Moog acquired by conglomerate inMusic, joining Akai and Alesis

Iconic synth manufacturer Moog has been acquired by super conglomerate inMusic, joining other brands snatched up by the company like Alesis, Akai, M-Audio and, well, a bunch more. In a statement, Moog president Joe Richardson says the acquisition overcome “ongoing challenges”, citing global distribution supply chain concerns.

To that end, chip shortages and various supply chain issues have plagued the company since early Covid, leading to stark price increases for some of its flagship instruments, as and others. Moog has managed to stay an independent brand for decades, since the 1960s, so this is something of a shock for the synthesizer world.

Moog says it’ll still be developing synthesizers at its Asheville, North Carolina headquarters but makes no mention about the manufacturing process. To this day, many of the iconic instruments under the company’s umbrella are manufactured in the USA, so we’ll keep an eye on if that changes. Alesis, also owned by inMusic, designs its products in America but manufactures them in China.

There’s also the idea of brand cross-pollination. In the announcement letter, Richardson says the acquisition will allow Moog to “enhance the capabilities of inMusic and its exclusive brands.” Does this suggest a future Moog synth with actual Akai MPC pads or a budget-friendly Alesis synthesizer that takes advantage of Moog’s audio-shaping expertise? We shall see. In the meantime, Moog just with a Model D-inspired web app and recently released the Moog One, its most ambitious (and expensive) instrument ever.