When Technics decided that enough was enough and the venerable SL-1200 was no longer a viable product, it left a hole not only the hearts and minds of the DJ community, but also in DMC’s sponsor list. Luckily, Rane stepped up to become the headline sponsor, and that relationship has seen the battle develop into a veritable meting pot of technologies, that at the same time still uses the 1200 as its core turntable. It would be mad not to really.
But now Technics is back, and the new SL-1200/1210 (can’t they just pick one?) MK7 is upon us. And given the initial feedback from NAMM, they need to be promoted hard. Thus Technics is back on the DMC World Finals sponsor list again. Here’s some words from DMC themselves posted on their Facebook page:
Official DMC Announcement: Monday 8th July 2019
DMC are pleased to announce that Technics, a long term sponsor of the DMC World DJ Championships, will once again be supporting the event.
Technics join Rane as primary sponsors of the world’s leading DJ competitions which will be known as Rane presents The 2019 DMC World DJ Championship in association with Technics.
Technics will be providing the new MK7 Turntable as an option at the World Finals, together with the Rane Twelve and the traditional turntables from legendary brand Technics.
Technics will also be offering all competing DJs, the chance to use Technics headphones on stage and back stage during set preparation.
We are in the final stages of the event planning and look forward to announcing the full details soon.
DMC welcomes Technics back to the DMC World DJ Championships.
Technics technics technics
Did you get the subliminal message in the PR? Yes people, Technics is back with DMC. It’s an unusual billing:
“Rane presents The 2019 DMC World DJ Championship in association with Technics.”
I assume that given Rane’s dominance in the turntablist world now, sharing top billing with Technics wasn’t going to sit too well with Rane, especially as I imagine that a majority of DJs on the stage will be using Rane equipment. But given that Rane doesn’t make a turntable, I also suspect that this leaves Technics open to do other “in association with” events too. Coming to a Red Bull 3Style near you son perhaps?
Either way, Technics needs to be seen to be supporting the community that they want to buy their new MK7. And from what we’ve seen so far at saw from various commentators at NAMM, it’s going to be a tough sell. Not only is the market awash with used units, there seems to be a shift (if social media is to be believed anyway) towards the Rane Twelve. My gut says that’s not necessarily the case, but the perception is definitely there.
Thus Technics is having to market turntables all over again. This time however, it’s not like shooting fish in a barrel. With the mixture of the longevity of their old product, new and entirely more feature filled turntables, highly capable digital controllers, and even Phase negating the need to update old turntables, selling 1200s isn’t going to be quite so easy this time around.
Either way, it’s nice for an old-timer like myself to see the Technics logo back on a DMC flyer.