Harman buys Roon!

At face value, operating as a stand alone business with added technical resources doesn’t sound ominous to me. I am not going to worry about something I have no control over.
 
crwilli said:
At face value, operating as a stand alone business with added technical resources doesn’t sound ominous to me. I am not going to worry about something I have no control over.
Click to expand...

I'm not a Roon guy, but as an outsider looking in I would think it would benefit Roon. But it's anyones guess as to whether this will be a positive or negative change.

I wonder if this is a move towards consolidation after MQA was bought?
 
I never intended for it to sound “ominous”. However, I have purchased lifetime licenses for other software products and they vaporized when the company was sold.
 
Roon has been self-funded since they spun off from Soloos. I don’t think this is a bad thing. Harman may be able to infuse some capital into ROON to allow them to do things they were unable to do as a standalone. Only time will tell, but my glass is half full on this one.
 
Harman owns a lot of HiFi companies and brands: AKG, AMX, Arcam, Crown, dbx, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Martin, Revel, Soundcraft and Studer. I’m not sure how all those acquisitions went but holy cow, that’s a lot of stuff. Now add ROON to the list.
 
Mikado463 said:
But Steve, did you think the same back in the day with respect to General Motors ? (Frigidaire) :D
Click to expand...

This assumes that Steve was old enough then to be aware of such things; if "59" represents the year he was born, probably not?
 
This is what Roon posted on their site:

"In 2015, our tiny team of Sooloos/Meridian veterans created a one-page website that teased a new way to browse, discover, and listen to music. In nearly nine incredible years since, we’ve introduced ten successive versions of Roon, built the world’s broadest ecosystem of compatible audio products, and attracted a community of the world’s most dedicated music and audio enthusiasts. We’ve built a fantastic team to make it all happen, and among Roon users, we now count a “who’s who” of music and audio professionals of every stripe.

The thing is, we want to do more.

Today, we’re announcing that we’ve found a partner committed to helping us amplify what we do: Roon has joined the family of brands owned by Harman International. As a business unit within one of the largest and longest-lived companies in the audio industry, we’ll work alongside companies as dedicated to the enjoyment of music as we are, who design and manufacture everything from microphones to car audio systems to lighting for live performance. Harman shares our vision that unique and engaging ways of browsing, discovering, and collecting music – along with a commitment to the best possible sound quality on the largest ecosystem of devices from all manufacturers – is the future for all music enthusiasts.

So what does this mean for you?

In broad strokes, Roon will continue exactly as it is.

  • All monthly, annual, and lifetime subscriptions remain valid and will continue without interruption.
  • Trials will continue and convert as they usually would.
  • There will be no changes to our billing processes.
  • This community site will continue to be the home for discussion about Roon, audio, and music.
  • Our customer success and support services will continue to operate as they do today.
  • All supported audio products will continue to work with Roon, and we’re committed to certifying new Roon Ready and Roon Tested products from all brands.
  • The familiar faces from our team will be right here as always.

We’re excited because this is the right time to open a new chapter for Roon and the enthusiasts it serves. If you’ve been reading our posts over the years, you’ve probably sensed that getting a startup to escape velocity is a struggle. That’s because it is; startups with passionate founding teams fail every day. Succeeding as a young company is a constant quest to balance serving the needs of customers with keeping the lights on and bringing on talented people to augment the team. Achieving that balance – particularly without external funding – takes vision, nerves, and a deep reservoir of reckless optimism.

In our new position under the Harman umbrella, we can lean into our vision without the frayed nerves. We look forward to being able to serve the needs of this amazing community with a tremendous amount of support and momentum behind us.

We’re grateful to every person who took the plunge on that Roon trial, especially those who invested the time and effort to let it impact their lives. Thank you for your support!"

It does not sound as if current users should be worried (disclosure: I am a lifetime member). On the contrary, Roon is now part of an $8 billion dollar corporation and I can see an opportunity for Roon to become much more than a niche company. Who knows, maybe the big boys (Spotify, Amazon, Apple) will finally decide to work with Roon!
 
Perhaps a more intriguing question is: Why did Harman (Samsung) buy Roon? Roon is a software company and has the know-how to integrate/group components of different brands to bring music to an entire home. Harman manufactures equipment (electronics, speakers) under many different brands. Could it be that Harman wants to build a new competitor for Sonos?
 
I think there is a bigger picture here. Harmans Automotive branch. Also it was announced that Samsung Harman is also acquiring the French Audio Software Firm FLUX "We create the next generation audio processing tools for the post-production, broadcast, audio mastering, and music-production industry. Perfection, Innovation, Sound-Quality, Workflow, are the main considerations when we design and create a product.". From Harmon " With FLUX:: under its wings, Harman is expected to enhance its professional audio product lineup beyond its current offerings, a move that is expected to create synergy with connected car systems and consumer audio and visual products."
 
Looking at Harman brands I’d say they’ve fallen behind in the streaming world. ROON gives them a solid platform on which their brands can innovate further. Being a customer victim of their in-car software they need a lot of help. ;)
 
They incorporated a streaming platform of Arcam's to use in their 5000 Mark Levinson home series. The same bay be true for some of their other lines, I'm just not sure. Acquiring Roon was a good move for Harman and has lot of potential for their brands.


W9TR said:
Looking at Harman brands I’d say they’ve fallen behind in the streaming world. ROON gives them a solid platform on which their brands can innovate further. Being a customer victim of their in-car software they need a lot of help. ;)
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top