Sony’s Company Digital Archiving Firm Memnon Opens HQ in Brussels

Memnon Archiving Services SA (Memnon) – a Sony company – is to open its HQs in Evere, Brussels with a production structure to better serve the future needs for audiovisual archive digitalisation.

There has been an increase in demand for original and historic audiovisual content in the media and broadcasting industry and applications with the growth of mobile and broadband for video sharing and e-learning. Many ways of engaging audiences with historical content have merged using crowd engagement like around the centenary of the First World War and many other ways of leveraging historical content.

While these major changes are changing the way information and resources are produced, seen and managed, audiovisual heritage is under more threat today than ever. Audiovisual archives and tapes and films deteriorate unavoidably with time, while playback equipment tends to disappear; some historic manufacturers no longer produce it and skills in this area become scarce. Therefore, UNESCO had good reason to declare 27 October the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, to serve as a reminder of the need to safeguard this aspect of our collective memory.

To respond to these challenges, in June 2016 the Memnon acquired by Sony on 1 July 2015, the Brussels-based company Memnon has become an expert in the sector, offering digitalisation services both via its facilities in Brussels and the US (at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN) and as managed services on various client sites, bringing its operations to the customer and passing on its knowledge and expertise to them. The firm exports its services to the US and the Middle East, but is also exploring new markets such as Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Having been the first tenant of the renovated Flagey building, Memnon has decided to leave Flagey in Ixelles and transfer to a renovated space in Rue du Four 1 Briques in Evere. The location is perfect for Memnon to further industrialise the processes for large scale digitalisation of audiovisual archives, in order to meet the needs and quality expectations of organisations that hold precious archives and to meet the company’s growth targets for the coming years.

The acquisition by Sony means that Memnon is already benefitting from Sony’s industrial process and technological expertise. Memnon will move all its operations to its new 1,800m² HQs, taking the operations for audiovisual archive processing to a new level. The capacity for audio and video archive digitalisation will increase, with new digitalisation processes of films implemented, and the company’s R&D hub to expand the offering to new services. The HQs in Evere become a showcase for its expertise in large-scale digitalisation.

Over time, this substantial investment will enable Memnon to strengthen its position as an expert in large-scale audiovisual archive digitalisation, proving the Sony Group’s commitment to our customers in preserving the content often created on Sony equipment and the company’s development in the Brussels region.

With more than two million hours of content digitized for hundreds of different projects around the world, Memnon, founded in Belgium in 1989 as a company offering musical recording and mastering services, operates its digitization facilities in Brussels, Belgium and Bloomington, IN as well as on-site services at client sites around the world. Jointly with Sony’s Professional Solutions Group, Memnon is represented in Europe, Americas, Middle East (Dubai) and AsiaPac (Singapore).

Key facts about Memnon:

• More than 2,000,000 hours of digital audiovisual archives
• More than 50 customers around the world
• Clients such as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Olympic Committee, INA, BBC, SONUMA, VRT, VIAA, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Télé Suisse Romande, United Nations, Indiana University, European Parliament
• 90% foreign customers
• Acquired by Sony in 2015