Sheffield decided a machine could be an instrument
- Warp Records, 1989
- The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire
- Steel to synthesisers
- An electronic music capital
How Sheffield grew
The short version, in order. Pick a year.
Machines as instruments
As the steel industry contracted, Sheffield’s empty warehouses filled with sound systems, and Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League and Heaven 17 began making music almost entirely out of machines.
Warp Records, 1989
As Sheffield’s steel industry contracted, its empty warehouses filled with sound systems, and the city produced a run of bands — Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League, Heaven 17 — who made music almost entirely out of machines at a point when that was still a strange thing to do.
Warp Records was founded there in 1989 by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, partly funded by selling tickets to university events. It became one of the most influential electronic labels in the world, and it treated the record as one output among several, working across video, film and graphic design.
Sheffield worked out early that a machine could be an instrument rather than a tool. That is a more useful idea than it sounds.
What that means if you trade in Sheffield
Sheffield is a city of independents, with a customer base that is loyal, sceptical of hype and quick to notice when a business is not really from here.
It is also the greenest large city in England and physically awkward, spread over seven hills. Both facts affect what a local business should put on its website.
What Sheffield businesses ask us for
Be specific about the hills
A journey across Sheffield is not what the map suggests. Say which areas you actually cover.
Independent, and say so
Chain-shaped copy is a liability in a city that prefers to shop local.
No hype
Understatement lands better here than superlatives. Say what you do and let the reviews do the boasting.
How well do you know Sheffield?
Five quick questions. Get all five right and you win a 10% off discount code for your website. Every answer is somewhere on this page, so have a read if you get stuck.
Sheffield quiz · 1 of 5
Which record label was founded in Sheffield in 1989?
Common questions
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Sign-up takes about 3 minutes and the build questionnaire about 5. Most sites are then designed and built within 21 hours, and live within days of the brief being answered.
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