Draft:Allen Sides

Allen Sides

Allen Sides is a 5-time Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, record producer, studio designer, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Ocean Way Recording studios and the CEO of Ocean Way Audio.

Sides has worked with a wide range of artists over his career, including:


 * Phil Collins
 * Green Day
 * Eric Clapton
 * Alanis Morissette
 * Faith Hill
 * Wynonna Judd
 * Beck
 * Mary J. Blige
 * Ry Cooder
 * Joni Mitchell
 * Frank Sinatra
 * Ray Charles
 * Count Basie
 * Duke Ellington
 * Ella Fitzgerald
 * John Williams
 * Jerry Goldsmith
 * André Previn
 * Michael Jackson
 * Frank Zappa

Sides has earned 5 Grammy awards for his recording work, including:


 * 2000 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (Both Sides Now)
 * 2005 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album (At This Time)
 * 2010 Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year (A Son de Guerra)
 * 2010 Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album (A Son de Guerra)
 * 2012 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album (Impressions)

Ocean Way Recording

In 1972, Sides began building a recording studio in his garage, which was located on Ocean Way in Santa Monica, California. The studio was intended to be a demonstration space for Sides' custom-designed tri-amplified loudspeakers, but he ultimately recorded nearly 50 albums there.

Sides moved his operations to Hollywood in 1977, after renting and eventually acquiring United Recording (formerly United Western Recorders) from Bill Putnam. Sides renamed the facility Ocean Way Recording, after the location of his first studio. Ocean Way Recording grew to include locations in Hollywood, California; Nashville, Tennessee; and Saint Barthélemy. Sides sold the Ocean Way Hollywood location in 2013. It has since been renamed United Recording Studios.

Ocean Way Nashville, a former church building, was sold to Belmont University in 2001. The university continues to use the facility as a commercial studio and as classrooms for its audio engineering program.

Ocean Way Audio

Sides is the founder and CEO of Ocean Way Audio, a manufacturer of high-end speaker systems. The company's client base includes recording studios, audiophiles, and home theater enthusiasts.

One of the company's most recent offerings is AeroWave, a large-format, high-powered sound system for large venues. AeroWave is designed to provide a coherent single-point source output and full-spectrum coverage for a variety of musical performances, from symphonic orchestras to rock bands.