Fairlight Instruments changes name
This statement was released by Fairlight Instruments Pty this morning…
“A facelift for Fairlight Instruments
Fairlight Instruments Pty Ltd is changing its name in anticipation of the release of some exciting new products.
The new name, Peter Vogel Instruments, reflects the company’s transition from building on the past to inventing the future.
I am delighted to announce that we will be unveiling some amazing new products over the coming year, under the new brand. These are now in development and all I will say is that we are working hard to make the new products accessible to the average musician, unlike the Fairlight CMI which back in 1979 cost more than the average house.
The CMI-30A, which we released last year as an homage to the original Fairlight CMI, will continue to be our prestige flagship product. A major upgrade now in the works will become available later this year to existing 30A owners free of charge.
The iOS app has been rebranded and has been withdrawn from the app store pending Apple’s approval. Existing app owners will see an update offered shortly. In response to customer requests, significant new functionality is being developed for release as a free update later this year.
We are also developing an entirely new keyboard product, quite unlike anything previously made by Fairlight — or anyone else.
All will be revealed at NAMM in 2013.
Exciting times!
Peter Vogel”
Not a smart move to scrap such a prestigious name. Marketing-wise is a complete a loss of time and money.
The brand Fairlight is adored and recognised all around the world, and they’re losing that heritage.
Millions of videoclips, concerts, amateur Youtube videos, Wikipedia references, website mentions… still pointing to the brand Fairlight.
How much could have paid let’s say, Roland or Yamaha, to have the legal rights to make products with that name on it? f. ex.: Yamaha Fairlight. Well, that same money is what Vogel has just sent to the trash.
Again, Vogel as an engineer is priceless, but as a salesman is not very talented.
Have you considered that this might be an unavoidable move that has been forced upon him? Peter is not a foolish man. I know him and can vouch for that, categorically.
Remember, Fairlight went bust around 1989, and the name, business and all branding was bought out and now forms Fairlight US, a completely new business that Peter has nothing to do with.
Time will tell if this re-brand works or not. But Vogel is known the world over for his work, much like Moog, Dave Smith, Roger Linn, etc. I think that counts for quite a lot
At the end, I expect your theory to be what really happened, because I can’t understand how someone could voluntarily move apart from such a nice tradition of marvelous pieces of equipment.
No need to say that I hope Mr. Vogel has the most amazing future and the best of luck.
It’s true that his name is known too, but only for a few synth-geeks like us. Fairlight, nonetheless, was by far more known even among ordinary people that, for example, saw their favourite musician composing or playing back in the time with a Fairlight.
I don’t know how many videos of Jean Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield, Alan Parsons, Peter Gabriel and Thomas Dolby playing a Fairlight can be found in Youtube, but there are really a lot!
Don’t forget the funny reference that Phil Collins did once “there is no Fairlight on this record” . You know what they say “There is no such thing as bad publicity”.