These larger questions will continue on loop industry-wide for the coming years, it seems.

will music tech be able to compete as lockdowns gradually end

about all music tech companies seeking venture funding for growth using subscriptions

Gibson also has an app and learning system

the piano, as always, has to compete with the guitar

the app works with the light-up keyboard to teach you to play

whether you want to have keys light up to tell you which notes to play in the first place.

assume there are more beginners out there than there are advanced users and hope they want to pay the $299 + $79/year to learn to play music

It goes without saying that venture finance at the moment absolutely adores subscription models.

intended to help you learn to play music

focusing on their light-up keyboard Lumi

powerful software from FXpansion and on iOS

common misconception that the pandemic was universally good for the music instruments industry

the flagship Seaboard controller will become available again soon

PACE is not exactly beloved by the developer community even as it is widely used

Luminary is talking about pushing its subscription-based software business.

headcount at ROLI was at some point up to 250 people

if advanced users get that, will beginners – enough to support growth of the rebooted company?

ROLI has filed for administration and will reboot as beginner-focused Luminary as the company struggles with losses. A portion of employees remain, and even the Seaboard is apparently coming back in stock – but this could be a cautionary tale for “hypergrowth” in music making. The UK-based startup had always been something of a puzzle to the instruments industry. On one hand, they had innovative products – those famous squishy keyboards – plus loads of celebrity endorsements (like Pharell and Grimes). They also have been able to hire an incredible amount of talent, including acquisitions of the FXpansion software development team and (at one point) the widely used JUCE framework and its star developer. But on the other hand, it was clear ROLI was burning investment money in pursuit of a growth strategy that seemed potentially unrealistic to an outside observer. And at the moment, I’m not really going out on a limb saying that, because I can just quote CEO Roland Lamb talking to Business Insider about the decision to file for administration: “Ultimately, what happened was the pro-focused products we initially developed, although successful within their marketplace, the marketplace wasn’t big enough given our venture trajectory,” Lamb told Insider on Wednesday. “We had our eyes set on hypergrowth, and that proved to be difficult.” “Hypergrowth” is an interesting term, as most enduring names in the music tech business in fact have pursued very conservative, gradual growth. Household names like Ableton or Roland or Avid have been almost like blue-chips for musicians. And the losses ROLI accrued were real – the most recent filing is back to 2019, with pretax losses of £34.1 million on revenues of £11.4 million. Lamb describes the process of the reboot as involving “dark nights of the soul.” So let’s get to what this means. Let me also say – I sincerely hope former ROLI employees are all landing on their feet, whether at Luminary or (for most, realistically) post-ROLI. The tech itself remains innovative, expressive, and presented in an appealing and futuristic product.

the marketplace wasn’t big enough given our venture trajectory

But on the other hand, it was clear ROLI was burning investment money in pursuit of a growth strategy that seemed potentially unrealistic to an outside observer.

this could be a cautionary tale for “hypergrowth” in music making