FXpansion’s BFD Acquired by inMusic

[revvy]

This week's kinda been like Korg giveth and FXP taketh away.

[revvy]

https://www.musictech.net/news/roli-pac ... _campaign=

[whyterabbyt]

https://www.musictech.net/news/roli-pac ... _campaign=

That certainly touches on the 'all that venture capital for a keyboard?' incredulity Ive always had about ROLI. Like them or not, PACE's income model isnt quite so 'dotcom bubble'.

[triggerthehorizon]

Already lots in the pipeline guys. I'm excited for the future of BFD.
We can't say too much, but already ... well... already plenty of reasons for chin stroking wonder!

-Drew

Thanks for that bit of reassurance. Good to hear it directly from the BFD folks

[plexuss]

For some reason I got the feeling that this will turn out to be another epic KVR thread full of some first class trolling and badass jokes. It already got that vibe.

Yeah... I am heavily invested in BFD and I am not concerned at the moment. I am glad they didn't just trash it like they did with Tremor (dumb move on FXP's part). At least the platform isn't dead. Their email implies dev work will continue. At this point as long as they keep it working that's all I care about. I don't consider inMusic acquisitions to be the same as product-death - their brands are still alive and they do update software, so I think we are safe for now.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

From an old BFD beta tester, I really hope things go well. As long as Skot and Drew (hi guys!) are on board, I'll remain cautiously optimistic. If they weren't on board, I'd be terrified.

I love BFD3, but things have been slow with third-party content and the interface could use a refresh IMO. The groove library is difficult to browse/manage so any improvements when it comes to organization would be nice there. Help me find the grooves I want quickly, and particularly, usable fills that I can drop in.

Going forward, if I could have my wish, I'd like to see an approach that involved working with different engineers/producers/studios to get packs focused on different types of drum sounds. Really dug what Platinum Samples was doing on that front for a while, same with Drum Drops. My understanding was BFD3's copy protection was good for third-party developers compared to SDX, but I don't know if licenses costs or whatnot prevented more companies from entering the eco-system, but I'd love to see an opening up of the platform (be Android to SDX's iOS). Get rid of that wire UI, and go back to something more immediately aesthetically pleasing (but scalable), and figure out a better way to manage grooves and I think you've got a winner. The modeling is already great, the capabilities are already there, just refine some stuff and get more great content out there.

I'd also love to see a "BFD Player" version out there. A $300 program with it's own full library is a lot, but someone may want to buy a $99 expansion if they could still play it without the additional commitment. That's my beef with SDX too. Just figure out how to let me buy the content I want without the stuff I don't. My samples drive is already full, so if I'm adding drums, I don't want to buy a 30GB library of stuff I may not use to get access to the 10GB expansion pack I do want.

Anyway, just my two cents. I hope things go well in the future and this is the start of something new and not the end of something I really love.

[masterhiggins]

https://www.musictech.net/news/roli-pac ... _campaign=

That certainly touches on the 'all that venture capital for a keyboard?' incredulity Ive always had about ROLI. Like them or not, PACE's income model isnt quite so 'dotcom bubble'.

Venture capitalism for audio software has always confused me. If I were a cigar-smoking tycoon I couldn’t think of a worse thing to invest in (from a profit-focused perspective). I’d just focus on enterprise software and bleed my corporate clients on service updates fees.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I’d just focus on enterprise software and bleed my corporate clients on service updates fees.

Isn't that what VC's are trying to do to audio too? "Hey, you don't want pay me for this once! Subscribe and pay me every month." You're right though in that it seems like a way less profitable model for audio.

[vurt]

https://www.musictech.net/news/roli-pac ... _campaign=

That certainly touches on the 'all that venture capital for a keyboard?' incredulity Ive always had about ROLI. Like them or not, PACE's income model isnt quite so 'dotcom bubble'.

Venture capitalism for audio software has always confused me. If I were a cigar-smoking tycoon I couldn’t think of a worse thing to invest in (from a profit-focused perspective). I’d just focus on enterprise software and bleed my corporate clients on service updates fees.

yeah but sometimes you just want some fun, so you buy throwaway companies, because nothing is more fun than firing folk.

[kiezum]

This is not good for the future of BFD.

[revvy]

https://www.musictech.net/news/roli-pac ... _campaign=

That certainly touches on the 'all that venture capital for a keyboard?' incredulity Ive always had about ROLI. Like them or not, PACE's income model isnt quite so 'dotcom bubble'.

Venture capitalism for audio software has always confused me. If I were a cigar-smoking tycoon I couldn’t think of a worse thing to invest in (from a profit-focused perspective). I’d just focus on enterprise software and bleed my corporate clients on service updates fees.

yeah but sometimes you just want some fun, so you buy throwaway companies, because nothing is more fun than firing folk.

"After raising $50m between 2014 and 2017, a period that also saw Pharell Williams being hired as Chief Creative Officer, ROLI made eye-watering losses of $23m in 2017"

[vurt]

https://www.musictech.net/news/roli-pac ... _campaign=

That certainly touches on the 'all that venture capital for a keyboard?' incredulity Ive always had about ROLI. Like them or not, PACE's income model isnt quite so 'dotcom bubble'.

Venture capitalism for audio software has always confused me. If I were a cigar-smoking tycoon I couldn’t think of a worse thing to invest in (from a profit-focused perspective). I’d just focus on enterprise software and bleed my corporate clients on service updates fees.

yeah but sometimes you just want some fun, so you buy throwaway companies, because nothing is more fun than firing folk.

"After raising $50m between 2014 and 2017, a period that also saw Pharell Williams being hired as Chief Creative Officer, ROLI made eye-watering losses of $23m in 2017"

is he creative?
i know not who he be.

[revvy]

Google him then

[vurt]

ooooh hes a famous person.
i was thinking businessman.

this is why im not in business, i wouldnt think of hiring a producer to such a position...

[Amberience]

This is not good for the future of BFD.

100% disagree. Without going into too many details, the bad thing for the future of BFD would have been for the team and the tech to remain in the position it was in. This is a new lease of life. None of us would've put our lives and families on the line if we thought this couldn't turn out to be an amazing opportunity for everyone involved.

And that means the users too. I truly believe that.