Native Instruments buy Technics fake spoof
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Native Instruments: Putting the NI in Technics? No.

Native Instruments buy Technics fake spoof

The last 48 hours has seen the usual channels agog with news that Native Instruments were dipping into their corporate coffers ready to snap up the iconic Technics brand in a bid to “remove the memory of the turntable” and to make sure that “manual beat matching and analog sound will be in the past, where they belong”. These ridiculous statements alone should tell you that this is an utter crock. And here’s why.

Enter one of the new breed of satirical DJ sites wunderground.ie, who cited alleged NI spokesman Michael Dressler as the source of this news. Of course we called up NI, who confirmed that Michael Dressler was unavailable for comment  — as he doesn’t actually exist. But sources confirm that he has cleared his pretend desk and is “spending time with his imaginary family while considering his make-believe career in entirely fictitious PR”.

We jest of course, but it should have been obvious that there never was a Michael Dressler, nor any plan for NI to buy Technics. Just like equalizermag’s story of a purist DJ killing a Traktor DJ, these stories have been written just within the very extremes of possibility, but just enough to have people think that it might just be true. But they’re not.

NI hasn’t bought Technics. I know that some of you so desperately want Technics to return in just about any guise, so I’ll put this in context so that you can understand the state of the DJ market — global turntable sales got to the point where even the mighty Technics couldn’t sell enough turntables to stay alive. And if they can’t, then nobody can.

I await a salvo of comments about the resurgence of vinyl and how Technics should fire up the product line and make loads of money again. The real conversation however is were you actually taken in by this? And will you be sure to take such stories with more than a pinch of salt in the future? ;)

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Mark Settle
The Old Owner
I was the editor around these parts for the first two decades of the DJWORX journey. I’m on a creative journey at The Worxlab, and drop in occasionally here. Expect the odd article from me every now and again.
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20 Comments

  1. Salvo 1 -> 1200s were made too well to compete in the global market of ‘planed obsolescence’. Every brand new deck was in competition with its own 20 year old used and perfectly good counterpart. Technics 1200 cost $25 to $50 a year, its not a sustainable model. There will never be a “mistake” like the Technic 1200 again as all new product has a two or three year life ahead of it compared to the two or three decade life span of the 1200. Bring on the expensive plastic destined for the trash bin.

      1. Like I said, planned obsolescence doesn’t really exist. Think of it this way-business cases were made 5 years ago to account for a product having a 5 year shelf life, making its money in 2 and being able to live for 3 more, at which point consumer behavior would change and you would introduce a new product. Now companies have to make back the money in a 2 years or less, and replace. Everyone wishes they could make an evergreen product like the 1200. The opportunity simply doesn’t exist anymore.

        1. I’d agree with you far more, BX, if those products that came out every 2 years weren’t almost identical to the products that came out 2 years prior. Granted, SOME manufacturers are making interesting things on a massive scale, but how often? It just feels like it’s a whole host of version 1.1 or 1.2. of already created products.

          1. Seems that the digital DJ age has naturally plateaued. Controllers are having to last much longer than ever because the new features (remix decks and touch strips spring to mind) are appealing to a smaller group of people with each new controller. The likelihood that GAS will kick in and people will buy the MK2 to replace their MK1 is less with each iteration, because the upgrade isn’t enough to justify.

            This is why I keep coming back to a modular approach. Provide a supremely high quality core product that never changes (great jog wheels, amazing mixer with killer faders) and let the naturally progressing evolving elements get their own modular controller elements.

            Let the bits that remain constant over the years have a constant core, whereas the bits that change and evolve can be changed out quickly, cheaply and regularly. I cannot help put feel that manufacturers and software vendors will have more success if adding a new feature costs $150, rather than having to swap out a whole controller every year for $1000. People won’t stand for it for much longer, especially of the expensive upgrade is just some RGB buttons.

            1. And we see completely eye to eye on that. I think that modular is ideal, especially with structures like the CMDs have, where you can lock together units to create a faux-all-in-one.

              There’s one big piece missing, and that’s the unit-to-unit communication, but that requires direct handware-software integration, and I’m not holding my breath for that to happen outside of the closed circuits (NI making hardware for Traktor, or all Serato approved hardware). That and mapping needs to be easier and more intuitive on both sides for more advanced features so hardware can get more out there and complex.

          2. The 2 year identical product is a strange case. It isn’t meant to be a planned obsolescence, it instead is meant to basically be a re-advertisement so as to extend the investment in a product’s development in the hopes that people will notice it and buy it who missed it the first round. Different animal relating to my point about decreasing product cycles endangering new product profitability.

        2. I think there’s plenty of evidence to contradict that. Particularly with software. Apple are the most obvious one, but NI have done it too by cutting out Snow Leopard from their support. Loads of companies add arbitrary features just to force you to buy newer models.

          1. Are you daft? NI cut Snow Leopard out because they want to move forward and get rid of legacy support of older machines that people should have updated a long time ago. That said, while it benefits Apple, how the hell does it benefit NI? They don’t get money from Apple for the upgrade of the OS or the purchase of a new machine.

            Either way, the argument was about hardware, not software, but still though, the argument used is just…..I can’t……

    2. This whole notion of planned obsolescence bothers me on a core level. When people make products, there isn’t this idea that we are making something that you will need to replace. If you use it forever, great. The problem is that with the definitions of what DJing and music production changing so rapidly, and companies who make the equipment no longer in the driver’s seat due to software companies having the ability to be more nimble with new features because of not having a physical product usually to have to govern themselves with, the market is saturated with product that had to make back it’s money within 2 years. If the average DJ company could make another 1200, they would in a heartbeat as it is a sustainable enterprise that allows for more creative products by giving them a dependable source of income. Instead they are in a rush to make a product that is always a step behind by its very nature, knowing that it likely will np longer be popular due to a new software feature that is coming that no one can predict.

      People don’t buy turntables anymore. It sucks. Get over it.

    3. I heard (maybe on a PBS documentary) that Planned Obsolescence was basically come up with as a way to sufficiently-employ all the people coming back from WWII.

      rs

  5. That fact that this story causes even attention, shows in what state Turntablism and DJ-ing are. From 1999-2004 it was another story (less money to be made/vinyl/mostly purists putting stuff out). Nowadays you’re lucky seeing a descent and creative routine…

  6. The resurgence in vinyl is mostly of interest to people who are really diehard music listeners, audiophiles and collectors and there is a lot of new music being released on vinyl.

    1. There are lots of independent record stores that are getting out of CD sales and back into selling vinyl or are cutting their CD selection in favor of vinyl to maintain their loyal customer base of mostly collectors. The discount stores have most of their really timeless music in the $5 bin and the regular CD bins are mostly new releases and hits compilations and they are displaying more iTunes cards because the mainstream wants downloads more than physical media.