Behringer Companies To Cut Staff

Through the years Behringer has developed from a small company that copied successful products then pioneered making them China, to a powerhouse global brand.

In fact, the company has grown into a holding company known as MUSIC, that controls not only Behringer, but well-respected brands like Midas, Klark Teknik, Turbosound and the TC Group (which itself controlled TC Electronic, Tannoy, Lab Gruppen and Lake).

The company has grown so powerful that it even has what amounts to its own manufacturing city in China.

One of the problem with so called "roll-ups" of companies is that as much of the work as possible is consolidated under one roof, and as a result, sooner or later, redundant staff is let go, and that's exactly what's about to happen now.

The first to feel the burn is Tannoy, where 70 staff members at its manufacturing plant in Scotland (which had been there for 35 years) and its office in Cambridge will be eliminated. That great English imprint will now be made in Zhongshan, China instead.

MUSIC is now one of the largest, if not the largest, conglomerates in the musical instrument/audio business, for better or worse. On one hand, the prices of its products (even the high end products by Midas) are very reasonable considering the performance. On the other, there's a group of talented craftsman that will soon be looking for work while Chinese robots take their places.

Here's a video that shows Behringer City in China.

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TC Electronic Bought By Behringer

Behringer City in China

Behringer was once looked at as strictly knockoff gear made in China aimed at the lowest end of the market. Today that's less the case as the conglomerate MUSIC Group, which owns Behringer and is controlled by founder and CEO Uli Behringer, continues to go up-market with its acquisition of the Danish TC Electronic group of companies.

MUSIC Group, which had acquired Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound previously, now places TC Electronic, Tannoy, Lab.gruppen, Lake, TC Helicon, White Acoustics and TC Applied Technologies all under the same roof, which makes the company one of the largest in the pro audio industry.

Behringer was one of the first to utilize the low cost manufacturing that China had to offer in order to lower not only costs and overhead, but retail prices as well. Today the company has it's own block of manufacturing buildings in Zhongshan known as "Behringer City" that has managed to eliminate even Chinese subcontractors while maintaining a higher level of quality control.

There was no word on the price of the transaction since the MUSIC Group is privately held, but reports were that TC Electronic had been on the market for roughly $170 million.

Regardless of what you thought about Behringer in the past, the fact of the matter is that the company has used its new-found acquisitions wisely and has put new engineering effort into the products across all its companies. Midas, Kark and Turbosound have all benefited from the streamlined manufacturing to now feature high-end products at very reasonable prices, while Behringer's latest products show new innovation while still maintaining the low prices we've come to expect from the line.

TC Electronic products and technology looks to be an ideal fit in the new MUSIC Group fold. It should make for very interesting AES and NAMM shows next year. Find out more about MUSIC Group and the TC acquisition on its website.

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