The British synth company Modal Electronics, known for the Argon8 and Cobalt8 is insolvent, according to new company entries.
Modal Electronics contacted me this morning and confirmed the company is currently in an insolvency proceeding. It’s currently under administration, part of a major company restructuring that has been going on for a long time.
Modal has assured that all employees will remain in the company. Among other things, the company will have new management. They have also confirmed that the current synthesizers will stay in the portfolio. Plus, they want to release new synths in the future, including the Carbon8 in 2024, initially announced at Superbooth 23. That sounds good. I’m curious what will happen next. I’ll stay tuned if there’s any news.
The official press release just came in (German version)
The innovative manufacturer of next-generation electronic musical instruments is repositioning itself for the future
Bristol, UK – September 20, 2023.
Modal Electronics, a leading manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, announces that it is in the process of a comprehensive restructuring. This process, which has been ongoing for several months, aims to position Modal Electronics on the market in a future-proof manner and to set the course for the development of new products.
Due to the global impact of the Corona crisis and the economic teething problems that followed, it is essential to realign and streamline the structure of Modal Electronics. For this purpose, extensive plans were drawn up with new and existing partners to ensure the continuity of the company.
All essential activities such as support, further development of the ModalApp and ensuring market presence will continue despite the restructuring. The current employees of Modal Electronics will also remain employed and were involved in planning the restructuring.
Modal Electronics is confident that this difficult process will be completed in the next few weeks. At that time, Modal will be able to provide further details on the future direction of the company.Christian Stahl, temporary managing director of Modal Electronics, says, “This complex restructuring process opens up unimagined opportunities for Modal Electronics to make the company more economical and even more customer-friendly. We want creativity to continue in the coming years with extensive concepts for new, exciting products of musicians.
The current ARGON8 and COBALT8 synthesizers as well as the unique ModalApp will continue to play an important role in the future.
The Modal team would like to thank all Modal users for the trust they have placed in us and is busy preparing the new projects .”
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Article From September 19th, 2023
Most of my work consists of reporting on the latest synthesizers and music production tools. But also to show what fascinating you can do with it. There is also a small percentage of not-so-nice news. One of these pieces of news reached me this evening.
According to the latest government entries, British synth company Modal Electronics has filed for insolvency.
Modal Electronics Insolvent
As someone passionate about synthesizers and someone who deals with it every day, news like this hurts, especially if you were in contact with the team and also made reviews and videos about it.
You can follow the route on the official British government website. There were already some problems a few months ago that they were able to avert. Now, things are different. They can probably no longer pay the bills and are officially insolvent.
An administrator has taken over the work and is trying to save the company. After the financial examination, he decides whether and how to proceed with Modal.
This situation is particularly difficult for employees. In the worst-case scenario, they lose their job. And as things currently look, that’s how it will be. Very sad. Or there are two options: first, they will be internal restructuring, and Modal can save itself and move on.
Secondly, another company takes the risk, takes over Modal, and gives them new money. But so much risk in such difficult times as we are currently facing? Only giants like inMusic and Focusrite can afford that.
Customers
Regarding this topic, it should not be forgotten that Modal Electronics already came out of such a difficult situation a few years ago, more precisely in 2018. With Paula Maddox’s and George Hearn’s (analog department) departure, the Modal responsible had to assemble a new team and develop new products from the ground up. Highlights like the flagship synths 001, 002, and 008 were history.
The new Modal synths are the Argon8 and Cobalt8. Both are excellent digital synthesizers with lots of features. They have been further upgraded with the latest firmware 3.0. Many people are now wondering what will happen to these synths.
That’s hard to say at the moment. If Modal Electronics can’t get out of this situation, there will be no more updates and thus become abandonware. Plus, the much-praised Modal app will also disappear from the App Store sooner or later without future updates. This means they will lose the digital bridge to the computer and tablets in the future.
The Carbon8 will probably go on the list of never-released synthesizers. Or I’m wrong and they will publish it. Modal only knows this.
It would be a big shame for the company, the team, and the synths. I contacted Modal Electronics to get a statement about this news. So stay tuned.
Source: UK Governement
That is awful! The Cobalt is hands down my favourite polysynth. Such a wonderful company. I hope they find a way to pull through somehow.
Looking at the filing history it looks like they’ve been dodging financial bullets for close to a year, which is never a good sign.
The question anyone even considering wanting to rescue Modal will be asking is what’s behind this? Is it down under-capitalisation (a common problem with companies that tend try to grow too fast, and often leads to robbing Peter to pay Paul), is it down to market conditions, or is it down to an underlying flaw in the company itself?
If it’s the first, then there’s a good chance that a rescue could happen in some form. But if it’s one of the latter two cases (and it could well be market saturation given the current financial conditions), then its probable that the only thing of value is the IP, in which case Modal will go to the wall.
This is terrible news. I love my Argon8 and was considering purchasing the Carbon.
Here you get a financial insights of the years 2020-2021
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/BvqGv_FLRt7jJAa3nzaqni4C_RirWLRTO9hgiXGZC7s/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3HEAX4S6M%2F20230919%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230919T231306Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjENv%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJGMEQCIDAmDbeLkpLs1lxBYFtcx4dtF4EWcmNPF8%2Fyrp0aNNgtAiAZYSPZj4bZE4TvfpbxL%2Bk2%2FCOvHK%2BwRaFqrwdAEl%2FA9SrEBQjE%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F8BEAQaDDQ0OTIyOTAzMjgyMiIMNq%2F1L0kIiiFmTD0SKpgF2haDsLoMc35324GQyXLT9AWWUibUzQ0Ww4EL9PtNYW3z1SPduhKCdpb9x%2FXS359UDeahKfSe5zDH9%2BTqBwG7hCfUMdUvY2FE7gAWIcponu9KqIASiIlhA3In23SMs9oxV8jJqrU%2FoGdlUUflGztFh5JFxAiI68vGuiq90Qwqh%2BaoZang37XH1U55daIJVYZJ%2Fcq65UMREmX%2B6%2BaDQ3gLoBkDaH2djl4p64UBO0RelmnGFpsc0NxBg9Mj71pFM3Kh5AcPQhYYk1VZs5vKqqlrufj%2Fu8Ac5oJVZr2pwnYrGwFeuziTJT2M3qx2TBWB3Bqy6g2tllvbtZqmbRXWOncr0i%2F6zZfH37mMxa%2BlhSCIGprIMNyj50eNlCVougciAnsWNDmJM%2FaFgGJqRZBOwHEvwVDlBnnLeHYJ1zlvnwkdMD8EJdun1%2BuO83fWgf83V7ebvhnrvEvXT8lTO5NBCAnHbhLHvP1kdd9eb4dNTDSa5COqvWetLvRjnmDvMaJ4jc25uOOtdJB1Z65j3p8QbtDhiv8CIlSn7E12n5BAh9Rm%2BCaXzI8bUSupkK8ALSXjSgTAblfuFANEOex2SFW9kD4nCK2D%2FIKwi5rkn%2BnqMeqRONZcZRRKpN5hMRgdEFjOLSGWt%2B8tOLhPbldr9tBXVJMM5Hc8ZzhS%2FwCZLxNXYOPgikK%2B7dGIe%2FuONC59MFefcQpD9D6mJ4EHTgcYsCkCQ76GL7pQWv3BX9CsvEib0XLhIp1qV%2BpzKeFIr%2Be13TzBS8kZ24BCLLxQzir8BqsBXDMX0SvXdQQcSu0Urcl%2BfnjQpe3iWAcLIviP6x8GFB%2FFaJdFlrYIjTQ%2B8XFUzuWqIkKPiGvL8bLcVVZP5Y5s4VPenoGRZtqCe%2BmcETDT4qeoBjqyAZmZgJWBUy0XeqxE4zHAoqP3LaYcGW2AVvGYHLktlSBlV38jkGON%2BKHs4aEcjhf8P2yLqXNi1OB%2BgAaR1k2nOuqKOlw%2FXZ3VycRhpliSieykctNTJXLUA7XlWwd3LU6xTmiYBsP8A%2FMy57XAC14sYXtwLYQjqe19PBGLhYs1LeP%2FR%2FNKRRuDHQmKWAhW5q4mQ0%2Ba06uohEATAjwLyt2O9Uj00N9XZ2GPhKpegj83X%2BnqBTE%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%3D%22companies_house_document.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=5868128e9b15db06503e4cd261db56e9f23f2913833bb97811efe2ef951b005b
They are made in fkn China. What employee, the PR department?!
the code, the design… Modal synths are digital synths based on code, so they have a team that developed/coded the synthesis engine. Plus sound designers, beta testers, etc.
I suppose its not surprising as their flagship models kind if got left behind in “expensive” synth range. The Argon and Cobalt8 are in a highly competitive synth buying market. Hopefully this will sort themselves out and Modal will be here in some form in the future.
This is a disheartening piece of news. I adore my Cobalt, and have appreciated so far their smart approach to both hardware, embedded software and overall industrial design. So sad, since they had managed to cleverly switch from makers of beautiful but mostly unaffordable boutique instruments to producers of one-of-their kind digital synthesisers for the masses. All best wishes to the good folks at Modal: I will keep my fingers crossed.
If it’s viable, I hope focusrite consider it. A Novation / Modal collab is a tasty prospect. Best of luck to those affected, it’s truly awful seeing something you love go to the wall.
Sad news, but as you say its not over yet. But Probably wise to update your Modal App while the service is still online.
Uh oh. Better get those supporting apps downloaded now.
Turns out they aren’t bankrupt and going through some planned restructuring apparently.
https://www.gearnews.com/is-modal-electronics-bankrupt-rumours-of-imminent-demise-unfounded/
what I wrote in the update 😉 They are insolvent, means their in a insolvency proceeding with an administrator.
Spot on! I only live down the road from their old office and I really love their synths, so it’s good news hopefully! =)
Stay on topic! Everything else will be deleted!
They made some interesting synths