Michael Macmeeken was born in Edinburgh, Scotland (1942), to a family that was active in the cultural life of the city for more than two generations. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University (Law, Business Method, Economics). He is now resident in Italy, Curtarolo (Padua), together with his wife, the well known Italian guitar maker Donatella Salvato.

In 1968 he moved to Spain and graduated in guitar at the Real Superior Conservatorio de Musica in Madrid where he studied with Jorge Ariza. He perfected his studies with Regino Sainz de la Maza in Madrid from 1968-1977. Further musicological studies followed, and he taught the classical guitar at several state music education establishments in Germany, from 1978-2004. 

While a resident of Heidelberg, Germany, and encouraged by Rafael Puyana, Macmeeken founded Chanterelle Verlag in 1979: which was one of the first publishers in guitar circles to implement scholarly and scientific editing polices and was soon recognized as an important reference catalogue for classical guitarists and the source for much previously unattainable guitar repertoire. Macmeeken ran Chanterelle for 34 years until it was acquired in 2013 by Zimmermann Musikverlage, since 2016 integrated into the Schott Music Group of Mainz.

Michael Macmeeken founded Guitar Heritage in 2019 which published new critical editions of the collected guitar works of Miguel Llobet and Fernando Sor in 2022, as well as the first critical edition of the 24 Preludios para guitarra by Manuel Ponce. For his publishing work he has twice been awarded the Chitarra d’Oro by the International Guitar Symposium of Milan.

As of 01.01.2023 Guitar Heritage belongs to Schott Music of Mainz, who are expanding the catalogue.