Dr Richard Lightman

Hailing originally from Montreal, Canada, Richard has produced over 35 albums covering a wide spectrum of music including Heavy Metal, Reggae, Blues, Bollywood, Bhangra, Rock and Roll, New Age, Jazz, Pop and Garage and has been a recording studio owner. As a musician, he’s played on over 170 recordings and performed in 28 countries on five continents.

He has composed for a myriad of artists, films and television series including, America’s Most Wanted, The Big Miracle, Tear Me Apart, news and current affairs programs, TV and radio commercials, and provided interactive audio based media for the Inflight Entertainment industry. He has also contributed to the creation of special sound effects for a number of Hollywood films. 

His experience in higher education includes lecturing at Kingston University, University of West London, University of East London, British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM), Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) and Norwich University of the Arts. 

Richard lectures in Music Business Studies, Postproduction and Composition for Moving Image, Popular Music Studies, Audio Technology and Songwriting at the University of Kent. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Music Producers Guild, Chair of the Musicians Union Education Section Committee and is a member of the Copyright Committee of UK Music. 

Mediating Culture in Music Production is a practice based PhD research project that examines the evolution of the South Asian diaspora-based Bhangra music brought to the UK and its ultimate hybridity and appropriation by diverse cultures seeking new identities. The focus of the research is based on Lightman’s experience as a Bhangra record producer in the early 1990s; his encounter with the negotiation and translation of musical form and cultural expectations, and the mediation between South Asian and Western sensibilities.

• Chair of the Musicians' Union National Education Section Committee
• Executive Committee member of the Musicians' Union
• Executive Board Member of the Council of Music Makers representing creators within the Music Industry. My activities included lobbying government, working closely with UK Music and the Council of Music Makers in helping to ensure that music creators are represented to government and that a sustainable music industry environment is maintained
• Executive Member of the Policy and Public Affairs Committee at UK Music, the umbrella organization representing the entire Music Industry.