Moog Music today responded to recent speculation about the future of the company, and stated that they plan to keep their headquarters in Asheville, NC.
Speculation has been running wild since the company was acquired by InMusic in June, and followed that up with layoffs last Friday, with some saying that they’d closed completely, some saying that they’d laid off all of their staff and some saying that this signaled the end of quality synths from Moog.
Moog plans to outsource the manufacturing of some instruments, because it’s “necessary for the future of Moog”. But they will also continue to design, engineer, service, and manufacture instruments in Asheville.
Here’s the text of their announcement:
“Last Friday, we parted ways with a number of our skilled production team members. For those of us still with Moog, these employees represent friends, siblings, spouses. This hasn’t been easy for anyone. Please know that these folks were provided continued compensation and benefits as they plan their next career steps.
It has always been our mission to manufacture Moog instruments in our local community.
Moog Music headquarters will remain in Asheville, NC. We will continue to design, engineer, service, and manufacture instruments here. We will also manufacture a selection of our instruments with trusted partners who are dedicated to maintaining the quality and sound of Moog products. Some of these partners have already been helping us for years to create instruments you know and love.
These changes are necessary for the future of Moog as we continue to face the ongoing challenges of manufacturing electronic instruments in America.
We have a talented group of employees in Asheville who are committed to bringing you the best-sounding electronic instruments in the world. We’re here because we love these instruments, and we will continue to stay focused on developing inspiring musical tools for our creative community.
We’re grateful for the passion and care you have shown us. We ask that you please continue to show consideration to our employees and keep an open mind as we put the finishing touches on some of our most innovative instruments yet.”
This aligns with what the company stated when they were acquired back in June:
“We are proud to keep engineering, designing, and building instruments here at the Moog factory in our hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, USA.”
The company has unique institutional expertise when it comes to manufacturing their high-end reissues. The modulars and Minimoog Model D reissues take an obsessive-compulsive approach to recreating 50+ year-old designs, recreating the original circuit boards faithfully, using old-school build techniques and new old school parts. While the company hasn’t officially announced it, we’re anticipating that these synths will continue to be manufactured in the US.
Moog’s modern synth designs, though, generally use standard production techniques and parts. We’re anticipating that production of the company’s mass-market designs, like the Mother-32 & DFAM, will be handled by overseas partners.
What do you think of Moog’s announcement – and the future prospects of the company? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Well… I hope what they say in their statement is true. Perhaps they can become more profitable and self sufficient under InMusic. As a consumer, it sounds encouraging that they will still have some operations in the States and still support their instruments. It’s sad about the layoffs but I’m trying to be optimistic.
moog instruments made in some Asia country with a dictatorship regime.
… versus Moog instruments made nowhere because they are out of business.
Taiwan is not a dictatorship.
They are proud, talented, committed and passionate to lay off their team members who happen to be their friends, family, spouses, siblings because it is necessary so that they continue making museum pieces in Nashville in order to sell cheap, affordable Chinese-made designs that share the same name and probably are designed by totally rando’s…
I concur with the above comment, let’s hope that pans out.
For the reissues, in particular, the Moog Modular, I would suggest redesigning the modules using surface-mounted boards and modern components that have the exact same specs as the originals. I would make two major changes, temperature stable oscillators and Dot.com signal standards. I would also include a multi-channel MIDI to CV module.
The track record of inMusic shows that all companies under their umbrella lacks product development and customer relations. I was a big customer of their brands before they became part of inMusic and went away completely after. I don’t expect anything good for Moog in the future.
What you write is simply not true! AKAI for one of their companies have certainly developed their products well during the last years..
I think MOOGs future will be bright! And their products and techniques will surely reach more musicians.
So HQ stays. Workers are still outta of a job. Paying $14 an hour and getting that quality of workmanship… Hmmm…. So many questions… It seems saving the company is besides the point at this time. Hopefully they got a good payout.
Well, I’m buying Behringer clones from now on at less I know it’s made in China!
But if Moog decides to be 100% America, then I will buy.
But it’s never been 100% America…. nor has any company making things that include electronics, for decades. Where do you think chips circuit boards and integrated components are made.??
With production partially going to China, maybe they can do budget versions of certain (legacy) products and take a bite out of Behringer’s market? Similar price range, but with the real logo and name? Should be easy for InMusic to realize.
The first thing to do would be to reissue the Moogerfoogers, built efficiently overseas and with good quality control.
Price them at $300-400 and they’d sell like hotcakes, even when Behringer finally comes out with their knockoffs.
Next thing to do would be to release the Moog Spectravox Eurorack module. It’s already designed – put it into production and everybody that’s bought a Mother-32, DFAM or Subharmonicon will add it to their wish list.
This is the result of Behringer ripping off and undercutting competition. In one word: Capitalism. You buy Behringer? You get what you fuckin’ deserve.
Yes, we do get what we deserve… Equally usable products that don’t cost a fortune because they bear a nameplate of a dead synth pioneer. I’ve had my Model D for a couple years, now. It has remained more reliable than any of my three Moog Model Ds that I bought in the 70s. Also, the Behringer Model D sounds much more like the 70s originals than either of the trash, ridiculously overpriced reissues by Moog. No, my friend, it is the purchaser of those Moogs that got what they deserved.
Maybe the Inmusic company can handle then company better as their other labels have extended quality as well it looks that their intention is to keep this company alive
Any technical information you better sent it to In Music as they could benefit from your info
To improve for the future
Succes on keeping it alive maybe they can save Modal as well
Social Media Damage Control <3
? This is the correct assessment.
They are telling retailers the majority of manufacturing is moving over seas. And you better buy stock now while its US made
This makes little to no sense!
lol
So someone in the US takes china made electronic assemblies, china made plastic & rubber parts, and (mostly) china made metalwork and puts it together and that’s US made? No, it’s US assembled, certainly not made in USA. So if you’re buying current you can buy new Moog.
People who have never posted here ever. Saying inmusic is “extended quality.” Sorry friend, we are educated here at Synthtopia, we have internet connections and can do Google searches. We have owned equipment from the likes of Akai, Alesis and Rane both before and after their sale to inmusic. Go try that shpiel over at r/synthesizers.
Well. this means Moog gear to became inexpensive, right?
I think it means that Moog had debt when they bought out owner Mike Adams, and the pandemic/parts shortage meant that that they couldn’t make enough synths to be able to pay their debts.
the art on that building is ugly. maybe its why it closed down? could think of a million better things to put on there
The artwork is temporary vinyl on the windows and they change it out periodically.
IMO one of the most encouraging developments in recent years has been that when everyone was screaming “stand alone MPC!” at the top of their lungs, Akai actually went all in a did it, now NI Maschine and Push have followed. corporate stuff always seems boring to the end creative user but this could be very cool in some ways, like imagine if they released Eurorack versions of their large scale moduals and they were actually somewhat affordable. i guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The current MPCs are some of the best that Akai’s ever made.
I think what people are worried about comes from the Timbre Wolf fiasco. The Timbre Wolf was built like a frickin’ tank, but the analog synth design was just bad. If they brought Moog down to that level, people would just completely write off the company.
If InMusic is smart, they’ll introduce new products that have Moog feel and sound, but bring more efficient and modern manufacturing to the production, so that they can be more competitive.
Too bad Moog wasn’t 51% employee owned rather than 49%.
China is eating Western democracies and they keep on feeding that monster.
Toto, I don’t think we are in America anymore.
So, is Behringer going to clone the Claravox?
Anyone else making theremins?
/sound of crickets chirping
Parts have been made in large quantity in many many places for decades. Wherever it is most cost effective is where much of the electronics industry finds parts. It is the idea that turning these parts into products where good engineering and design becomes important that separates Moog from other companies. Many American electronics are hand wired and have radical designs that make them more interesting and more musical than mass produced clones that claim to do the same thing. Those who understand how things are made also understand how they sound. It is easy to make a clone but it isn’t easy to make a clone that produces the same sound as the original. If it were true that anyone anywhere can make an identical clone Companies like Moog would have been buried long ago. Moog would have no value because one could buy the same thing as a clone for much less. InnMusic may be the end of Moog Semi-Modular’s being made in Ashville, I want to believe that InnMusic sees value in the original designs of Bob Moog and keeps production of Bob’s designs built in Ashville. The modern designs produced after Bob was gone are subject to mass production elsewhere. We will see how Ashville made products fare in the future. There will always be that connection of Moog products made in Ashville. When Moog is mass produced overseas and when Moog becomes available worldwide at lower prices the products originally built in Ashville will be sought after. Just like Pre-CBS Fender guitars and amps are sought after. Pre InnMusic Ashville Built Moog products will be sought after. These are Musical Instruments and Brand, build, and reputation matters. I hope this posting stays around for years to prove this point. I don’t think in the future anyone will care about prices as time moves on so does inflation. It is no different than watching how Covid drove the real estate market to unprecedented levels, people started to work at home making owning homes more desirable and the real estate market exploded. I am fortunate to be here in America where Moogs are the least expensive. When word gets out and it will, the worldwide desire to have an Ashville made Moog will increase and so will the prices. This already started with Moogerfoggers the market has already started to skyrocket it is just the beginning.