Avid, Creator Of Pro Tools, Sold for $1.4bn

Aug 23

The tech company Avid, known for their various entertainment industry hardware and software, announced that it had agreed to a sale of $1.4bn to the private equity group Symphony Technology Group (STG) in a statement made on August 9th. This comes after two companies, formally mentioned STG and Francisco Partners (holders of companies such as Native Instruments and Kobalt Music Group) were vying for Avid’s attention, with STG winning out.

“Since our founding over 30 years ago, Avid has delivered technology that enables individuals and enterprises who create media for a living to make, manage and monetize today’s most celebrated video and audio content across the globe,” - Avid’s President and CEO Jeff Rosica.

Avid’s influence and imprint on the industry rivals that of the Roman Empire in the days of Julius Caesar. Since 1987, Avid has provided the entertainment industry the tools of the trade, with Pro Tools alone being featured in every music studio and post production lab. Avid went even further, stating that every record nominated for Record Of The Year at the 2022 Grammys was assisted by Avid Pro Tools AND every film nominated for Best Editing and Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards used Avid Media Composer to do post-production. They’ve even started developing an Avid Music Distribution avenue, AvidPlay, similar to the likes of Distrokid or Tunecore, helping artists distribute to 150+ platforms, including “Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal.”

In every studio I’ve been in that’s worth a damn, from Chinatown to Music Row, uses Pro Tools. I’m not in the Cinema field, but I’m sure that those production/post production teams heralds the technology and opportunities Avid creates everyday. With this looming acquisition and the foundation for a distribution channel, Avid’s future is looking green. They have over 30+ years of industry backing and that sort of trust in branding is vital, especially in a world where new entertainment service companies are popping up everyday, promising things like marketing or management and “big things” for the future, only to fall on the sword of their promises.

Change is one of the only constants in life. I just hope this acquisition doesn’t interfere with the amazing work Avid has already provided.