The Behringer Kick was just announced and without even communicating a release date it already created momentum. In short: The Behringer Kick looks like an Akai MPC One * in a typical Sampling-Workstation style. This is the only hint so far in what type of music makers this is targeting. As I see it, Behringer’s strategy with the KICK comes down to three things:
- Marketing
- Disruptive pricing
- Saving on software development
Marketing of the Behringer KICK
Behringer is the first “big” music tech company releasing a product with this approach. Custom firmware hacks are popping up and we see this across many areas of electronic consumer hardware.
Companies usually don’t pay much attention to this publicly, and so far only a few see it as an additional use case for their hardware they want to promote. One example: Ableton openly promotes that there is a way to “hack” the Ableton Move * and provides some info and now even integrated options to create your own firmware or use alternative firmware made by others. But this is conceptualised as one additional feature and not marketed as the main workflow. It’s treated as a one (niche) use case, and what’s mainly promoted is the workflow and UX of Ableton’s own firmware.
Behringer’s Disruptive Pricing
Behringer’s whole business concept is built around being the cheap option, meaning a company that is able to price its products way below its competitors. The story of Uli Behringer not being able to afford synthesisers when he was younger is told often in Behringer’s marketing, and the same goes for the Behringer KICK:
“HE WAS KICKED OUT OF A MUSIC STORE BECAUSE HE COULDN’T AFFORD ANYTHING. That young musician was Uli Behringer. That experience inspired a mission: Democratize music technology and empower those who have not and cannot. Nearly 40 years later, we’re taking that mission to another level. INTRODUCING BEHRINGER KICK — OUR FIRST OPEN-SOURCE HARDWARE SAMPLER!”
(Source: https://www.facebook.com/djwurkflow/posts/introducing-behringer-kick-our-first-open-source-hardware-sampler/10238608612886549/)
The concept works. Behringer found a way to offer products at a price and quality that works for the consumer. Often their products are “clones” of existing products, which is comparable to a discount supermarket. As a consumer you might not get 100% of the quality or the exact same functionality, but it’s close enough for (a lot) less money.
Is Behringer Saving on Software Development ? (Big Question Mark!)
Besides not having to invest in developing new products with unseen functionality, Behringer seems to save on software development. Obviously this is a big guess, as we don’t know the real numbers. Even if we did, we couldn’t really put them into context and compare them to competitors and their approaches. So just based on personal impression: Behringer products I own don’t get regular firmware updates. Some of the additional software like editors and companion apps feels like time-travelling back to 90s design and UX. Don’t get me wrong, this is not necessarily a bad thing. (My design choices for my own stuff shows that.) It is a company decision on what to focus on and prioritise. Plus: I have this experience with other companies as well, including some from the other end of the pricing spectrum.
This is different from companies that seem to add features and value AFTER release, after you’ve bought them. It’s more like an ongoing “relationship” than a one-night stand (maybe a weird comparison…).
For some Behringer products (e.g. the FCB1010 *) the user community “took over”. Additional editors, firmware and chips became available from third parties (like my FCB1010 Max for Live device for Ableton Live). So the “lack of functionality” is sometimes for really obvious, sometimes for really niche use cases. But combined on products being so affordable this can create a options. Taking the FCB1010 as an example, it creates the opportunity for additional third party products, covering new use cases and extra value for this hardware.
“New” Approach for the Behringer Kick – The Future of Creative Consumer Hardware?
The benefit for the end user: let people build what they need and let the community provide solutions. For Behringer: let people develop and create more value without additional costs. It’s too early to say where this is going and how it will pay off for the customer and for Behringer, but some boxes can already be ticked:
- As AI-assisted, user-made software is “taking over” and developing your own firmware can already take less than an hour, being able to heavily customise functionality and workflow will be key for creative consumer hardware in the future. Who can build software that fits the needs better than the users themselves?
- Being one of the first companies in the music hardware business to “open” a product this way is definitely a working marketing strategy (one proof: me writing this blog post…). Combined with a target price of 150 USD, the Behringer KICK will be a no-brainer in sales numbers. Even people like me who definitely don’t need this product for making music are excited to check it out.
Is This Democratising Music Technology? Well, It’s Still Capitalism, Baby
Behringer’s move here is clever. It’s a smart strategy for a business in a capitalistic world, where creating more capital value is the requirement for being able to produce anything. “Enabling people to make music” is a marketing line, but if you take it seriously: your pricing only works if you “absorb” people’s work at a price that creates more value than you pay them (like every other company does), which probably leaves those workers unable to afford musical instruments or equipment.
This isn’t Behringer specific, but marketing a higher moral value (“Democratize music technology”) feels a little weird to me. Still – Uli, if you’re reading this: when can I get a Behringer KICK to review?
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