Ian.., what are you opinions on this.., and I'm asking since you work for Yamaha.

What about Yamaha (or any of the top three) opening the door and "contracting out" for content..... Hell they really could contract within by simply breaking down the wall that separates the developers on the arranger team and workstation team

Let me give you a good example. Let's look at Zoom for a moment. Zoom contracted with the Beat Kangz label. Zoom provided the hardware and B-Kangz provided the content and skill. What happened..., well the result of that partnership was the Zoom SB-246.., also known as the StreetBoxx. Zoom literally recycled a current model of theirs (RT-223).., and that unit turned out to be one of the hottest selling hardware drum machine over the last few years.., and even broke sales records for Zoom. There were parts of the world that couldn't even get the thing as it was in such high demand. I got one myself and can't put it down. The result of this was a $179 hip hop drum machine that (even today) in terms of "drum tracks" can still hang with every hardware unit out there (in regards to presets).

Why can't anyone of the big three contract out. They provide the hardware and a third party provides the content. Alesis had to use a 3rd party sound developer to literally save the Fusion synth line.

I know Yamaha, Korg, and Roland.., considering the money they have could contract out. What Zoom paid the Beat Kangz group would have been pocket change to the big three

Zooms contract with them turned out to be so successful that B-Kangz has their own unit coming out now (however.., it's rumored that Zoom still has a hand in the hardware development).., but if this thing delivers it'll blow the roof off the market (because of what it's supposed to do and the price). It's called the Beat Thang.., and if you see the YouTube vids..., you'll need to really look past the ghetto fab attitudes of the BKz crew.., and look at the unit itself though

Any one of the big three could tap that market..., and use the popularity of a beat making label to put out some killer content in partnership.




[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 05-21-2009).]