i believe InMusic produces most in Taiwan.
Company ownership is slightly more complex than owning a car. You donāt own shares of your car, you own your car. You could contribute your car to a limited company against a certain amount of shares. After transfer of ownership, you would no longer be able to sell the car but only the shares.
no unfortunately youāre so correct
Honestly fell out of love with Moog when I early adopted the Sub Phatty. Build was terrible, cheap rubber sides that became sticky, keys that went yellow in two years.
Moog has a great legacy, but was also extremely overrated and bypassed with its modern offerings when compared to other modern day analog synths. Sub37 vs Pro 3? Yeah no contestc Pro 3 runs circles around the Sub37. IMO the Novation BSII also beats the Sub37.
5K for a Minimoog was always a controversial choice. Especially when you see how Sequential brought back the P5 for way less.
Not saying the Minimoog isnāt great, but users were definitely paying the maximum brand tax and that always felt dodgy to me coming from a company that said to care so much about the music.
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Also for those rushing out to buy an American Moog now. Donāt expect too much profit unless itās the Minimoog or one of the other reissues.
Iāve decided to return my last bought Akai product just so I donāt have a bad taste in my mouth anymore. The older I get the easier it is to hold my fingers up in the air against the greed. Not that Iām rich (although I probably have more than others) but it just doesnāt sit well with me.
I could also buy a couple Moogās secondhand hoping to make lots of profit but than I would be no better than those I point my 2 big fingers towards.
In my opinion we need more companies that produce less overseas in shitty countries where people are extremely underpaid and work/live in the crappiest conditions. And I rather pay double or triple when thatās not the case.
As someone living in The Netherlands I have to be honest and say I donāt see much difference between US working conditions and those of China.
Iām simplifying it ofc, but whatās the difference between working in a chip factory in China vs working in an Amazon warehouse? In both cases people are underpaid and work/live in crappy conditions.
Not saying this to poke, just honestly donāt see much differences.
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Iām from the Netherlands as well and Iām by no means perfect. But I do think it matters and also to speak out against it. All the tiny bits together can form a big problem for these companies.
Also for those rushing out to buy an American Moog now. Donāt expect too much profit unless itās the Minimoog or one of the other reissues.
You might even see loss. A certain possibility is that they shift production overseas in order to reduce the price to consumers and sell more volume.
For a lot of synth enthusiasts, the distinction between American and overseas Moogs wonāt make a lot of difference, especially if it means itās cheaper and easier to acquire. (But it will lead to lots and lots of confusion for people entering the synth world, as people make claims ā perhaps founded, perhaps unfounded, no one knows at this point ā about differences in quality, sound, etc. between the two.)
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No one owns shares of the company anymore.
And that was my point. Itās not in the best interest for someone buying a company outright for make it profitable, or just get it IP assets, to let someone else own part of these IP assets.
Keeping a company in fiscal trouble during a buyout in employees hands is pretty much a no go in 90% of situations
This doesnāt really apply to Taiwan, where an awful lot of this stuff ends up being built.
Working conditions there are comparable to most Western nations and quality of output, especially in the areas of electronics and fabrication, are second to none.
Most of the bike industry moved to Taiwan years ago, nothing cheap or shitty about their operations over there.
And just for a bit of balance, hereās conditions in some of the UKās garment factories.
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"Moog" is at two shows coming up end of this week and next.
And China is about to takeover Taiwan.
In every country shady stuff happens but itās far easier to do something about it in the UK, America than it would be to do in China etc.
Iām not talking about China.
Iām talking about Taiwan, a pretty economically advanced and democratic society with comparable (and in some areas superior) civil liberties to the west.
Obviously itās not a utopia, but my point is that this idea of anything being made in Asia coming out of some awful sweatshop whereas everything made in the west is both of higher quality and without moral corruption is just bullshit.
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people tend to forget people in other countries are people too
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Iāve been to Taiwan a couple times, once for work and once for holiday. It is a truly awesome country!
It has something for everyone: incredible mountains, rainforests, even beaches, super cities, great food, and diversity of culture.
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Ok that was not what I was trying to imply.
Just for facts I would never want to live in America even though itās part of the West. It would also be one of the last countries I would visit for vacation while some countries in Asia are absolutely amazing. To me America is a good example of what the rest of the West should not be doing.
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Would it? I still see people in UK and the States getting very bad treatment. American labor laws are terrible. At will employment is an absolute disgrace and imo puts employees in very risky positions with no legal backup.
Iām getting off topic. Just wanted to point out the fact that āMade in Americaā does not translate to better conditions for employees.
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And still I think it would be easier for Americans to change working conditions in America (or for the Brits in the UK) than it would for Chinese people living under the dictatorship of Xi. If we want things to change we need to start in our own backyards.
The dictatorship is a fact and absolutely terrible on many levels.
The fault of bad working conditions however is also to blame on the west. Itās the companies from the West that choose to produce there and allow rights violations.
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