http://wallstreetpr.com/avid-investors-begin-their-selloff-of-multimedia-giant-avid-3730
http://www.tapeop.com/blog/2012/11/03/how-long-will-avid-and-pro-tools-be-around/
What do you guys think? Should I start learning a new DAW for the future?
4 Answers
Pro Tools is too strong of a brand name to disappear. Avid could die, but another company will buy Pro Tools. It could be better, worse, or the same as before. Yamaha bought Steinberg several years ago and I honestly don't think much has changed. Oh, and Disney bought Star Wars....
They're all pretty much the same.
However, I really don't believe Avid or Pro Tools is going anywhere for a long time. Standard tools and practices take a long time to die, even though there would be migration to other tools. As we know, PT is widely used in the film and music industries and there are studios that have put big bucks on Avid's systems. So it's unlikely that people and studios would feel a need to switch for a long time, even if Avid would seize operations.
Investors are obviously taking their money away when it seems that a company may not be able to continue to grow and make new products that generate profit. I think the audio and video software industries are tough, because I don't think there are that many groundbreaking innovations to be done that could radically change the way people work.
Pro Tools will live with or without Avid. Learning a DAW is much more easy is if:
- you know one very well (Pro Tools)
- more importantly, know what you want to do
I think there's no need to speculate on this yet. Probably Avid won't be on the stock exchange soon, and that may well be the very best decision in a long time. I'm far from an expert, but their first and biggest problem seem to be that they expanded too fast, tried to target every user in the whole world.
This isn't an answer but if you ever felt you could trust a corporation, then I suggest you watch the documentary: The Corporation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225/ http://www.thecorporation.com/