Scott Church is going too
When a bird whispered in my ear that Scott Church was leaving Avid I hoped it was just a nasty rumor. It turned out it wasn’t.
While a lot of people have left Avid in silence, Scott is the third person to be featured on this blog. The first two of course being Dave Lebolt and Peter Gorges.
Scott Church was to me the only real connection between Avid and the end-users. While others, such as Dave Lebolt, connected with columns in Digizine and very few occasional posts on the DUC and so on (which I of course appreciate), Scott understood the true value of real connection and communicated through videos and on his blog which is now down.
I don’t want to spread any false rumors here. According to Scott himself, his departure had nothing to do with anyone else (this was not Dave starting a mutiny, at least not to my knowledge). He got a chance to continue his career elsewhere and took it. No hard feelings from my side at all, that’s just business and life, but I’m sure gonna miss the bloke. He did some great things for Pro Tools, playing a part in Pro Tools 8 that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Scott will be the first one to assure you that his direct communication with the end-user was a great part of his job. And I will miss this as well, his connection with the outside, his blog, videos and passion for Pro Tools.
Good luck Scott!
The fear is Avid is planning to put all its apples into making Pro Tools THAT MUCH MORE integrated with Video Post Production.
Not something we need.
By Mandallay ~ June 27, 2009 kl 6:50 pm
scott church did WONDERS for PT8. he actually knew what end-users wants, he listened with open ears. avid decided to hire a bunch of non-industry suits to take over powerful management positions, and their no-music-knowing bafoonery is starting to show whats up.
By anonymous ~ June 27, 2009 kl 9:22 pm
I’m very worried for the future of Pro Tools. For me, no other DAW can compare for hardcore sample-accurate digital editing. No other DAW has the sample-accurate automation. I utterly love my Pro Tools. I don’t want to have to go over to Logic.
In the pop world, the most important customers for DAWs are the new generation of emerging writer/producers. My impression is that these people are now choosing Logic over Pro Tools by a substantial margin. Two reasons. First, price. Second, it’s an all-in package. With all its excellent soft synths and samplers, Logic contains everything you need to make music and write songs from the second you get it home. You don’t even need an ilok. In a recent Sound On Sound interview, Greg Kursten said he produced Lily Allen’s first single for her new album on just a MacBook Pro running Logic 8, using nothing but the free bundled plug-ins. The Air Group have been doing a lot to make the Pro Tools package more appealing to those potential new buyers, with a whole range of new virtual instruments. To compete with Logic 8 they’ll have to give all of them away for free as part of the package, including Eleven and Velvet.
Avid have to wake up to the changing market. Please, Avid, don’t blow it.
By Guy Sigsworth ~ June 28, 2009 kl 10:42 am
The question, from the bird’s eye view, is this: Is there really money to be made in this market anymore? Is it possible it has plateaued? I imagine Digi shareholders grew fat on the high-profit-margin of Pro Tools HD in the ’90s. The corporation may not find it appealing to scratch for scraps in the brave new world of digital-media-production-is-cheap and then the music you make with it is, for all intents and purposes, essentially free to the public. From a macro-economics standpoint, the future does not look bright in this region.
It’s certainly an interesting time to be alive. Stay tuned! Music production and music consumption is transforming so substantially and so quickly that it can only be called revolutionary. It’s just: a revolution towards what end? That’s the question, isn’t it?
If I were an investor, I would not invest in Avid. The trajectory does not seem to be going upwards. I don’t see how it can. But I’ve been wrong before.
- c
By chad ~ June 28, 2009 kl 3:36 pm
I agree strongly with Guy’s comments…
Very worrying.
By Mox ~ June 28, 2009 kl 5:35 pm
Things usually happen in threes! Especially bad things… no good can come of this.
By @ndy ~ June 28, 2009 kl 5:51 pm
Hi Chad
I agree it’s not an easy market to be in right now. Every week stiff has a post about another plug-in manufacturer offering another special discount. We’re all under pressure in the music biz. I’m only making grumpy comments about Avid because I love their product, Pro Tools, and don’t want to see it go under.
The main problem for Avid is that their principal rival is Apple – a computer manufacturer. When Apple bought Logic they made it Mac-only, halved the price, and made it easier to pirate. This would have made no business sense when Logic was a standalone software company. But Apple realized that, for Logic users, the copy protection system was now the Apple computer itself. The Logic DAW drives sales of Apple computers, just as the iTunes shop drives sales of iPods – though, admittedly, at a lower level.
In the UK the BBC is now investing heavily in Final Cut Pro – another Apple rival product to Avid. And the consequence is, the beeb are buying thousands of Apple computers for their staff.
I really don’t know how Avid can compete with that. I’d hate to see Avid bought by Microsoft, for instance, with the Pro Tools staff reassigned to work on something like Songsmith.
By Guy Sigsworth ~ June 29, 2009 kl 4:39 am
[...] Scott Church is going too 7 Guy Sigsworth, @ndy, Mox [...] [...]
By ProToolerBlog → Post » Digidesign has lost its face ~ June 29, 2009 kl 11:08 am