Gemini has been somewhat quiet of late. There’s a whole story behind it, and one that will doubtlessly surface in due course. But for those who thought it was over for them, take a look at what just arrived in my inbox. Gemini has been inducted into the select group of companies that have product bearing the Serato logo, for the Gemini Slate and Slate 4 are now Serato DJ Intro ready. Gemini is back in style — a clean slate?
Serato DJ 1.2.3 remains unchanged bar adding the Gemini Slates into the mix. I would expect this to be a common thing, as Intro core feature set is not about adding cool new things, but more about adding new controllers. And both models offer the paid upgrade path to the full Serato DJ experience, where you can start adding effects packs and features like Serato Flip and Serato Video.
I cannot help but admire Serato’s business turnaround. Scratch Live and ITCH awkwardly coexisted with no real cohesiveness and an unsustainable business model. But with Serato DJ, Intro is the entry level software that manufacturers can licence and bundle with their controllers, and the Serato steps in with Full DJ upgrade and subsequent expansion pack purchases that goes right into their pockets. And when it comes to pro controllers, Serato still sells the full licences and still gets the inevitable income from plugins.
Smart move Serato. I doff my cap. And welcome back Gemini.