Home » News » M-Audio Named "Company of the Year" by Music Trades

M-Audio Named "Company of the Year" by Music Trades

M-Audio Named "Company of the Year" by Music Trades
Magazine cites M-Audio’s savvy R&D team and heavy investment in technical support as key reasons for continual success
"With the price of computers plummeting and new music software applications coming to the fore, Tim Ryan became convinced that there was a rich opportunity in computer peripherals tailored for musicians. In 1988 he founded M-Audio (originally known as Midiman) to address that need. Last year his market assessment received the ultimate affirmation when Avid Technology’s Digidesign division paid an eye-popping $174 million to acquire M-Audio. How big a selling premium did this $174 million represent? Most music and audio companies fetch little more than book value when they’re put on the block, by contrast M-Audio sold for just under eight times book value, reflecting Digidesign’s tremendous confidence in its future prospects. For a decade of residing at or near the top of our fastest-growing company list, and for earning the confidence of hard-nosed managers at Digidesign, we name M-Audio our company of the year.

"M-Audio’s initial product range included computer sound cards that enhanced the audio quality of the basic PC or Mac, and input/output cards that made it possible to run multiple audio channels in and out of a computer. Since then the company has become a virtual one-stop shop for the growing number of computer-centric musicians, offering keyboard controllers, USB guitar interfaces, monitor speakers, microphones, and even guide books on how to create music on a computer. If you use a computer to record or create music, the chances are good that you’ll have a few M-Audio products..."

Read full story