Roland Corporation has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire a major share of Cakewalk.
Roland and Cakewalk have been partners since 1995, and have cooperated closely on numerous business projects and complimentary product lines. In 2003, Roland augmented its strategic partnership with Cakewalk by becoming a minor shareholder in the corporation. As a part of that unique relationship, Roland gained exclusive worldwide sales distribution rights, (with the exception of Cakewalk's USA home territory).
Roland expanded its commitment to the Cakewalk product line even further when it began bundling Cakewalk software such as Sonar LE with a wide range of Roland/BOSS/Edirol products. In recent years, the two companies co-developed and released innovative recording solutions, including the popular SONAR Power Studio.
Recently, Cakewalk adopted Roland's REAC technology (Roland Ethernet Audio Communication) to develop the SONAR REAC Recording System—capable of recording up to 40 channels of high quality audio directly input to a PC via an Ethernet port.
Roland Corporation President, Hidekazu Tanaka, relates, "Through this mutually beneficial partnership, both corporations have enjoyed a marked increase in sales and market share. As a logical evolution of our relationship, we have decided to increase our investment in Cakewalk by becoming its major shareholder."
New products for musicians and professional audio producers will be branded as "Cakewalk by Roland."
Tanaka commented, "This is an exciting milestone in the relationship between Cakewalk and Roland. Cakewalk products complement a wide range of our products and we see a great future with the plans we have set for our alliance."
Greg Hendershott, Founder and CEO of Cakewalk, said, "We all look forward to working on new projects we have planned with Roland. Our two companies work well together and our respective customers will benefit from our ongoing collaboration. Roland makes great hardware. Cakewalk makes great software. The combination has the power to make a powerful difference in the world of music and audio creation."
Mr. Tanaka also related, "Roland and Cakewalk will continue to expand our joint-product line. Together, our companies bring decades of experience in a wide range of music and audio technologies to the table. That breadth of knowledge will enable us to design innovative products which blend hardware and software in a unique and harmonious way that is uniquely Roland. New joint products will expand our business reach, increase markets of music production and illuminate new opportunities defined by our revolutionary new designs."
