Highlights of 2018: Mirek Stiles/ Peach Kazen/ Mark Robertson/ Jojo Arvanitis

22nd December 2018

2018 has been an extraordinary year for music and it fills us with pride to know that Abbey Road has played a small part in making it happen.

Over the last year we’ve been fortunate to welcome some incredible artists and projects into the studios including, Brockhampton, The 1975, Jayden Smith, Emeli Sande, Noel Gallagher mix projects for Ariana Grande, Beoynce and Jay-Z, live sessions with Paul McCartney, Krept and Konan, Slaves, Rudimental and George Ezra and scoring for some of the biggest film and game releases such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Fantastic Beasts: The Crime of Grindelwald and Mission: Impossible – Fallout with some wonderful composers including James Newton-Howard, Ludwig Göransson and Alexandre Desplat.

In one of our busiest periods ever, our mastering suites have been packed out with some brilliant projects, with new releases from Sade, Rita Ora, Dido, Suede and Goat Girl and re-masters for Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, The Beatles and Japan. In March, Nile Rodgers joined the team as our first Chief Creative Advisor, making Abbey Road Studios his primary creative base in the UK and making use of every space in the building. Giles Martin, who is very much part of the fabric at Abbey Road and famed for his acclaimed new mix of The Beatles, AIXS took a new role with Universal Music as Global Head of Audio and Sound.

2018 has witnessed the continuation of innovation, Abbey Road Red has been busy developing the future technologies help how we consume music with their music-technology incubator, exploring artificial intelligent and spatial audio. Meanwhile, our Topline app won both Best Music App, and Best Design/ UX at the UK App Awards.

As we get closer to the end of the year, we can’t help but reflect on the wonderful year we’ve had. We asked around the studios to find out the highlights of some of our staff and engineers, and to get a little inside tip on what 2019 has in store.

Mirek Stiles, Head of Audio Products

Favourite album of 2018
Dream Wife by Dream Wife

Favourite song of 2018
Mirror by Ider

Your highlight of the year
Anna of the North at XOYO.

Tip for 2019
Emily Burns

What are you most looking forward to in 2019
Hopefully getting to see GIRLI live after a year of cancellations and diary clashes. Further experimenting with Spatial Audio in game engines, particularly 6 Degrees of Freedom in Virtual Reality and the SXSW festival.

Peach Kazen, Studio and Mastering Coordinator

Favourite album of 2018
Shame by Songs Of Praise

Favourite song of 2018
Chaka Khan - Like Sugar (makes me dance in my seat whenever it comes on the radio)

Your highlight of the year
All Points East; a brilliant line up, fab weather and Nick Cave! Paul McCartney’s Spotify gig in Studio Two.

Tip for 2019
The Blinders / Fontaines DC

What are you most looking forward to in 2019
Surprise me!

Mark Robertson, Head of Brand & Marketing

Favourite album of 2018
Jonathan Bree – Sleepwalking

Favourite song of 2018
Lana Del Rey – Mariners Apartment Complex/ Nile Rodgers & CHIC - I Dance My Dance / Nile Rodgers, Franc Moody & Rebecca Ferguson - Let Your Light Go

Your highlight of the year
Seeing a new generation of artists come to our new studios / Doubling our Instagram following in six months / Sharing the knowledge and expertise of Abbey Road outside the building (at the Science Museum, BBC Music Introducing Live & Wired Live) / Nile Rodgers joining the Abbey Road team / Interviews with Rolling Stone, Sodajerker and PSN about how Abbey Road is transforming / Doreen and Sam dancing with Craig David and CHIC / Noel Gallagher returning / Some brilliant quotes from the artists, producers and composers who choose to work here

Tip for 2019
Franc Moody

What are you most looking forward to in 2019
Launching some new projects to make Abbey Road more accessible and approachable