Benson Taylor

In October 2019, Transgressive Records released Taylor's song Is This Thing On? with the band Pulled Apart By Horses

Taylor is a known supporter of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, and the United Nations Refugee Agency, producing music to support their awareness campaigns. He has worked alongside the World Food Programme for several years promoting zero hunger in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Cambodia, and on the African continent. In June 2018, he travelled to the Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement in Uganda with the WFP to raise awareness for World Refugee Day. Whilst in Uganda, he worked alongside refugee musicians from South Sudan.

On 26 June 2018, Alzheimer's Research UK released an educational film produced by Aardman Animations. The film was narrated by Simon Pegg and the music was produced by Taylor. It went viral that morning after being shared by the actor Stephen Fry, former British prime minister, David Cameron, Jeff Bridges, Richard Branson, film director Ron Howard and actors Andy Serkis & Bryan Cranston.

He founded A Remarkable Idea in 2017, a sub label of Universal Music, located in Santa Monica, California. Taylor has collaborated with artists for the label, including Mercury Prize-nominated Maxïmo Park and Kele Okereke, Bloc Party, Pulled Apart by Horses, Robot Koch, Lack of Afro, MOBO-winning Kairos 4Tet, Benoît Pioulard, Bo Ningen, Menace Beach, and The Halle Orchestra.

In 2017, Taylor founded A Remarkable Idea, a music label based in Santa Monica in Los Angeles, and in London. The label produces music for film, television and video games. Taylor has collaborated with artists for A Remarkable Idea including Maxïmo Park and Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Pulled Apart by Horses, Robot Koch, Lack of Afro, Kairos 4Tet, Bo Ningen, Benoît Pioulard and The Halle orchestra. Taylor previously ran his label, Insidious Music which is now defunct after being sold.

Alongside Patrick Stewart, Lena Headey and Jodie Whittaker, in 2017, Taylor took part in a photography exhibition in Huddersfield raising awareness around the downgrading of services at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. He spoke of his children being born there.

In November 2016, Taylor was awarded an honorary doctorate for services to humanitarian causes & music.

Taylor is an goodwill ambassador for the UK aid agency CAFOD, part of Caritas Internationalis, and a goodwill ambassador for the Cambodian Children's Trust. He is patron of the British charity, Music and the Deaf. In 2016, Taylor was appointed the first ambassador of the music conservatoire, Leeds College of Music in the United Kingdom.

In 2016, Taylor produced soundtracks for US talk shows, including, Late Night With Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He has twice contributed music to the Netflix produced series, Orange Is the New Black. Taylor's music has also appeared in the sixth series of Justified, the first series of How to Get Away with Murder, the second series of Ray Donovan, and in the 2015 Kroll Show.

In 2016, he was appointed the first ambassador of the music conservatoire, Leeds College of Music in the United Kingdom.

In November 2016, Kate Swann awarded Taylor with an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford for his services to music and humanitarian causes.

Taylor scored and produced the music to Mathew Cullen's thriller, London Fields in 2015, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Theo James, Cara Delevingne, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. Due to legal problems between the director and producers, the film was not released until September 2018, three years after Taylor had finished the musical score. As well as writing the musical score, Taylor collaborated with Toydrum and Bat for Lashes to cover Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight", and also with James Bagshaw from the British band Temples, covering "How Do You Sleep" from John Lennon's Imagine album, both tracks were recorded specifically for the film.

He frequently records with the British orchestra, The Hallé, and they regularly perform his works in concert. As part of his commercial recordings in 2015, he developed a short term education programme for students.

Taylor was honoured with a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

Taylor won the "Best Original Music" award at the 2014 Monaco International Film Festival. In 2018, he scored and produced the music to Mathew Cullen's thriller adaptation of the Martin Amis novel, London Fields, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, Theo James and Johnny Depp.

In November 2014, Taylor was a Grand Juror at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival alongside director Tomasz Wasilewski.

In March 2014, through his publishing company, Taylor licensed a large catalogue of musical works in partnership with Peter Gabriel's CueSongs, and a smaller subsidiary of the catalogue to the Japanese national broadcaster, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai. Taylor said in an interview with WQXR-FM that it was his intention for the catalogue to grow, and to further develop collaborations with artists around the world, specifically in the middle and far east.

In 2014, Taylor became a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, and in November 2016 was also honoured with an honorary degree from University of Bradford for his services to humanitarian causes.

He won Best Original Music for his score to Fear Of Water at the 2014 Monaco International Film Festival as judged by film director Roland Joffé.

In June 2013, music publishers Fairwood Music announced that they had added Taylor to their roster of artists which includes David Bowie, U2, Cat Stevens, The Average White Band, Bob Marley, and J.J. Cale. Taylor told British magazine Music Week, "I'm extremely humbled to join their roster, amongst some of the most recognised talents in the world. Here's hoping some of it will rub off on me!"

In 2011, Taylor made his London West End theatre debut co-composing the electronic music for Derek Bond's production of the play Many Moons.

Taylor is a professional member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. He was styled as the "New Sound of Hollywood" by MovieScope magazine in its 24th issue in 2011.

Born in Brontë Country, Bradford, and educated at Bradford Grammar School in the United Kingdom, Taylor later studied composition at the University of California, Los Angeles. After leaving UCLA in 2009, he mentored with American composer, Mark Mancina, and studied privately with orchestrator, Hummie Mann.

Mark Davison, FRSA (born 10 September 1983), known professionally as Benson Taylor, is an English composer, record producer, electronic musician and humanitarian who is best known for producing music for film. His style of music has a British influence, often working a classic film score sound amongst electronics, and other musical settings.