it for you to have this?

SG: It’s so important. Over the past year or so we’ve been inviting more and more people into this space for all kinds of live events, and we’ll keep doing that because we are totally customer centric and we need to talk to our audience and understand what their needs, wants and desires are – so this is actually for them.

We often have bands playing in here – most Friday evenings and sometimes during the lunch hour in the week, so while we do actually work here, we love the fact that it’s a multipurpose venue because at the end of the day, we’re actually just a big group of music lovers!

That’s represented by the corner-to-corner wall of album covers, each one selected by Cambridge Audio staff as their favourite musical moments. There’s such a huge variety and that really sums up the company. We celebrate and support all kinds of music.

From Cambridge’s point of view, our purpose is to help make life sound better and we’re trying to bring joy into people’s lives. The opportunity to have music in our lives is continuous and we can soundtrack our whole day if we choose to. And I think especially over the last few years people have sought solace in music and it was a real force for good during the pandemic. We recognise that and help people to re-establish their love for their favourite tracks or artists.

The power of music is often very underestimated and I think people could certainly benefit from having the opportunity to listen more at home. It’s something I’m trying with my family – we have one evening a week where we just sit and listen to music. No TVs, no phones, and it’s actually so refreshing.

Q: What are your personal music moments from over the years?

SG: I have so many favourite moments, I could go on for hours! There’s Gil Scott-Heron, who is a great source of inspiration for me to journey further into music. An album cover that I’m particularly fond of is Dave Brubeck ‘Take Five’ – which was something that my Dad used to play and I get very sentimental about it.

It’s the same with The Beatles – we only had two eight-tracks in my dad’s car when I was a youngster and we travelled up and down the country for holidays; all we had to listen to was either The Beatles or Buddy Holly and the Crickets! And I’ve always loved the Sex Pistols; it’s funny because I was too young to be a punk in the mid-70s yet their music really motivated me and I found it really energising!

Q: We know that sustainability is another big driving force behind the brand, and Cambridge signed up as a founding donor of EarthPercent, the environmental charity. Tell us more about that.

SG: We are very proud to be the first audio brand to join with EarthPercent, alongside artists like Coldplay and Billie Eilish, and we’re championing their work and encouraging others in our industry to support as well.

It’s a music industry charity, co-founded by artist and producer, Brian Eno, which directs meaningful support to those at the forefront of climate action while reducing our impact on the planet, as an industry and as a society.

At Cambridge, it’s within our values to do the right thing. We have, for a long time, tried to be as considerate as possible. Packaging, for example, needs to be recyclable and we only use plant-based inks and coatings for the printing. From a product perspective, the wooden side panels on the EVO range, for example, come from sustainable sources or they’re made from a recycled material called Richlite. Small changes like this contribute to an overall much bigger impact. And we’re very proud of our products lasting for many years.

The concept of cradle-to-cradle product is really important to us and it’s something that we’re very much endeavouring to reach. Unfortunately I think in this industry there are moves towards consumerism and disposability, and I guess that’s what is driving people to want change.

It can seem like a really overwhelming topic both for individuals and for businesses, but big changes don’t happen overnight. EarthPercent is a statement that we have to live up to, and we want to, because it will drive us forward.

Q: What are your goals for the next three to five years? What kind of direction would you like to take the company in?

SG: We’re working really hard to try and double the size of the business; we’ve grown significantly since I became CEO in 2015 but we want to continue, not just for the sake of growth, but to create a stronger brand and to try and outperform our competitors.

Cambridge Audio is the oldest independent British audio brand and our long-term ambition – which I talk about all the time – is to not only uphold that legacy but to also be the best loved and most talked about British audio brand.

That’s about being progressive and I think historically everything that we did was all about the product, and while that is still the case in some respects, we are also trying to reach more consumers and teach them about our brand and explain how and why we are different. That is so important to us and we want that to be important to our customers too.

Looking forward, our aim, quite simply, is to keep trying to delight people with great sounding audio products.