36 l April 2013
www.psneurope.com
broadcastreport UNITED KINGDOM Synthesizing a new vision
Roland Systems Group is building a portfolio of audio and video products that could easily find a home in broadcast, live or installation sectors. RSG’s Peter Heath talks positioning and protocols with Dave Robinson
WHILE ROLAND US attends the NAB show this year, Roland Systems Group will be found setting up stall in Hall 8.0 at the Frankfurt Messe. In fact, you could find a team from the Roland Corporation at any
number of trade events these days; and it makes it by turns equally easy, or difficult, to place them in any one specific segment of this magazine. Peter Heath, RSG sales and marketing director at Roland
UK, is particularly keen to point out where his company is positioned on the eve of these two important international expos. Let’s start with the branding then. “We needed to find a common
brand to go to market, and there were too many names – RSS, Edirol, RSG and Roland instruments,” says Heath. RSS and Edirol were quietly discarded in January 2010, therefore, leaving just Roland Systems Group (RSG) for pro-audio/video equipment, and the classic Roland brand for everything else: instruments, synthesizers, virtual accordions (if that’s your thing). “I’m glad we made the changes,” he says. RSG is a “huge part” of
what Roland does, in terms of R&D and the future of the corporation; certainly, says, Heath if you compare the products being launched by RSG with the number of traditional music product debuts. “Over the last months there’s
been a flurry of video products – the V-40HD mixer/switcher and V-4EX mixer for instance – that have really hit the nail on the head, in terms of looking at
Peter Heath: audio and video confident
you can’t have one without the other, in order to provide the consumer with the full package. That’s why, to my knowledge, we’re the only company that comes to the market with a fairly comprehensive range of audio and video products.” The M200i, launched just
before Christmas, is the latest addition to the V-Mixing console line, and marks the first time Roland has ventured into
“The pro-audio and pro-video market sectors are driven by hardware — and because Roland Corporation is [principally] a hardware company, it makes perfect sense for us to be there”
Peter Heath, RSG
the market, seeing what our competitors are doing, and finding an individual area where we can sell volume and provide solutions for people,” he remarks. “That’s been critically quite different to video products we’ve had in the past. “The pro-audio and pro-video
market sectors are driven by hardware – and because Roland Corporation is [principally] a hardware company, it makes perfect sense for us to be there, and to enhance the user’s experience and, hopefully, performance,” he adds. The marketplace for musical instruments is fairly flat for Roland says Heath, as the company doesn’t make acoustic instruments. But, he adds: “If you look at live performance... there’s an audio and a visual aspect. Roland founder, Mr Kakehashi, was always saying
iPad control. This will be one of RSG’s key showcases in Frankfurt. Of the M series of desks, Heath says: “To create a platform where musicians, and the people who support the music, can go out there with a small console, but still have all the integrity of a larger console, means they can go to a mixture of venues and do their thing. “Live music has always been important, but these days it’s more important to the songwriter and the band – not just the ‘artist’ – because that’s the way they make their money.” Compact mixing is the theme
here, and RSG has made a concerted effort to inform engineers as such. It’s a battle, though: “For us and other manufacturers,” acknowledges Heath. “Small can be as equally beautiful and functional as the big stuff”.
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