Digidesign has lost its face
This striking work of art was made by GFXPunk.
It used to be that Digidesign was one face of a multi-headed hydra called Avid. Not long ago Avid went public that they wanted to merge their faces into one. Standing outside looking in, I can only say that recent actions makes the entire company look completely faceless.
Dave Lebolt, Peter Gorges and Scott Church. What do these names mean to you? Let me tell you what they mean(t) to me.
- Dave Lebolt – Kingpin, the big cheese and the face of Digidesign as a company.
- Peter Gorges – The face of AIR, the team that – at least to me – was there to connect Digidesign and Pro Tools to a whole new generation of music producers, among other things.
- Scott Church – Digidesigns only real arm stretching out to the end-user.
They are in other words ‘connection symbols’. Whether this is true or just illusions of mine are actually completely irrelevant. You see, symbols are important, and what makes up a corporate image and face.
Thus I state that Digidesign is now faceless.
We can speculate how much we want about the departures, but it won’t really get us anywhere other than to a forest of rumors. What I do want to ask Digidesign or Avid, or whatever they want to call themselves, is this:
What will your new face be?
A ripple of doubt has been sent through the end-users. A new face is promised in a press release with statements from a leader that has now resigned. What will you do Avid/Digidesign to restore faith in your operation? What is your intention now? What are your plans for the future? What face will you mold now? All over the web the haters are laughing while your followers are questioning where you’re leading them.
You ask me? I’m glad you did.
Present us to the icons that will make out your new face. Conquer the web (it’s slightly ridiculous to see that no audio company has understood just how much there is to gain by doing this – not even Apple!). Give us an indication of the future, a teaser, a trailer that doesn’t really say anything other than “we’re on it!”. Preferably in that order, but feel free to shuffle it up if it interferes with your current schedule… Do it all at the same time.
All of that is of course just PR. There’s still so much to be done software- and hardware-wise. But this is something I believe Avid knows (and it’s another post anyway). Lets just hope that they have their priorities right and that some of the rumors floating around are nothing more than figments of frustrated users imagination.
PR, it almost has a bad ring to it, but it’s important now. You need to reconnect with the people that made you the standard. You need to listen to them and you need to grow new arms to stretch out to them. If you don’t understand that Avid, then you’re doomed.
AMEN! I’m of to Sweden now. How’s the weather up there stiff?
By J~P ~ June 29, 2009 kl 3:39 am
It’s great! 20 degrees here today (around 9-10 in the morning). Where exactly are you going?
By stiff ~ June 29, 2009 kl 3:46 am
Absolutely right, stiff!
By Guy Sigsworth ~ June 29, 2009 kl 4:44 am
As I wrote on my blog (http://songhacker.com/2008/09/09/digi-is-your-friend/) when Scott started, the best example of a software company “getting it” is Adobe & John Nack (http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/).
Nack does a great job as the “face” of Adobe.
By Nick P. ~ June 29, 2009 kl 8:20 am
This is what happens when a company get greedy with it’s users charging what they charge for WAY outdated Technology.
By 1234 ~ June 29, 2009 kl 10:39 am
I guess I musta missed something…. is Avid now trying to blend all of what it does into one “Brand”, and planning to abandon the name “Digidesign” in favor of some other name that encompasses all of what Digi and Avid do? If so, then I say “so what?”. No one really associates the name “Pro Tools” specifically to Digidesign i.e. Digidesign’s Pro Tools. It’s just “Pro Tools”. Much like Budweiser is “Bud”, and we could care less that it’s all ran by Anheuser Busch.
Or are they simply restructuring the entire corp structure and philosophy, with the hopes to sort of emerge as something inventive and fresh? Well if so, then to that I say, “STOP DOING STUPID THINGS TO TICK OFF YOUR PT CUSTOMERS”. Why do we need three or four MBoxes? Why do some fail to support PT8? I hate it that they come out with new interfaces, charge and arm and a leg, offer a laffable upgrade price path, have ten zillion “bundles” with varying degrees of compatibility, etc. I think they need to stream line their products, stop breaking compatibility to force you to upgrade, and maybe even allow for Pro Tools to operate with any audio interface (Gasp!)
All that being said… I still think Pro Tools is the best of them all, but they sometimes do stupid elitist things that take advantage of their customer base.
By Jason Sheroan ~ June 29, 2009 kl 11:47 am
Jason,
digi was faceless before..
stop drinking shit beer its not good for your health !!
make some cool new songs.. would love to hear them
take care
d
btw : http://www.pinkus-mueller.de/gifs/brauerei/flaschespecial.jpg
By Dirk ~ June 30, 2009 kl 6:11 am
This is what I don’t get — MANY people always bitch about the way Digi did business. Then, some of the main people leave and you bitch about that! Does it ever enter your mind that maybe THOSE people are responsible for what you didn’t like?!? Not saying that they are, but it’s just a thought. I would think that you would think that change is good. I guess people just like to bitch!
By SPP ~ June 30, 2009 kl 2:47 pm
Well – what I’ve seen happen over the last few years is pretty typical. Digidesign focused on their big money items, like any business. Their digital consoles became a big priority to push (and when they sell for as much as a house, its understandable) – and everything else kind of fell backwards. They made strides in certain areas, but IMO it wasn’t areas that people were really asking for. At least from what I have seen/heard.
But – honestly this all seemed to start happening when Avid acquired Digidesign in the first place. Here’s a company used to being a proprietary majority leader acquiring another proprietary majority leader. That’s all well and great until technology catches up, and the mindset of new up-and-comers no longer match up with their business model.
People these days are becoming more and more “open source.” They like stuff to work with everything, and keep them connected to everything. Look at cellphones – everyone has one, and most spend more time on anything BUT actually making calls on them (ie: texting, social sites, games, etc.). It translates to all areas. People aren’t wanting proprietary closed-box things anymore. And yet, what does Avid continue to do?
There was a time and a place for that business model – unfortunately it isn’t here anymore. The GPU in my PC can outperform an HD6 in terms of sheer processing power on its own, and pretty soon I’ll have access to let it do just that. And seriously, marketing products against themselves doesn’t work anymore. Microsoft needs to learn this, and so does Avid.
Focus on giving us one SOLID piece of software, it will free up even more time to focus on your $200,000 consoles…
By Corey ~ July 1, 2009 kl 4:44 am
[...] right. I’ve tried to get this message across for quite some time now (most recently in ‘Digidesign has lost its face‘, even if it’s just a part of that post) but it simply just doesn’t happen. [...]
By ProToolerBlog → Post » Native Instruments announces departure from tradeshows - the right direction? ~ July 9, 2009 kl 3:07 pm
[...] right. I’ve tried to get this message across for quite some time now (most recently in ‘Digidesign has lost its face‘, even if it’s just a part of that post) but it simply just doesn’t happen. [...]
By MaXVaX » Blog Archive » Native Instruments announces departure from tradeshows - the right direction? ~ July 10, 2009 kl 3:42 pm
I agree ProTools is the best. But if they don’t do some serious reflecting for its customer base there will be some shifting which could lead to reductionism. With that being said the end-user goes transient. Believe me there are DAWs company out there listening to the customers that are more than capable of making strides toward the new up and coming.
I say stand out now and give an answer. For if there is no face there is no voice.
By John ~ July 17, 2009 kl 6:40 pm
Pro Tools w/DSP used to have more marketing gloss and punch to back that up. Now, there are many more viable and affordable alternatives, and as Pro Tools has reached into the lower-priced market (hey M-Audio), many companies have done the opposite.
Not only is there a brand differentiation problem here (not helped by the merging), I find it hard to be compelled to answer: “Why Pro Tools? What sets it apart from the rest?” And perhaps that’s even the wrong question for the now. It doesn’t help when I’ve asked this question several times before, existing Pro Toolers treated me arrogantly — while they’re not representative of the larger community, Digidesign hasn’t combated this perception, either. One can be proprietary without seeming like a walled garden. (Good thoughts, Corey.)
On the other hand (not a direct parallel, but lessons to to be learned), witness Ableton with their continued extended reach with Live. Viva la marketing chops backed up by a superb product.
By Torley ~ July 19, 2009 kl 6:39 pm