The German developer TubeOhm Instruments is taking a hiatus from producing hardware synthesizers and will not release any in the coming months/years.
Running a Synthesizer as a one-man show is no picnic. To work profitably, you must know the current synth market and calculate your costs perfectly. Many small companies have already failed in this tightrope walk.
The decision of the German company TubeOhm Instruments shows that it is not easy to run a small Synthesizer company.
Andre Laska, the founder of Tube Ohm Instruments, takes a hiatus from producing hardware synths due to several reasons. As a reminder, the German company is known for the development of hardware and software synths and the production of various DIY projects, including the Jeanny polysynth.
TubeOhm Instruments Hiatus Statement From FB
Hello guys, from 01.01.2025 I will stop the sale and production of TubeOhm products. This applies to hardware and software. For the software, I may still take the liberty of making freeware available for download with a Donate button. I would like to thank my customers and hope that they have had and will continue to have wonderful hours with my instruments. Thanks also for many encouraging words.
Why ? Well, the decisive factor for me was the new e-bill. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.When I started with Fluid VST 16 years ago, I quickly created a website. A Paypal button underneath and that was it. A few years later came the EU stop shop solution. VAT was now paid in the various EU countries. An additional expense and a reduction in earnings. Then there was the parcel tax. Packages could only be sent by an individual company if additional money was paid to dispose of the cardboard. An additional expense and a reduction in earnings.Then there was EAR – the electronic waste ordinance. Without consideration for small businesses and with huge bureaucratic hurdles for minimum quantities. Last year, one kilo of electronic waste cost me around €40 An additional expense and a reduction in earnings. On top of that, I had to pay fees to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, which didn’t do anything for me but collected money first. Oh yes, and if you make a mistake, fines of €10,000-100,000 will be imposed immediately. As the crowning glory of creation, there is now a new software safety directive and a new EU directive for electrical appliances.Furthermore, Behringer, for example, is churning out instruments at prices that I can’t even get in the shops. Oh yes, because I am only allowed to sell to the UK if I have a local tax consultant in the UK, or pay €200 a month for a tax company per se, about 30% of my sales have simply disappeared. For a sole proprietorship in Germany, you have to turn over about €300 to earn €100. Just for your information. These are the economic reasons. Some other reasons as follows.After about 16 years of working on the Internet, I had to deal with a collection of spammers and scumbags who wanted to and did cheat me in one way or another. For example, a guy from Canada who had a fake website with pictures of U2 and pretended to be a producer who wanted my VST instruments – for free, of course. And he got them . Choke on it. Or 3 out of 10 parcels didn’t arrive if they didn’t have a tracking number.Or DHL, Deutsche Bank, Paypal, Ing Diba etc. wrote letters that the account details could not be activated due to some error. Click here and get a virus. People, this kind of thing pisses me off and these guys should rot their hands off. So, everything put together . I don’t have to put up with any more crap like this. I’m going to take an artistic break for now and maybe release a few more softsynths in a year or two.Thanks for the last 16 years to all my friends and supporters.AndreTubeOhm Instruments
More information here: official website
Sorry, but sounds a bit like an old man who doesn’t understand the modern world anymore. The Tubeohm Homepage is kind of a mess.
But all the best to André. Hopefully he finds some peace and calms down.
Perhaps the latter does, but I am still kinda shocked by the tax bit. I had no idea it was this hard to run a small company in DE.
As a (very) small publisher, this “I am only allowed to sell to the UK if I have a local tax consultant in the UK” is keeping me from selling in the EU. Their loss.
I’m not sure if this is true? As far as I know any company can sell a hardware product to a person in the UK. You sell it minus VAT which is paid when imported. Yes, there is a little more paperwork as tou have to declare it’s cost and import code. Software you add VAT at UK rate.
It is increasingly difficult for DIY/hardware synth micro-businesses to operate in today’s highly regulated world. The amount of admin and overheads are increasingly costly, with EU GPSR being the latest hurdle. More micro businesses will cease trading as 2015 goes by. It’s not about being an “old man” or an inability to calculate costs, its about reducing profit margins, and the fun going out of the job.
A “young man” here : unfortunately, I can only confirm what André reports and the frustration is relatable. Without taking in account the cost of the required taxes and charges to pay, the simple work of understanding, keeping up to date and complying with all the administrative obligations is an involved job in itself. And sometimes this extra work is not worth the profit one is making selling synthesizers. My best wishes to André with his next endeavors and hopefully he can find peace quickly, it’s terrible to give up on something you love due to external factors or frustration.