Propellerhead Software Names Niklas Agevik as CEO

[Boombastix]

We've seen this expansion happen pretty clearly on the mobile platform.
"By building upon their legacy and making music making even more accessible there is a lot of room for growth. My goal is to continue building on that foundation, growing the user base of both the desktop and mobile products.”
I can't really say that I'm not anxious to see where this goes.

I agree with you that the 10.x updates felt underwhelming, from a user standpoint, and only minute workflow improvements. Though I would not agree if someone said the have not invested into the core product. They spent 6+ months fixing the buffer size issue, BIG investment into the core product. But since it was like fixing a flat tire, it did not bring much workflow. It became almost "the lost year" in terms of adding workflow items. But hopefully that is behind us and interesting things will come.

Our feedback to get sequencer workflow updates has not gone unnoticed, clearly someone has done homework, and produced a PolyStep Player. Features like some of the VSTs doing this and some own PH ideas rolled in. Only problem is I want this in the Reason sequencer. I do not mind a player per se, if we get the sequencer updates. Users should have options, I just hope it won't stop at the player, that would be a PR mistake from PH of magnitude, and many users would probably be seriously disappointed. I have seen Facebook and Twitter comments to PH about sequencer/workflow updates, it not just here at RT that those issues are highlighted. I hope they get it, but also that they will the act on it, time will tell...

Sometimes you have to go with the flow Abelton, Cubase, Studio One, all are selling "workflow" in their updates (Midi editing, Audio editing, Song arrangement/chord track). New VSTs that generate buzz are Chord/Sequence/"AI" tools. EQ/Compressor/Channel VSTs seems to be a "dead" market, it is sooo saturated, there are more monster synths than anyone can need, so no wonder the new direction is Chord/AI tools (and loop store integration).

If PH decided to sleep on the "Midi editing, Audio editing, Song arrangement/chord track" train that is moving fast, I think they will eventually get into trouble, no Phone app will fix that. When the big DAWs keep pushing this in their promo's then that is what users will turn to. If PH has noting to show for then there will be 1000's of YouTube videos made by content creators and 10.000 of YouTube comments driving the roll-out of new workflow PR of the big DAWs, but noting covering Reason... That train is already moving and it will not slow down. I hope they get that. This is the "New user base" (I assume) that they aim for, well, if the product suddenly gets labeled old school or lame by teenagers, then kids will turn elsewhere, cause they do not want to be the odd kid that is still on My Space when everyone moved to Facebook, and stuff like this can spread like wildfire - fast. You gotta keep the cool factor...

But don't forget that the existing user base may be 80% of where the revenue comes from, too many companies just want to cater to new users, but they only make up 20% of revenue and start to neglect the customers who drive real profits, big mistake that puts many companies in trouble. Gotta have balance.

[tanni]

its a hard business and Propellerheads fighting to survive on the market. I see a lot of possibilities to make Reason the best DAW for most musicians. The momentary way Propellerheads are going, is not the very best one, but it also isnt the worst. The new Players concept for example is fantastic. I think the next update will show if they are able to push Reason a step forward and be backwardscompatible at the same time. Thats my opinion.

[EnochLight]

I still feel that 10.x has given us a fantastic list of new features. I just don't see any reason to claim doom and gloom at all:

• Added (new) wavetable Europa synth.
• Added (new) granular Grain synth/sampler.
• Added (new) Humana rompler.
• Added (new) Klang rompler.
• Added (new) Pangea rompler.
• Added Radical Piano RE.
• Added Syncronous RE.
• Added (new) Loop Supply and Drum Supply sample content.
• Added (new) Multi Lane Editing for MIDI.
• Added (new) snap to grid feature .
• Added (new) support for RE SDK changes, including improved sample loading with sample zones and pattern automation support.
• Added Drum Sequencer Player for free (only for the month of May 2018 for all v 10 owners).
• Added (new) Europa synth feature: users can now load your own samples and wavetables and use as oscillators in the engine. Not only that, you can also use the sample in the Spectral Filter which will then act as the spectral multiplier.
• Added (new) adjust multiple faders, solo and mute in the mixer.
• Performance update that improves VST performance (and RE performance in many cases) compared to 9.5.
• Added (new) Monotone Bass Synth.
• Added (new) Rytmik Drum Machine rompler.

People need to give the new CEO a chance. If things aren't going smoothly over the next 2-3 years, then sure - maybe panic then.

[Boombastix]

In my comment 10.x refers to 10.1 and onward. I agree that 10.0 was good.

[boingy]

I still feel that 10.x has given us a fantastic list of new features. I just don't see any reason to claim doom and gloom at all:

• Added (new) wavetable Europa synth.
• Added (new) granular Grain synth/sampler.
• Added (new) Humana rompler.
• Added (new) Klang rompler.
• Added (new) Pangea rompler.
• Added Radical Piano RE.
• Added Syncronous RE.
• Added (new) Loop Supply and Drum Supply sample content.
• Added (new) Multi Lane Editing for MIDI.
• Added (new) snap to grid feature .
• Added (new) support for RE SDK changes, including improved sample loading with sample zones and pattern automation support.
• Added Drum Sequencer Player for free (only for the month of May 2018 for all v 10 owners).
• Added (new) Europa synth feature: users can now load your own samples and wavetables and use as oscillators in the engine. Not only that, you can also use the sample in the Spectral Filter which will then act as the spectral multiplier.
• Added (new) adjust multiple faders, solo and mute in the mixer.
• Performance update that improves VST performance (and RE performance in many cases) compared to 9.5.
• Added (new) Monotone Bass Synth.
• Added (new) Rytmik Drum Machine rompler.

People need to give the new CEO a chance. If things aren't going smoothly over the next 2-3 years, then sure - maybe panic then.

The problem with that list is that well over half of the bullet points are new instruments and REs. The remaining points are very minor tweaks to workflow and a VST bug fix. There was a time when Reason was, correctly, all about quality synths. Those were the days when good soft synths were fairly rare and often buggy so it was a revelation to find a stable, easy to user rack of soft synths. Fast forward to today and we, frankly, have too much choice in synths, both native and VST. There is simply no point in R11 handing us yet another "flagship" synth with a sprinkling of other stuff.

Let me give you a tiny example of the sort of improvements we need a thousand of. The built-in compressor in Cubase 10 has a sidechain button. You press it, select another track ("kick") from the drop down list and that's it. No wiring, no extra plug-ins. Job done.

PH are so obsessed with making the rack even more modular and more complicated with players that they have forgotten that some of us just want to make music rather that watch YouTube videos to figure out how to wire the rack to achieve something. I know that plenty of folks on here love the flexibility of the back of the rack and CV routing and stuff but I truly believe that is a minority of the Reason user base as a whole.

Someone else suggested this in another thread but PH really need to sit down and make some tracks in rival products then steal the best bits for Reason. That's how the big players in all industries work.

[Loque]

Let me give you a tiny example of the sort of improvements we need a thousand of. The built-in compressor in Cubase 10 has a sidechain button. You press it, select another track ("kick") from the drop down list and that's it. No wiring, no extra plug-ins. Job done.

You ever tried it? Ok, on the backside side-chain input?

PH are so obsessed with making the rack even more modular and more complicated with players that they have forgotten that some of us just want to make music rather that watch YouTube videos to figure out how to wire the rack to achieve something. I know that plenty of folks on here love the flexibility of the back of the rack and CV routing and stuff but I truly believe that is a minority of the Reason user base as a whole.

Oh dear...please stop telling PH to stop implementing CV and stuff. And you are wrong here. Nearly every dev goes more and more modular and they often still did not reached the flexibility of Reason. And telling, that only your opinion is the one to go is wrong too. AS you stated correctly a lot of ppl WANT CV and they WANT the flexibility and yes, there are completely other customers, which do not understand and want that flexibility. Choose the DAW that works for you instead of moaning please. Cubase seem to be your perfect choice.

[boingy]

PH are so obsessed with making the rack even more modular and more complicated with players that they have forgotten that some of us just want to make music rather that watch YouTube videos to figure out how to wire the rack to achieve something. I know that plenty of folks on here love the flexibility of the back of the rack and CV routing and stuff but I truly believe that is a minority of the Reason user base as a whole.

Oh dear...please stop telling PH to stop implementing CV and stuff. And you are wrong here. Nearly every dev goes more and more modular and they often still did not reached the flexibility of Reason. And telling, that only your opinion is the one to go is wrong too. AS you stated correctly a lot of ppl WANT CV and they WANT the flexibility and yes, there are completely other customers, which do not understand and want that flexibility. Choose the DAW that works for you instead of moaning please. Cubase seem to be your perfect choice.

Yeah, you are reading too much into that and also twisting my words a little.

I'm not advocating removing CV or anything else. I'm just saying that the PH focus needs to swing back a little towards sequencer and workflow. I've been on the PH train since Rebirth and Reason 1 and with Cakewalk since the days of floppy discs. Reason used to be a breath of fresh air and well ahead of the curve. They can get back to that if they try.

I'm currently evaluating Cubase, a DAW that I consider to be a little slow to keep up with the times, and I'm genuinely impressed with how up to date it is. I'm currently in the odd position of making a song entirely in Cubase except the vocal, which I am doing in Reason because Reason's vocal comping and correction is top notch! Imagine that - I've got all the synths in Cubase and the audio in Reason. That's the direct opposite of what I would traditionally have expected.

[VariableX]

I came onboard at the start of Reason 10 and its been a great experience! Free drum sequencer, free updates, free devices.
I've also spent a load on REs too haha.
Its a symbiotic relationship

So for any RE developers looking in free REs generate sales for you! The free REs I have that made me take a closer look at the developer that developed the free RE has been very profitable for them! Like Lectric Panda for example, think it was CVPT was free then I checked his other stuff now I nearly bought it all!

Reason strikes me as a company on the up! They are doing well I think. One thing i have been thinking is that people are worried about the competition and what they are doing and how they are being sucessfull, well just because they are doesnt mean Reason isnt!

[EnochLight]

I still feel that 10.x has given us a fantastic list of new features. I just don't see any reason to claim doom and gloom at all:

• Added (new) wavetable Europa synth.
• Added (new) granular Grain synth/sampler.
• Added (new) Humana rompler.
• Added (new) Klang rompler.
• Added (new) Pangea rompler.
• Added Radical Piano RE.
• Added Syncronous RE.
• Added (new) Loop Supply and Drum Supply sample content.
• Added (new) Multi Lane Editing for MIDI.
• Added (new) snap to grid feature .
• Added (new) support for RE SDK changes, including improved sample loading with sample zones and pattern automation support.
• Added Drum Sequencer Player for free (only for the month of May 2018 for all v 10 owners).
• Added (new) Europa synth feature: users can now load your own samples and wavetables and use as oscillators in the engine. Not only that, you can also use the sample in the Spectral Filter which will then act as the spectral multiplier.
• Added (new) adjust multiple faders, solo and mute in the mixer.
• Performance update that improves VST performance (and RE performance in many cases) compared to 9.5.
• Added (new) Monotone Bass Synth.
• Added (new) Rytmik Drum Machine rompler.

People need to give the new CEO a chance. If things aren't going smoothly over the next 2-3 years, then sure - maybe panic then.

The problem with that list is that well over half of the bullet points are new instruments and REs. The remaining points are very minor tweaks to workflow and a VST bug fix. There was a time when Reason was, correctly, all about quality synths.

Indeed! It’s ironic that many seem to lament for those times of old. Here we have version 10.x where half of it’s features are new Rack devices and people still aren’t satisfied.

[boingy]

Indeed! It’s ironic that many seem to lament for those times of old. Here we have version 10.x where half of it’s features are new Rack devices and people still aren’t satisfied.

I don't lament the times of old at all. Back then Reason delivered what we users needed. The problem is that PH think that the stuff we needed back then is the same sort of stuff we need now. New toys are great but new synths and effects are nowhere near as important as they used to be because there is now loads of other great stuff out there. In the meantime we have a sequencer where you can't even record multiple takes in a loop without a messy workaround. By contrast the audio recording, comping and editing functions are excellent.

The bullet points for 10.x should have had a couple of new synths on it and a whole load of workflow improvements. I'm hoping for exactly that on 11.x.

[EnochLight]

I don't lament the times of old at all.

Sorry - I wasn't suggesting you, per say, did that. I was just making an observation that many seem to miss how Reason was updated back in the day (new rack devices).

Back then Reason delivered what we users needed.

Except that it didn't. We were always complaining about what we didn't have in Reason, as far as I can remember. What we users needed was always more, and to get it always faster, and that usually never happened. From versions 2-5, it was only a few new devices each major update, and a handful of workflow improvements. Honestly - not very different from what has been going on in 6-10, though admittedly the new devices were largely absent in 7-9 without making separate purchases.

What has happened is that - especially now that Reason became a "proper DAW" as of Record + 5.0 and later, it's now easier to directly compare Reason to what all the other DAW have. Reason has always lagged behind in features, but as a "proper DAW", it's only become painfully more aware. The competition is fierce, and every single other DAW on the market has had a many many years head start on Reason.

The problem is that PH think that the stuff we needed back then is the same sort of stuff we need now. New toys are great but new synths and effects are nowhere near as important as they used to be because there is now loads of other great stuff out there. In the meantime we have a sequencer where you can't even record multiple takes in a loop without a messy workaround. By contrast the audio recording, comping and editing functions are excellent.

The bullet points for 10.x should have had a couple of new synths on it and a whole load of workflow improvements. I'm hoping for exactly that on 11.x.

Some may see it as a problem; some may see it as operating perfectly within the parameters of where Reason's roadmap is going. That said, I am with you when you say you want a whole load of workflow improvements. I do too! Among other things (4K/high dpi GUI/UX support being the other).

But we would be remiss to think that Propellerhead/Reason would ever, EVER, release updates (either paid or free) that come with lists as long as they are in (say for instance) a typical update in PreSonus Studio One. VC's/new CEO notwithstanding, it historically has never happened in 20+ years. I just don't see that changing.

[tanni]

yeah, seems to be ironic....maybe.

basically I'm happy with Reason as it is. There are more the little things which I want to have optimized while I'm making music with it and which are always displease my eye and my workflow.

for example the romplers like PANGEA etc., they are ok, but I need a Pitch Env and a LFO per voice for Tremolo, Vibrato or such things. Instead of this Props implemented Reverb and Delay ...huh? There are enough FX in the Rack for this I can put on, but you can't make a simple Vibrato on the Instruments....where is the old way of thinking where a device are functional in more creative ways ?

Or the two new devices Monotone and Rytmik.....for me they are fillers, I dont need them. Instead of revise the old devices like Redrum they put new devices that only can the half of the stock devices.

Or....why I can't render the notes of a complete recorded Matrix pattern lane to a new note lane like in RPG8 (Arpeggio notes to track) ? Always I have to copy pattern to track for each pattern separate and put the clips to the right place, so i have the notes in the sequencer ....what a workflow.

Or another example for "the little things" : why are the Umpf doesn't show the same workflow as Umpf Retro Beats ? See the EQ, its on the wrong side, because every time I open Umpf I think the EQ comes BEFORE the FX and not after.....and the way you can change the FX in Umpf Retro Beats is much better as in Umpf....little things only ?, yes but annoys me.

I could list more of that, but I don't bore someone with my personally opinion.

In the Reason 10 update Props says: More More More of everything.....thats not my way. I dont need more of all generally, so I dont find anything in my Soundlibrary or Rack
I like the intelligent creative things which are not too complicated and really works in many ways.
I prefer for example the Roland XV5080 over all the 1000 gigabytes Rompler sounds and Libraries in a Native Instruments Kontakt. Instrument sample Libraries with 12 velocity layers and 32 Bit 96 khz samples every key.......silly. I think, you know what I mean....

[EnochLight]

It is when they are appointed by venture capitalists. Everything he does will be profits led. Everything.

As stated by Ernst, this CEO was lined up on day one of the investment and has been appointed purely to help the VCs cash in that investment. I've seen it first hand two times now. Look back at this thread in one to two years time and you'll get it.

I'm just saying, you're grossly simplifying the CEO's role. Obviously it's to maximize shareholder profits, but there's a ton more they have to do. Read up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_executive_officer

If Propellerhead are sold to a new buyer in one to two years time, I'll happily eat my shoe though.

Well, it’s been 2 years today, and there’s been no sale (I don’t consider a name change with most of the original staff largely intact as a sale). Looks like leather isn’t on the menu after all!

[stratatonic]

I'm just saying, you're grossly simplifying the CEO's role. Obviously it's to maximize shareholder profits, but there's a ton more they have to do. Read up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_executive_officer

If Propellerhead are sold to a new buyer in one to two years time, I'll happily eat my shoe though.

Well, it’s been 2 years today, and there’s been no sale (I don’t consider a name change with most of the original staff largely intact as a sale). Looks like leather isn’t on the menu after all!

It's two years on June 10.

Which is when Agevik took over. Feel free to set an alert on your phone again for the 10th... And, no, it's likely not going to happen then either. Will be interesting to see when/if does happen though. I wonder if year to year revenue will increase from their record last year.

[joeyluck]

Well, it’s been 2 years today, and there’s been no sale (I don’t consider a name change with most of the original staff largely intact as a sale). Looks like leather isn’t on the menu after all!

It's two years on June 10.

Which is when Agevik took over. Feel free to set an alert on your phone again for the 10th... And, no, it's likely not going to happen then either. Will be interesting to see when/if does happen though. I wonder if year to year revenue will increase from their record last year.

According to some of the speculators, Reason is going subscription only. So based on that, someone like Apple will get a subscription to the Reason Studios business, but they won't be buying them, because subscriptions will be the only option.

[QVprod]

It's two years on June 10.

Which is when Agevik took over. Feel free to set an alert on your phone again for the 10th... And, no, it's likely not going to happen then either. Will be interesting to see when/if does happen though. I wonder if year to year revenue will increase from their record last year.

According to some of the speculators, Reason is going subscription only. So based on that, someone like Apple will get a subscription to the Reason Studios business, but they won't be buying them, because subscriptions will be the only option.

No more ownership. However in exchange they get unlimited access to Reason’s Studios

[EnochLight]

It's two years on June 10.

Nah, it’s been 2 years since I stated I’d eat my shoe if I was wrong. I wasn’t.

[altron]

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[WillyOD]

I'm now going to sit back and enjoy the speculation.

I'm 99% sure this means: Sequencer improvements confirmed.

[WillyOD]

I'm now going to sit back and enjoy the speculation.

Serious question. What do you think of bringing "an outsider" instead of promoting from within the company? Feels bad if someone from Reason Studios old-timers was interested in the position. Now instead of that, you have a generic Internet business man with running your company...

[Steedus]

^ this is all I’ve ever experienced with jobs. Very rarely is someone promoted from within it felt like, and when I was looking for work 90% of job ads were for management positions.