There was a newspaper article in the Rimmini, Italy paper several weeks ago, which reported that Generalmusics owners, Mateo and Danielle Galanti were in trouble with the Italian Government over money they owed the government. The article was in Italian and we translated in into English and were able to get this much out of it. There was some kind of fraud, it reported having to do with multiple factories and employees working in these factories. I don't know how it resolved, but this is probably where this rumor started from. When I called the offices here in the USA, I was told by an employee of GEM that he had heard the same rumors and didn't know if they were true or not.
Generalmusic is a very large company in Italy and I would hope everything will come out OK and they will continue to produce products for world wide distribution. I traveled to their country in 2002 and was treated to tours of their factories and sightseing in Italy. It was one of the nicest experiences in my 39 years of being in this business.
As to Roland.......I know that here in the USA Roland has decided not to carry the E80 any more. I was surprised they were selling what was left for such a cheap price right after NAMM and when they told me there were none left and that was it, it didn't surprise me. I also know that this bad economy is having an affect on everything in all industries. Cutbacks are being made at all levels and product development will suffer.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com