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About Me

Sound is my passion, and particularly the use, or more often abuse, of sound in business. My vision is to make the world sound beautiful.

I love TED and feel very much part of this community. I have four talks on TED.com, all about sound; the one on conscious listening has been viewed over 1.5 million times, making it the 78th most-watched TED talk of all time. I speak internationally about sound, business and listening on conference platforms, as well as to the media (like TIME Magazine, The Economist, The Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC Radio and TV, many global radio shows and business magazines).

My book Sound Business was the first guide to harnessing the power of intentional, well-designed sound in business, from branding and marketing to the telephone, the web and physical spaces such as shops, restaurants, offices and reception areas.

My company The Sound Agency is dedicated to proving that good sound is good business, which is fortunately true! We do sound audits, run workshops, and create effective sound and soundscapes, specialising in retail soundscapes using evolving generative sound from our Ambifier system. This sound is designed to be aural wallpaper and replace inappropriate music, which is so often wrongly played in public places. I love music; I'm a musician. But there's often a conflict when music is used as a veneer.

Making the world sound beautiful may take some time, but I'm nothing if not stubborn!

Location:
United Kingdom, Surrey
Current organization:
The Sound Agency
Past organizations:
TPD Publishing
Current role:
Chairman
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Sound, BrandSound, Sound in business, Soundscapes, Retail and office sound, Conscious listening, Healthy sound
I am:
Business leader, Change Agent, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Marketer, Musician, Parent, Writer/Editor
Associations:
Worshipful Company of Marketors
Languages:
English, Italian
My website links:
The Sound Agency, Sound Business (my blog), Julian Treasure
Universities:
Cambridge
TED conferences attended:
TED2014, TEDGlobal 2013, TED2013, TEDGlobal 2012, TED2012, TEDGlobal 2011, TEDGlobal 2010, TEDGlobal 2009, TED2008
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More About Me

I'm passionate about

transforming the world's sound and listening, my children, making and listening to music, the Dolomites, consciousness.

An idea worth spreading

In modern living we have promoted the eyes to rule the senses, and become used to suppressing sound, but it still affects us all. Regaining our conscious listening is a vital task because noise creates ill health (a million years of healthy life lost each year in Europe alone according the WHO) and antisocial behaviour, to name but two consequences. If we teach our children how to listen consciously and mindfully then in a single generation we can transform our world to a place of understanding, compassion and beauty. Now that is a prize worth having.

Talk to me about

sound, conscious listening, public speaking, sound and brands, music, voice, language, generative sound, marketing, franchising The Sound Agency, partnerships, TED, Ambifier

People don't know that I'm good at

drumming - I've played since I was 15; and golf - when I get time to play at wonderful Sunningdale.

My TED Story

I came in 2003 and loved having my brain scrambled by a series of brilliant talks, having permission to go up to and talk to over 1,000 fascinating and extraordinary strangers (that's what the TED pass means, and many of the strangers are now friends) and taking away stuff that changes my life and my work, Next was the inaugural TED Global in Oxford in 2005 because all the Monterey events landed on my daughter's birthday... until 2008, when I was overjoyed to be back and to experience a vintage TED, the last at Monterey. I attend TEDGlobal every year, and am back in the US in 2012 and 2013.. and now TEDActive in 2014. You cannot have too much TED! I'm honoured to have four talks on TED.com, and overwhelmed to reflect that more than six million people have watched them online. TED has been responsible for so much good in my life. I cherish it.

Comments

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  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Mar 23 2013: Well monks are pretty peaceful in my experience! However we don't have to go that far. Many white goods now sell on quietness (washing machines, driers etc). Try to listen to other devices before you buy them (hair driers, coffee grinders etc) as the range of timbres and noise levels is huge - simply because the designers vary in how much attention they pay to sound. And try designing your home with zones where you create appropriate, effective soundscapes. You might like lots of noise in the kitchen, but not in your bedroom. totally up to you how this works... the important thing is to be conscious.

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Mar 23 2013: Thanks Jim. I so agree about the undercut:. Scientists call this a cross-modal effect, where one sense affects another. I think many architects are in effect sabotaging their own work be neglecting sound.

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: The 4 ways sound affects us

    Dec 12 2012: Thank you Breege!

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: The 4 ways sound affects us

    Dec 12 2012: Camille, you are not alone! Take a look at my last TED talk "Why architects need to use their ears" http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_why_architects_need_to_use_their_ears.html... I talk there about healthcare noise and its effects, quoting some useful research.

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Oct 3 2012: It's called Study (yellow icon). iOS6 version about to appear, along with iPad version. Also on Android.

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Oct 1 2012: Stuart I am certainly very aware of BB93 – and of its shortcomings, both as a standard (it really doesn't go far enough in terms of acoustics) and as a practice (there is nobody to enforce it or measure post-build whether it has been achieved).

    You might be interested in the Sound Education conference videos, which you can see at www.soundeducation.tv, where the results of the fascinating Essex study are revealed in detail and some of the UK's leading acousticians comment on them. It's clear that the BATOD recommendation (0.4s RT across all frequencies) has a far more powerful effect that the relatively anaemic BB93 target (0.8s across a limited frequency range). Acoustician Adrian James also reflects that at least 40% of the schools he has visited are not built to the minimum BB93 standard.

    Most acoustic consultancy in buildings is directed at sound transmission: making sure noise doesn't move between rooms or dwellings. It very rarely focuses on designing the aural experience of a space.
  • +5

    A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Oct 1 2012: I hope the architects aren't so much angry as excited and challenged! I've had some fantastic feedback from this talk from all over the world. It really brings home to me that although there are many excellent acousticians in the world, the profession seems to have a communication challenge: not enough people are listening to them!

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Oct 1 2012: That's a great point Pete. With my friend and TEDster Graeme Harrison of Portland Oregon based Biamp Systems I created a short book called SOUND AFFECTS!... it's all about how the A in AV needs to be way larger than the V, and how to install sound systems in public buildings that actually work for exactly this kind of purpose. I guess that Biamp might have some copies available if you ask!

  • A comment on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Sep 24 2012: Several people have asked me where to get the app I mention in this talk. It's called Study (yellow icon) on both the iOS and Android stores, and is free to download. the content from the London conference on school acoustics is at www.soundeducation.tv.

  • A reply on Talk: Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

    Sep 24 2012: Thanks Marcia. Please do join the Teaching Listening Google group. And soon, when my wonderful colleague Cathryn Lokey and I complete our syllabus for teaching listening, we'll need evangelists so it will be great if you will spread the word in Brazil. I believe this all starts in the classroom, which is why acoustics there are a double whammy.

    All the best

    Julian
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