Why the music tech industry needs to stop selling and start listening
I’ve written to Arturia. To Output. To Roland. And to a handful of others whose inboxes I’ve long since given up hope on. Not once - but several times over.
And what did I get in return?
Silence.
Not a single reply. Not even an automated “thanks.”
This isn’t just about ignored emails. This is about how the music tech industry treats real musicians: with indifference. If you’re not a trending influencer, an award-winning name they can piggyback off, or a walking affiliate code - you're invisible.
Where Did the Soul Go?
These companies used to be about sound. Innovation. Experimentation. Now? They’re about launches. Press kits. Controlled hype.
A new product drops, and like clockwork, a chorus of YouTubers uploads near-identical demos - all posted the same hour, all clearly briefed and paid to make noise.
But it’s just that - noise.
I’ve lived through the real synth era. Jupiter-8, OB-Xa, Moogs, TX812s, DX7s, JX-3Ps, Korg samplers. I know how a patch comes alive. I know what “analog” actually means - and no, it’s not just an oscillator with some filters and an envelope.
Younger generations are sold on the myth that “analog” is a style, a look, a YouTube thumbnail. It’s not. It’s circuitry, voltage, feel. And unless your computer is running the actual circuits - not emulating them - it’s not analog.
The future? I see it as hardware companions - true physical synth cores you plug into your DAW. Not full keyboards, just the sound engines, miniaturized, stackable. Controlled digitally, powered physically. The missing link between software and soul.
Stop Paying People to Fake Passion
You know what I want when I see a new synth or plugin? A real artist using it in a real track. Not just flipping through 3.4 random presets and calling it a day. Not another “init patch” jam session acting like it’s revolutionary.
Too many of these demos are disconnected from actual music-making. And way too many of them are tied to personalities who once won something - and now are trotted out to make us believe their success was thanks to Plugin X.
It’s insulting. And it’s boring.
What happened to music as feeling? What happened to demoing tools by writing a full piece and showing us what’s possible? What happened to sincerity?
Instead, we get 59 minutes of tweaking presets, endless walkthroughs, and $500 courses on how to EQ a kick drum. The soul has been replaced with salesmanship.
We’re Not Metrics
These companies look at resumes made of numbers - subs, streams, likes, medals. But none of that says anything about the person writing the music.
Meanwhile, the musicians who actually care - who actually use these tools to make something lasting - we’re overlooked. Or worse, ignored.
We don’t need more saturation plugins. We don’t need more reverb modeled after 1963. We need support. Truth. Gear made by people who remember why music matters.
Stop paying people to pretend your gear is revolutionary. Start listening to those who actually care.
Because for all the hype, all the influencer budgets, and all the carefully edited demos - music still starts the same way it always has.
With a heart. With a hurt. With something real.
And you can't fake that.