The day after Cenk goodbye

Hey, by the way, what history (in short)?

Honestly all this situation does not sound very promising toward the further development of the Elektron machines. In a way I would like to see. Hope I’m wrong.
However I don’t think that ‘software as a service’ would be the next step either.
With… how many positions of software developers were opened in recent years? 1? 3? 5? It does not look it’s the way Elektron would take. Musical world is quite skeptical toward Roland cloud (it looks like a toy only big company could afford, with very low profits)

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Hi. I think, I read the messages in this thread. I am missing some important information to make up my mind about the idea that Cenk going elsewhere will affect elektrons future, products etc. in a bad way. Maybe skipped it while scrolling and reading. I am missing
(1) the original source of the information that Cenk left elektron (link would be nice).
(2) information about the role Cenk had at elektron (I know him as presenter - was he developer, too?)
Thank you very much for any help! :smiley:

maybe nobody’s pointed it out yet but Elektron employees leaving could also be very promising for the development of future machines. just from other manufacturers. you can still buy those, even if they don’t have the Elektron badge on 'em :+1:

personally I’m quite happy with the palette of options Elektron has available. they could bring back some old machines (unlikely) or expand on what the existing ones do. and that would be great. but maybe they see more potential going a different direction. and the people who would’ve worked on any new machines are now just going to do that elsewhere. which could be great for all of us, whether we like where Elektron goes from here or not.

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Wow this got weird.

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Hi

  1. The official thread (Dataline username) Goodbye Elektron & A New Chapter

  2. I know only about presenter role, gear demo… and also the role of SUDDEN appearance in product videos :smiley:

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https://largestcompanies.com/company/Elektron-Music-Machines-MAV-AB-285824/closing-figures-and-key-ratios

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Let’s see. This months we have seen Sequential acquired by Focusrite. The last year or so the Native Instruments were acquired by bigger group… and nothing really bad happened (for customers), they ever delivered a standalone box in Covid year (with all its flaws, but did it!)

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Ess’s post on the original goodbye thread suggests Cenk was consulted about products and his feedback was used to develop them further:

He was also a key part of establishing Elektron’s new studio space in Berlin too.

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They did make products before tho.
They have become classics. So…

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It’s not so much the loss of his contribution that worries me - I mean, he’s obviously a master of the boxes, but there are a lot of people who can perform wizardry and promote the boxes through their skill.

It’s more the tone of his goodbye, which sounds like it reflects on the team itself. I am talking about how his reference to a “recent sharp turn” suggests a move within the company, and his references to all of the great prior contributors who have left and how much the culture has changed. There is a lot of implicit criticism in there.

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Fair enough but he’s been there for over 10 years, to me he’s the face of the company, and I didn’t know much about their stuff until I started watching his amazing demos, he’s had a massive influence on the company over the last few years and been a real asset in my view. It’s a combination of innovative products with an amazing product specialist that’s achieved great things for the company. Also his demos of Monomachine and Machinedrum have contributed to making them classics, to me though he is the octatrack master !!

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He IS responsible for taxing my wallet. I was good with the boxes I had, and he got me to buy more :slight_smile:

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He seemed happy enough in the video a few months back live from Elektron studios though. His jovial normal self.

A lot of speculation here. I am sad about Cenk leaving Elektron, but I also see that Elektron has suffered losses since 2018 and that some restructuring or cost cutting may be needed to help them stay in business. Their new CEO has been a board member before, so I guess he knew the company quite well before taking the job. I would love a new flagship machine, but I also fear that their past, strongly customer-focused approach (free firmware updates for 10yr old OT, free Overbridge,…) may not be economically sustainable.

I bet that new CEO is taking plenty wedge for himself :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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Sure is sad to see the ‘originals’ move on but many good things can come out of this. New companies and new blood isnt necessarily bad. Bad things also happen but Elektron has such a strong brand all round.

One major change that has happened and is affecting ALL product specialists is the rise of youtube reviewers. Literally there isnt a need for an in-house product specialist when you have an army of eager experts willing to demo your product for free on youtube. Cenk knows this and we can argue which is better or worse but its a trend the entire industry is going through. This means companies can lower their costs further and this puts pressure on all companies.

Cenk is a 1 in a million guy and if I was him I’d use his considerable talents to go that route and be open to ALL instrument companies and run his own channel/media/performance company. He has so much respect that I think people would value his take. Just like the CEO who went to ASM.

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Yes I think Cenk would excel doing this, but he may be more interested in making and performing music vs product demo’s. He has a lot of options and will be successful at whatever he chooses to do. He could also host a guru cult on a desert island to learn from the master.

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I think that Cenk’s vague hint to the “sharp turn of events” maybe wasn’t the best decision, considering the amout of rumours it spread about Elektron being a sinking ship because honestly we dont know anything what’s going on behind the scenes :man_shrugging:

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It’s rare to find a truly amicable departure in business, and people within the same organisation often have very different ideas of what that organisation actually is, and their roles in it.

“Recent sharp turn” points to Cenk probably being disgruntled to me… I’m sure he, and everyone else, will be fine in the future.

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