It’s consolidation season fo the industry. And Focusrite has just acquired legendary synth maker Sequential, alongside names like Adam Audio and Novation.
Dave Smith makes the announcement. The press release emphasizes that Sequential’s day-to-day operations will remain unchanged, but here Dave also hints at some aspirations for technology sharing with the likes of Novation.
I have no doubt that this will be well-received in the synth community at large, because Focusrite/Novation and Sequential are such beloved brands. And it certainly looks like a good match. Focusrite have been widely seen as great stewards of the Novation legacy and its independent research and development over the years, with good reason.
It does represent an overall shift as this industry grows, too. Focusrite plc is a publicly-traded company, as that structure becomes more common behind the brands you know. (It’s traded on the London Stock Exchange.)
I’d imagine the scales will be tipped more on the side of independence, though. Focusrite’s Novation and Martin Audio offices are nearby one another in High Wycombe, UK; Sequential will be off in California, with a business that still looks pretty different from even Novation’s. The most immediate question to watch will be if this helps Sequential with distribution in Europe and other markets outside the US. Those synths are big, heavy things, so marketing really does require some logistics.
In fact, maybe generally what you might watch in the synth business is whether big players and small find ways of getting to their customers with less overhead, whether it’s through better deals with existing channels or enabling independent channels. But that’s purely speculative for now.
Sequential says in their press statement that their “day-to-day operations and product development remain unchanged and will continue to be guided by Dave Smith and his team.”
They’ll just find some emails earlier. This press release clearly went out on UK morning time.
More on the companies:
Now I just hope I can get hands on one of their new instruments to show you all around soon.