A chance meeting at a conference in 1969 between legendary music producer George Martin and American advertising music producer Herman Edel led to the creation of Air-Edel Associates, to represent composers and produce music for Television, Radio and Cinema commercials in London.

After a stint in New York to see how Herman Edel Associates was run, Annie Farrow returned to London to become Air-Edel’s first MD. In 1977, current MD and Air-Edel co-owner Maggie Rodford, joined the company as a Junior Producer. At this time, Air-Edel represented 15 composers, including Roger Greenaway, David Dundas, Stanley Myers, John Carter, Mike Batt, Graham Preskett, Richard Harvey, Peter Collins, David Reilly, and Fiachra Trench.

In the 1980s, Air-Edel’s roster of composers added Richard Myhill, Paul Reade, Tim Souster, and a couple of young composers at the very start of their careers, Nick Glennie-Smith and Hans Zimmer. The company’s work continued to be predominantly in commercials, despite representing a number of composers already working in film. One of them, the accomplished Stanley Myers, suggested that Air-Edel should also move into film.

However, the UK commercial jingles industry had begun to change and as the licensing of existing music became more prevalent, Air-Edel adapted. Their first forays into television included 1989 series ‘Traffik’ with Tim Souster and the TV movie ‘Dear Sarah’ with Fiachra Trench, which included a specially commissioned rendition of the “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” by Elvis Costello.

In 1991, Air-Edel acquired Audio International Recording Studios and moved to their current London location on Rodmarton St, officially opening Air-Edel Recording Studios. Global expansion followed in 1996 with the establishment of their Los Angeles office.

Air-Edel firmly established themselves in film with credits ranging across hard hitting dramas such as ‘Crimson Tide’, ‘Carlito’s Way’, ‘Indochine’, ‘The Thin Red Line’, and ‘Donnie Brasco’, romantic hits including ‘Great Expectations’ and 7-time Academy Award-winning film ‘Shakespeare in Love’, and family films such as ‘Into The West’, ‘The Lion King’, ‘A Little Princess’, ‘Anastasia’, ‘Prince of Egypt’, ‘Quest for Camelot’, ‘Antz’ and ‘Muppets from Space’.

Air-Edel were also prominent in television, working across renowned series including ‘Poirot’ with Christopher Gunning, and ‘The Green Man’, for which composer Tim Souster won the BAFTA for ‘Best Original TV Music’. Their work in commercials continued with iconic campaigns like ‘Guinness – Swim Black’, ‘Volvo – Twister’, and ‘Reebok – Theatre Of Dreams’.

The last ten years has seen Air-Edel working across Academy Award winning films (‘The King’s Speech’, ‘Brave’, ‘Darkest Hour’), box office hits (‘Thor’, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, ‘Everest’, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’), family favourites (‘Cinderella’, ‘Paddington’ and ‘Paddington 2’), acclaimed indie films (‘My Week with Marilyn’ ‘Carol’, ‘The Children Act’), and powerful documentaries (‘London – The Modern Babylon’, ‘The Crash Reel’, ‘The White Helmets’, ‘Nae Pasaran’, ‘Evelyn’).

Air-Edel has also been prominent in television, with Matt Biffa cementing himself as one of the most sought after music supervisors for high profile television series, with credits including ‘Top Boy, ‘Fresh Meat’, ‘After Life’, ‘Sex Education’, ‘Giri/Haji’ and  ‘The End of the F***ing World’, the latter of which earned him two Music Week Sync Awards as well as a US Guild of Music Supervisors and Hollywood Music in Media nomination.

Maggie Rodford’s stature and longstanding service to the industry has been recognised by multiple industry bodies and she was honoured with an APRS Fellowship in 2012 and a BASCA Gold Badge Award in 2017.

Dario Marianelli received his third Academy Award nomination for ‘Anna Karenina’ and was awarded two further Ivor Novello Awards for his scores for ‘Anna Karenina’ and for Laika animation ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’.

At the start of 2015, Maggie, together with a private investor, completed a management buyout of Air-Edel, making it a wholly independent company.

In 2016, we launched our digital soundtrack label, Air-Edel Records, releasing soundtracks including ‘Whisky Galore’ by Patrick Doyle, ‘Pinocchio’ by Dario Marianelli, ‘Finding Your Feet’ by Michael J. McEvoy, and ‘Evelyn’ by Patrick Jonsson. A second label, Besant Hall Records, focusing on commercial releases by Air-Edel composers, was launched in 2017 – Besant Hall’s fourth release, ‘Hiraeth’ by Lisa Gerrard and David Kuckhermann, was Grammy nominated in 2018.