Watson was a founding member of the influential Sheffield based experimental music group Cabaret Voltaire during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Since then he has developed a particular and passionate interest in recording the sounds of animals, habitats and atmospheres from around the world.
As a freelance composer and sound recordist Watson specialises in creating spatial sound installations which feature a strong sense and spirit of place.
In 2013 Watson received a Paul Hamlyn Composers Award.
In 2014 Watson was appointed as the Handel Music Fellow at the Foundling Museum in London.
For his film sound work Watson has won BAFTA awards for Best Factual Sound in 1998, 2012 and 2025 for ‘The Life of Birds’,‘Frozen Planet’ and ‘The Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough’.
Watson was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Technology by the University of the West of England (2006), Honorary Doctor by the University of The Arts London (2011), Honorary Doctor of Arts by Leeds Beckett University (2018) and Doctor of Music (honoris causa) by the University of Sheffield (2019)
His installations have been commissioned by international galleries and festivals such as;
Sheffield Millennium Gallery, Opera North in Leeds, The National Gallery, London, The Royal Opera House, London, The Louvre in Paris, the Aichi Triennial in Japan and Dark MoFo in Tasmania.