Like the ol’ saying goes; If ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. (or buy them in this case lol)
InMusic should have done this years ago after buying Rane. Instead they bought… Stanton? Of course, I doubt Stanton would’ve cost as much as Serato… but I think they could’ve done it since they recently also acquired Moog.
Have a look back through the history of DJ gear and you’ll see just why acquiring a company like Stanton was such a business savvy move… they have basically invented half the tech we see in modern DJ equipment.
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I’m aware of Stanton’s rich history, but by the time Gibson was done with Stanton it was merely a shell of what it used to be.
But the real question is, were any of the original design team still in place, it might not be the brand or the hardware itself but the talent in the background and the patents that make good business sense.
Stanton invented DVS, on the back of this news im guessing Inmusic want to develop DVS and DJ performance software (and in my opinion were already taking steps in that direction). Could it be linked?
I can’t see why any of the original talent would’ve stayed. Gibson/Stanton didn’t really invest in any new products in the 2010s outside of their random acquisition of Deckadance (which they ultimately did nothing with). Their last really innovative product was the SCS.4DJ which got an update in 2014 or so.
I know that if it were me, I wouldn’t have stayed at Gibson/Stanton. If InMusic did get anything out of the deal back then, it would’ve been patents and trademarks.
As far as I can tell, Native Instruments owns all rights to the ip and codebase for final scratch. It changed hands from N2it to Stanton, and then eventually to NI.
And without being party to the agreement none of us know what they did and didnt acquire, but we can safely assume that a successful business wouldn’t buy out another one without some entirely valid reasoning for it. They didn’t just wake up one morning and say ‘oooh lets buy the Stanton brand for a laugh’ did they.
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Good job ATC. 
It makes sense cause when ever you see someone using serato more times than not they will be using some kind of pioneer gear to interface with it. Pioneer hardware is more robustly supported by serato than with Denon.
If inmusic were to acquire a dj software company I believe it should be Algoriddim. I say this because I see Djay has an iOS monopoly that could be capitalized on. Pioneer is already venturing into smart device tech devices that work on android and iOS so I think that Algoriddim would be a big deal and would certainly give a leapfrogging boost relative to what inmusic already has now.
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I use iTunes inside Traktor to do that. Works fine for me.
Maybe this will give both Denon DJ and Native Instruments a firm nudge to at least start working together. The lack of Traktor HID support is one of the biggest missed opportunities for both parties.
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Big short term move by Pio and I believe they will ‘kill’ Serato in the future (at least as a options for other brands) BUT with prices for embedded computers/hardware dropping, the future lies on all-in-one/integrated hardware. P4, Opus and equivalent are already ‘good enough’ to ‘ditch the laptop’ for a big part of the consumers, so…
Talking about Traktor as a option for INMusic for a ‘a war’…it is my favorite DJing software but it has become a bit of a ‘niche’ product, as it is mainly used in House/techno scene, so I don’t believe it would had a lot of market share for Denon.
The problem with iTunes is its legacy software now, and Apple messed everything up with the switch to music didnt they… there isn’t a day goes by on the Serato forum without someone complaining about their Apple managed music library being screwed.
I removed any Apple management of my music 14yrs ago and would never touch it now, even where it places the music files in finder is a complete mess, especially if you’re buying single tracks.
If InMusic want to develop Engine in to a computer based DJing package, I believe they’ve got most of the code in place ready to go.
Ask @AIRVince to tell you about a little DJing programme called Torq, that was sold by M-Audio (now owned by InMusic)
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Great post by @MrWilks enjoyed reading that… the first comment underneath made me chuckle too, i caught him on a Denon review video a few weeks back slating everything about the brand:)
I honestly think Engine Desktop is merging into DJ software anyway, and the wireless interrogation of your music library is the first phase. I might be wrong though.
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While most would like to see features transferring from software or merging of things I imagine the ergonomic value of the new serato and pioneer bedfellowship.
Imagine Serato exporting your work to a usb stick and it just works with pioneer software and standalone hardware. Or better yet just lay down on your couch with your smart phone or tablet preparing your work with the rekordbox app and syncing it for use with both serato and pioneer.
Ergonomics between the two will be the first child born from this in my opinion.
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I’m not down with this at all. Seems like a middle finger from Pioneer (excuse me, Alpha Theta) and honestly I wonder if this is allowed to go through at all. This triggers so many antitrust red flags. And Pioneer would officially know all of the hardware in development from everyone? Suuuuuuuure. That sounds PERFECT! Force higher prices for your competition. Why not?! So many problems here.
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I see this as two companies who have been for years lagging in innovation coming together in fear of becoming obsolete to the competition.
Think about it:
- Denon DJ’s Prime lineup is light years ahead of Pioneer DJ
- Serato’s innovations always followed VDJ (Stems, etc.)
- Serato makes poor use of of the Prime 4’s touchscreen in controller mode (I think on purpose).
Years ago, I began moving away from Pioneer & Serato and I’m glad I did. KEEP INNOVATING DENON DJ!!!
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My assumption was due to InMusic already owning a handful of companies that utilize Hanpin Electron for manufacturing products. With the STX poised to come out, it made sense.
Now that’s a game changing acquisition I could get behind. Considering VDJ already has solid integrations with the bulk of InMusic produced DJ hardware.
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