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Merv Buchanan Joins Richmond Sound Design
Richmond Sound Design Ltd. (RSD) of Vancouver, Canada, and London, England, has announced the appointment of Merv Buchanan to the newly created position of market development manager for North America. Merv brings a wealth of experience to RSD, having worked as a music producer, systems designer, college instructor and marketing executive with organisations as diverse as Videomax, Trend Records, Toa Electronics, Fanshawe College and MuchMusic.
A native of Cape Breton, Merv Buchanan got started in the entertainment business in 1963, while attending DeVry Technical Institute, an electronics college in Toronto. Working on the weekends as a dance disc jockey, he developed the first all-in-one, portable d.j. consoles, with the help of sound equipment pioneer Pete Traynor.
During the sixties, Merv operated his own record label and recording studio, in Toronto, Ontario. Trend Records was Canada's first independent, fully integrated record company. In 1969 he produced the landmark `Sussex' by Bent Wind, the most collectable album ever produced in Canada.
In the seventies he ran a disc jockey agency, weekly dances and a record store in Midland, Ontario. And, while teaching recording studio technology and maintaining the studios at Fanshawe College, created the `video dance' concept for his dances at the Brooklea Club.
By 1983, Merv was in Edmonton working as Canadian marketing director for Japanese sound equipment manufacturer Toa Electronics. Here he was able to put together the pieces that would turn his video dance idea into a commercial success. Inspired by MTV and advances in projection technology, he launched a road show featuring a dance host playing music videos and pumping the crowd up on a giant screen. He asked dance music buyers to try it once, instead of a band or disc jockey. `Videomax' was soon booked solid.
In 1987, a partnership was made with Canada's music television network, MuchMusic. The idea was to promote the new network's image, style and reputation throughout the country by offering Much-branded video dance entertainment to anyone who wanted to hire it. The program was an instant success and in the intervening years, more than 15,000 ``Much Video Dances'' have been held, entertaining more than 5 million persons.
In 2003, Merv sold Videomax in order to spend more time with his family and other interests. He is currently setting up RSD's new North American sales and marketing office in Peterborough, near Toronto, Ontario
16th February 2005
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