The audio industry is in the middle of a massive consolidation, with many boutique companies being acquired by either larger entities, holding companies, or private equity. The latest is the acquisition of Apogee Electronics by Dirk Ulrich’s Rockforce Tech Holding, which earlier in the year also acquired Manley Labs.
The good thing about this acquisition is that it’s by someone steeped in the music industry, as Dirk Ulrich has been the driving force behind Brainworx plugins and Plugin Alliance (you can hear his interview on my Inner Circle Podcast #132 here).
Just to show you how these industry consolidations are going, in 2022, both Plugin Alliance and Brainworx became part of a new company called Soundwide, which was formed by Native Instruments and iZotope. Today, Plugin Alliance is part of Native Instruments.
It’s Natural
If you’re wondering why this is happening, much of it is just a natural business evolution, as founders of these boutique manufactures and developers want to cash out and retire. It’s more difficult than ever to run a company, even one with a stable brand, as the competition is fierce and the dealer network has dwindled, so there’s a major incentive to leave the business if the opportunity presents itself.
Apogee and Manley together actually makes a lot of sense. One is known for its convertors while the other is known for analog audio devices like EQs, compressors, and microphones. Apogee also has entry-level products and low-priced options. While there’s some product overlap, both companies seem to compliment one another.
What’s always scary to users is the threat of products and customer service changing after the acquisition. Obviously there’s a duplication of some efforts in many cases, but for the time being we’re being told that each company will continue to operate as normal from the same locations as before.
Many industry acquisitions seem like a nightmare in the making, but this one makes a lot of sense, and holds a lot of promise.
