Great piece up at Create Digital Media reacting to M-Audio’s hype for their new product to be unveiled during NAMM. More than just looking the marketing hype in the eye and asking it to get real, it brings up an issue that speaks to me, a non-DJ. Interoperability.

The writer is speaking of it in terms of the DJ software/hardware market, which is something about which I know very little. I can see where proprietary DJ systems sorta defeat the point – shouldn’t a DJ just be able to show up with a crate of vinyl and possible a mixer and, you know, rock the party? But interoperability is rampant in the music technology business, and ultimately, I see it getting worse before it gets better. It’s not entirely analogous, but I’ve railed before about the need for a non-proprietary plugin standard, that isn’t tied to one company for development. If I were a DJ, I would probably feel the same way about how I was forced to use one particular system.