Rane, makers of the MP2015 rotary mixer and the legendary TTM-series scratch mixers, has announced that it’s just been acquired by inMusic. It now joins other companies under the inMusic umbrella like Denon DJ, Numark, and Akai Pro, among others.
Details on the acquisition are slim as of this writing, but immediate concerns for DJs have to do with quality control and the manufacturing process: Rane makes all its equipment in the US. Under inMusic, there’s a possibility that this could be outsourced to a cheaper manufacturer (ie China) as this is what’s going on with the rest of the brands it owns. This would significantly lower production costs, but Rane would lose its “Made in the USA” pedigree if that were the case – again, nothing definite at this point.
A subtle development here is that we have three big hardware companies controlling what seems to be the “new big three” in digital DJing today: Pioneer DJ has Rekordbox DJ, Native Instruments has Traktor, and, increasingly, inMusic has Serato DJ. If you look at all the DJ hardware brands under it, you’ll find that almost all of them work natively or are built for Serato DJ – examples are Denon DJ’s MCX8000, Numark’s NV2, and even the Akai Pro AFX and AMX controllers.
• Visit the Rane website for details as this news unfolds.
What are your thoughts on Rane being sold to inMusic? How do you think this will change the brand and the quality of its gear? Do you think inMusic will be good stewards of the Rane legacy? Let us know below.
Joey Santos
