Sure, but by my own standards which I do not expect to map perfectly on to what someone else may find acceptable or unacceptable. It’s just one piece of the decision, anyway - there are many others (for example, have owned something made by them before that was a piece of crap?).
Not that I’m talking about any particular manufacturer there, oh no.
don’t confuse BEMI (who were the ones that directly screwed Don, and he took them to court for it) with BUSA (the current incarnation). there’s plenty to (potentially) dislike about BUSA, but I don’t think it’s that.
I think Vermona is doing good. If you haven’t seen this video :
The ethical thing to do would surely be to buy nothing at all…
But then all those poor factory workers’ kids would starve…
But then at least there would be less people destroying the planet…
And so it goes on…
Like, is it ok to be proud that my grandad was a miner when what he dug up will do so much harm to my grandchildren?
Enjoy yourselves, try not to think too much and don’t be a bellend.
Yeah… Im talking my posts down. I dont want to do this here… (it feels like bait, and I took it)
Yes.
I consider it a positive if I can (re)use an older or pre owned piece of equipment over buying new.
Firms that are explicit about their short/local supply chain are those I feel better about spending with (Erica).
The same for firms who build things to endure, avoiding obsolescence (Soma).
Buying local feels nice (Bugbrand).
Elektron seem like the type of company that should audit their impact, make changes etc. I’d support that. Maybe it’s using biodegradable plastics for packaging, maybe it’s shipping miles (UK made Decksavers shipped to Sweden …. then back to the UK) you have to get a specialist to audit this stuff and work out where advances can be made and cost/benefit.
Yeah, that’s what I read and why I bought the 208c. But living members of the Buchla family say that several of the BEMI people are still involved in BUSA. That was my mistake – I didn’t confuse them, and I should have!
This is always the challenge.
Don’t misread this as judgment because it’s not, but I find it really easy to avoid Amazon and MCDonald’s.
There are other areas of my consumption I’ve completely failed to change. I can’t seem to avoid eating meat 
I think that ethics is just as important as aesthetics. I am no Nietzsche. So yes, I generally do consider the ethics of synth manufacturers. It’s a pain though, because I have been seriously tempted by some Behringer and Soma products. What makes it relatively easy for me to say no is that I don’t need those products.
I’m all BBB.
I get the Behringer issue but what about Soma makes their products unethical?
Boring answer: yeah I do think about it, but whether it impacts a buy is another thing. Btw there’s research on this out there that shows the public will say that responsibility, ethics, environment etc are all super important, and that they’d modify their lifestyle to suit. But there is a point at which that breaks, and it’s usually something like “we should all stop flying, but if we can just exclude my twice yearly jet guzzle to sun myself in a Greek villa that’d be fab thanks.” We’re all human eh?
As for my take - it’s absolutely a plus in my book if a company music has some principles beyond good customer service etc. Local manufacture (technically) can make it harder to compete with companies who outsource to smash the competition on costs. Keeping it local is a principle because it’s likely to cost you money. I have a smidge more respect for Descksaver, Polyend and Elektron as notable examples of this, and I’m sure there are others trying to do the right thing.
The other thing I keep an eye on is if companies keep churning out mk1, mk2, mk3 every 5 minutes. Partly this is environmentally an issue, but also because these are often relatively minor technical upgrades that don’t necessitate a completely new device. All companies should be firmwaring the heck out of their stuff and introducing new devices only when truly necessary. In the wrong hands it’s also FOMO inducing. Having praised Polyend, I do worry that their answer to a firmware bottleneck is a completely new device.
Any companies that encourages use, re-use and re-sale to avoid another new unit manufactured is weclome. Ableton seeeeems decent in this area. For example the fact they ended the numbering on the Push to have its “final” iteration is gently encouraging, and the other thing is they’ve said the Push 3 is supposed to last more than a decade. This is the way I’d like to see more companies go, including fewer non replaceable batteries, and proper recycling options etc.
Does it factor into my actual buying habits though? Looking around me I’d have to say it does - about half the time. Some stuff I have bought had other dominant reasons for the buy. But I do have stuff from Decksaver, Polyend and Ableton, so it probably plays some sort of role in my thinking. Now if you’ll excuse me my Prime delivery just arrived…
Nothing specific that Soma is doing that I know of. Though I am concerned about the lack of words or action regarding Ukraine. I’ve read Vlad’s philosophy and vision carefully and find it problematic, ethically and politically. Others may not see anything problematic, but I am a professional philosopher so I will listen to my own judgment on this.
well that’s news to me then. I wonder to what extent (management or employees). I know BUSA brought back members of Don’s original design team, and they’re the ones driving the products forward with what they perceive to be Don’s vision. and this was widely applauded by the Buchla community. Buchla users are often quite opinionated and have their own version of history though, so it’s difficult to get a clear picture!
Okay. They seem to be at the very opposite ends of the spectrum in many ways so I wanted to ask.
I work in this area. It’s my day job.
This stuff is… complex. Bottom line is in the electronics world, it is extremely difficult to assure all the way down the value chain to the mine where the raw materials were extracted or even the factory where the basic components were made.
The vast majority of all materials and components used in any kind of electronic device are sourced from countries that have a poor or very poor Freedom House score (the main global ranking for human rights).
It is possible to run a comprehensive global audit program that means every factory is inspected periodically. But that kind of program is seriously complex and expensive, way beyond the reach of the smaller firms that tend to dominate the music instrument industry. And even then those programs are full of blind spots and gaps. 100% assurance is impossible.
The other factor is that the factories etc involved provide employment, and often do so in places where people don’t have many other options for work. So if enough companies walk away from a supplier factory because it can’t prove it meets the standards required, that can have economic consequences for the workers there. The ideal is that companies help the supplier improve their standards, but in practice that can be difficult. It does happen but it depends v much on where the supplier is located.
The best companies are honest and transparent about all of this stuff and will try to do what they can to improve standards down the value chain. But all of that takes time and money. I’ve worked in teams made up of hundreds of people dedicated to this work, it’s not trivial.
The key thing for me is local assembly, not global sourcing. A small firm that employs people locally to make electronic instruments is always going to get my attention. The fact they’re making products that rely on imported components from other more challenging countries is less of a factor.
Yes, I certainly don’t find them problematic for the same reasons.
I don’t think about it too hard, but I do try to buy from companies that seem to have a better track record. If I knew for a fact a given company was using slave labor or other horrendous exploitation to produce its products, and there was a viable alternative, I’d absolutely do so. That’s more or less impossible to know or avoid, so I don’t put a ton of energy into it, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
I don’t begrudge anyone for buying their products from an unethical company - I was only recently able to afford, for example, to buy meat from chickens that were abused less than other chickens. But if someone isn’t in a financial position or even a location where such a thing is possible, I don’t blame them. Same with music gear.
Unfortunately, I’m always contributing to harm - whether that be the planet, or people, or animals - by participating in the system. That’s not an excuse to avoid minimizing the harm I contribute to, but it also means I’m not going to agonize over every purchase I make or spend all my time researching “ethical” alternatives. If I did so, I’d spend all of my precious free time researching and fretting over the state of the world, and I do enough of that as it is.
This is fascinating, how does one get into such a field?
