Academy of Audio

Verification

Two badges can appear beside a member's name. They mean different things, and the difference matters.

This person is who they say they are. We have confirmed their identity, either on a short video call or by them proving control of an established channel of their own.

That is all it means. It says nothing about their ability or experience. It is free, and open to any member, including students at the very start of their journey.

The Academy of Audio has reviewed this person's work and vouches that they operate as a professional at a significant level. This is a judgement we make and put our own name behind, not a box that gets ticked.

We are looking for the difference between a serious professional and a capable enthusiast. That line has nothing to do with the room, the gear, or the genre. A producer working entirely in the box can hold this badge, and so can an engineer running a commercial studio. What it comes down to is a proven track record — real releases, real credits, real reach — that we can confirm independently.

What we look at:

• Commercial releases. Credited work released through a label or an established distributor.
• Verifiable credits. Confirmed independently of us through streaming credit data, a label, or a recognised credits database.
• Reach. Chart placements, streams at scale, or award and nomination history where it applies. A charting single or ARIA-nominated work is the sort of marker we mean.
• A sustained body of work. A career of delivering for artists and clients to a professional standard — not one lucky credit.
• Standing among peers. Recognition from people already doing this work, including membership of a body such as the Music Producers and Engineers Guild.

Not every line is required. We are weighing a career, not scoring a form.

What it is not

It cannot be bought, and it is not affected by what anyone spends with us. Buying a course, a subscription or a mentoring session moves nobody closer to this badge. If it ever did, the badge would be worth nothing, and would deserve to be.

No badge is not a judgement. Most members will not have one, most will never ask, and plenty of excellent people simply have not applied. The absence of a badge says nothing about anyone.

Review and revocation

Badges are reviewed periodically and can be withdrawn — for example, if the basis on which one was granted turns out not to hold, or if a member's conduct here is inconsistent with the Academy representing them.

We keep our reasoning for each decision private. That protects the people we decline, who are owed no public record of it.

Applying

There is no open application yet. The first Verified Pro badges are being granted to producers and engineers we already know and have worked alongside. An application route will open once we can review properly, and this page will say exactly how it works and what it costs before it does.

Questions about verification? Get in touch.