I’m not exactly what you might call an expert on sports. And digging around team rivalries and key players didn’t make things any clearer for me to find a suitable simile either. So imagine if you will that your favourite player from that team you love decides to jump ship to their arch rival team you hate. Well that just happened, as inMusic made a successful end-of-season bid for Pioneer DJ midfielder Rik Parkinson and have promoted him to centre forward for Denon DJ. Did I do it right? You get the idea.
inMusic is so chuffed with this acquisition that they’ve pushed out a press release:
DJ INDUSTRY VETERAN RIK PARKINSON JOINS DENON DJ® AS DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
After 15 years with Pioneer DJ, Parkinson’s expertise will drive DENON DJ to new heights of innovation and performance.
Cumberland, RI USA (November 19, 2019)—DENON DJ (www.denondj.com), a leading manufacturer of premium DJ products and solutions, today announced that noted DJ industry veteran Rik Parkinson has joined DENON DJ as their Director of Strategic Development. In this newly-created position, Parkinson will work with DENON DJ’s outstanding team of product and marketing professionals to build on the amazing success of recent products such as the DENON DJ PRIME 4 4-channel standalone DJ system and the SC5000M media player.
Parkinson brings with him a wealth of intense DJ industry experience. His in-depth knowledge of the market coupled with his technical product expertise gives Parkinson a unique vantage point from which he will help further the expansion and innovation of DENON DJ’s product line-up.
Pat Sullivan, President of inMusic said,
“Rik is a perfect fit for the product-focused culture at DENON DJ. When the opportunity to work with Rik presented itself, it was a no brainer that he would be a great addition to our very experienced DJ team for a market that is growing rapidly for us. He brings a lifelong passion for the DJ community and a true understanding of its rapidly evolving landscape. His experience and knowledge of the market, combined with DENON DJ’s respected products and innovative technologies, will help us create game-changing products for the future DJ. We couldn’t be more excited to see what Rik will do at DENON DJ.”
Rik Parkinson added,
“DENON DJ drives industry expectations with disruptive technology for today’s and tomorrow’s DJs, who seek feature-rich and reliable gear. It’s an honor to join this portfolio of highly-respected products and I can’t wait to work with a team like this that is deeply immersed in DJ culture and constantly challenging each other to deliver new fringe technology into our ecosystem.”
Parkinson assumes his new role with DENON DJ effective immediately.
WHY THIS MATTERS
People change jobs all the time. But what makes this one incredibly important and hence newsworthy is the timing and the companies involved.
Rik has been with Pioneer DJ for all the time I’ve been doing this DJ writing thing. His knowledge, experience, and contacts are an incredibly valuable asset, especially to the competition. But it’ll be Rik’s intimate knowledge of Pioneer DJ’s future that marks this out as hugely important.
While the response to Denon DJ’s Prime range has yet to show itself, don’t for one second think that Pioneer DJ hasn’t been working on the next wave. And for Denon DJ to be able to tap into Rik’s past and future knowledge is strategically vital, especially as it’s likely that they’ll start to show their new cards any day now.
As Rik’s new job title shows, this industry move is as much about skills as it is strategy. And whatever the behind-the-scenes industry wranglings, we can be sure that it can only benefit the DJ community.
So good luck to you Rik. I hope have the same impact on Denon DJ as you did Pioneer DJ.