Natalie Bibby, Mastering Engineer of the Year

I’m delighted to share that I’ve won Mastering Engineer of the Year 2026. 🏆 🌟 Beyond what I said in my awards speech, I want to thank everyone who voted for me in the longlist stage, as well as the judges. This has completely changed my life, and at certain points in my career it felt impossible. I also want to thank everyone who showed me small acts of kindness and encouragement, from when I was a runner until now. The sum of those moments became the fuel that kept me going in my early years. To all the artists I’ve worked with, thank you for trusting me and allowing me to be part of your journey. It’s a privilege, and it brings a huge amount of meaning and happiness to my life. I’ve always based my mastering career on listening to people as much as their music. My motivation is to make sure the person and their character are heard in the final master. I see my role as someone who hears you, sees you, and helps you find your voice. What you have to say matters. You are valuable and important as a human being. Your perspective is unique. It’s a genuine pleasure to help you express that through music. Sincerely, thank you.♥️♥️♥️

A few moments from our engineer Natalie Bibby’s (@compress_her ) recent trip to the USA, representing AIR on both the West and East Coasts. In San Francisco, Natalie joined a panel at Music Expo 2025 (@sfmusicconference ) alongside Marcela Rada (@themarcelarada ) and Matt Boudreau (@matt_boudreau ) of Working Class Audio (@working_class_audio ), exploring how an artist’s vision can be understood through the way a mix is presented. The trip continued in Boston with a series of sessions at Berklee College of Music (@berkleecollege ), including an event with We Are Moving The Needle (@wearemovingtheneedle ), where Natalie walked through a full live mastering session from start to finish. Natalie is grateful to Rob Jaczko (@robjaczko ), Chair of Berklee’s Audio Engineering Department, for the invitation. To support the workshops and live mastering sessions, the AIR tech team built a portable mastering rig for Natalie, allowing her to run Sequoia and showcase some of her favourite plugins throughout the trip. Special thanks to Allison Krause (@ajkrause ) for meticulously testing and fine-tuning the rig for peak performance, affectionately known by Natalie as “The Arch Wizard of The Majestic Bastion (aka AIR).” #AIRmastering #AIRstudios

Last weekend I ran a series of mastering workshops at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios (@realworldstudios )! What a beautiful place - it felt like a secret paradise, and I totally get why creatives would seek it out. I had a fun time dragonfly and butterfly spotting between classes. I even saw a real 1960s Fender Mustang in the wild! The highlight of the weekend was chatting and hanging out with all the attendees. I loved hearing your stories, your backgrounds in music, and your general passion for all things arty. One thing I really noticed was how everyone had an eye and ear for nuance - it made for such insightful questions and conversations. A huge thank you to AIR’s genius tech team for putting together a portable mastering rig for me - you’re all legends. Thanks also to Katie (@mateykay ) and Xav at Real World for being so cool (and a bit wizard-like). And lastly, special thanks to Brendon Harding (@brendonjharding ) for putting me forward for this - one of the truly good guys in the industry. ✌️

MPG AWARDS 2026 Winner - Big congratulations to Natalie Bibby (@compress_her ), Mastering Engineer Of The Year ✨🏆 sponsored by dCS Audio (@dcsonlythemusic ).

Very cool to have Sierra Crisostomo visit! She attended my event with We Are Moving The Needle (@wearemovingtheneedle ) and WAMTN Berklee (@wamtnberklee ) at Berklee College of Music (@berkleecollege ) in Boston late last year. Lovely to see you again. I enjoyed talking through my mastering process, doing some cutting, and hearing one of Sierra’s productions she is currently working on. She has an authentic, distinctive rock voice and her lyrics really hit hard. Sierra finishes her studies next year and hopes to become an orchestral recording engineer. I wish you all the luck! 🌟 I also enjoyed our chat about ghosts and hauntings 👻! Thanks for visiting AIR Mastering (@airmastering ), and I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip in the UK 😊🙏🏻

Miss Grit ‘Under My Umbrella’ [Single] @miss_grit CUT FOR VINYL (7-inch) Natalie Bibby @compress_her LABEL Mute Records @muterecords May 2026 #AIRmastering #AIRstudios

Look at me, I’m a scientist 👩‍🔬.

Högni ‘Apex’ [OST] @hogniegilsson MASTERING (+Vinyl) Natalie Bibby @compress_her CUT FOR VINYL Natalie Bibby @compress_her ENGINEER, MIXER, OST PRODUCER Geoff Foster LABEL Netflix Music @netflixmusic April 2026 #AIRmastering #AIRstudios

Jenny Plant feat. NATURE ‘Better Than Before’ [Single] @jennyplantmusic MASTERING Natalie Bibby @compress_her MIXER Gianluca Massimo @gianlucamassimo April 2026 #AIRmastering #AIRstudios

So cool to have film composer and multi instrumentalist Natalia Tsupryk (@zupryknatalia ) from Kyiv 🇺🇦 in for the mastering of ‘The Lake’ OST. ‘The Lake’ is an art-house style doc, that premiered at Sundance Film Festival and has Leonardo DiCaprio as the executive producer! It is about the ecological collapse of Utah’s Great Salt Lake and how it is releasing arsenic into the air (‼️). Natalia wrote all the music and played and recorded every instrument. It is a stunning collection of songs which communicate so much through their atmosphere. Intuitive and creative mixes by: @o_s_music 🌟 Thanks for visiting AIR Mastering (@airmastering ), please come see us again soon! 🙏🏻☺️

Tiger Fist Ocular ‘Illumination’ [Single] @tigerfistocular MASTERING Natalie Bibby @compress_her LABEL Tiger Fist Ocular Productions April 2026 #AIRmastering #AIRstudios

Testing limits. ⛰️ A grieving woman seeking solace in the wilderness becomes part of a deadly game of cat and mouse in Baltasar Kormákur’s new action thriller ‘Apex’ starring Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, and Eric Bana. Geoff Foster recorded Högni Egilsson’s (@hogniegilsson ) score in The Hall and mixed. Geoff Foster also produced the OST which was mastered, mastered for vinyl, and cut for vinyl by Natalie Bibby (@compress_her ). @airmastering #AIRstudios #AIRmanagement