Harman acquires Roon

[Matias]

HARMAN Acquires Roon, a popular Multi-Device, Multi-Room Audio Technology Platform

STAMFORD, CT – November 27, 2023 – HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer, and enterprise markets, today announced the acquisition of Roon, the music management,...

news.harman.com

 

[kemmler3D]

Pretty interesting. I do like to see more competition in the multiroom space, so this should shake things up a bit over time.

My personal issue with Roon is I can't get my head around paying a subscription for streaming already-acquired music in my own house. A refurb WiiM mini is about $60 on eBay. I get why Roon Arc would need a subscription, but for streaming on my own Wi-Fi?

 

[ahofer]

Pretty interesting. I do like to see more competition in the multiroom space, so this should shake things up a bit over time.

My personal issue with Roon is I can't get my head around paying a subscription for streaming already-acquired music in my own house. A refurb WiiM mini is about $60 on eBay. I get why Roon Arc would need a subscription, but for streaming on my own Wi-Fi?

I know. I'm a lifetime member, but it really irks me. I have to install and maintain a whole different streaming system to access my own damn files.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Interesting. They must want to multi-room technology to take on Sonos/Bluesound and Wiim. I predict a lite version of Roon that will be free with Harman brand’s hardware and not require a physical core.

 

[Matias]

To my use case I also think WiiM made a killer line of products that offers the multi-room streaming+local software player "for free"... Why would I pay for Roon?

Yes, I know it does this and that more, but still it is an incremental upgrade for a lot of money (lifetime) or another monthly subscription. Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[anotherhobby]

Interesting. I just dropped my Roon subscription about a month ago after trying it for several months due to:

• unacceptable (to me) support model
• inability to play on my own local network across subnets
• value/price (it's good, but not that good).

I wonder if Harmon will inject their own opinions (like, maybe change the support model), or if they will leave the existing Roon team to continue as is?

 

[amirm]

Gosh... A big company like this could kill an acquired product in a year or two without thinking about it. So unless they were not profitable and were going out of business on their own, I am worried about such deals.

 

[amirm]

Long time ago Meridian acquired them and then let them go. Interesting that they would repeat this.

 

[kemmler3D]

To my use case I also think WiiM made a killer line of products that offers the multi-room streaming+local software player "for free"... Why would I pay for Roon?

Yes, I know it does this and that more, but still it is an incremental upgrade for a lot of money (lifetime) or another monthly subscription. Thanks, but no thanks.

Indeed, and it's been possible with various open source tools for a while if you were willing to mess around with an RPi or something. WiiM just offers low cost and high convenience. Roon seems to only have convenience? But by all accounts, the tech works well. So I agree it's possible that Harman is considering integrating it into other products at a lower cost to compete with Sonos.

For example, JBL bluetooth speakers have had a 'broadcast mode' for a long time, but I am not aware that it's used very much. But if you could get all of those on Wifi with a nice, modern, intuitive app, it could really challenge Sonos in a serious way. So, in other words, if they added wifi chips and Roon to their portable lineups...

 

[Matt_Holland]

Gosh... A big company like this could kill an acquired product in a year or two without thinking about it. So unless they were not profitable and were going out of business on their own, I am worried about such deals.

I agree it’s worrying for Roon as we know it. How many existing Roon hardware partners will object to funding their competition?

 

[mhardy6647]

Must be consolidation season in the content industry, with recent changes of ownership of BMI and Roon... and, of course, good old MQA.
I guess it's the non-visual content industry, come to think of it.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Long time ago Meridian acquired them and then let them go. Interesting that they would repeat this.

There’s quite a story behind this…
Meridian acquired Sooloos which became Roon instead of Sooloos v3 when they parted ways. Interestingly, Roon appeared quite soon after the breakup. Sooloos was free software as per Meridian’s wishes…

 

[Puddingbuks]

Gosh... A big company like this could kill an acquired product in a year or two without thinking about it. So unless they were not profitable and were going out of business on their own, I am worried about such deals.

Indeed, I once used a hiking app for many years, all was well until it was bought by a bigger platform. In few months time, it was destroyed. All my uploaded hiking trails & photos were gone, thousands of trails of other people too.

Lifetime subscriptions scare me, because 2-3 years is a very long time in the internet / online business

 

[mhardy6647]

I know. I'm a lifetime member, but it really irks me. I have to install and maintain a whole different streaming system to access my own damn files.

We never had that problem with LPs. You could borrow 'em from the library, or buy 'em youself -- and they'd all play on the same record player.
Oh, oops. I guess I might've mistaken this for the "simplicity" thread.

There’s quite a story behind this…
Meridian acquired Sooloos which became Roon instead of Sooloos v3 when they parted ways. Interestingly, Roon appeared quite soon after the breakup. Sooloos was free software as per Meridian’s wishes…

Oooh, so many "O"s in those names! Sooloos... Roon...
Does this mean that, if Roon does well, the parent'll rebrand itself as Harmoon? Or maybe the grand pooh-bah will remoniker itself. How does Samsoooong sound in Korean?

Sorry, gang -- It's one of those short, short New England almost-winter days & I am feeling wry today.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Wonder if this is going to Ruin them...

 

[TK750]

That's pretty interesting, I'm more of a foss guy myself but I've given roon a go the past few years on the $3 3 month deal they do every black friday. It seems pretty convenient and I can definitely see the appeal to people who don't like to tinker with things and want something that just works. The normal pricing had always seemed fairly extortionate to myself though, as others have mentioned not something I would ever even consider paying a subscription for. I guess they figure most audiophiles are usually not short of cash and happy to cough up for the lifetime deal? Anybody know how many subscribers they have etc?

 

[SCR]

Gosh... A big company like this could kill an acquired product in a year or two without thinking about it. So unless they were not profitable and were going out of business on their own, I am worried about such deals.

Harman is owned by Samsung, so chances are that Roon is being turned into another Samsung content service to augment their connected hardware at some point.

 

[GXAlan]

Gosh... A big company like this could kill an acquired product in a year or two without thinking about it. So unless they were not profitable and were going out of business on their own, I am worried about such deals.

Unless the technology can be used to enhance the automotive or soundbar division, I really do think it will die. Look at Logic7, Lexicon SL-1 technology, RABOS, and the whole Harman Citation line-up which was intended to compete against Sonos...

 

[amirm]

I agree it’s worrying for Roon as we know it. How many existing Roon hardware partners will object to funding their competition?

Likely fair number if not all. Managing this will be very tricky.

The other risk is key employees leaving after their mandatory staying time (usually 6 months to 2 years).

 

[amirm]

Unless the technology can be used to enhance the automotive or soundbar division, I really do think it will die. Look at Logic7, Lexicon SL-1 technology, RABOS, and the whole Harman Citation line-up which was intended to compete against Sonos...

That's what I am worried about. I created a business at Microsoft that generated $50M pure profits with just a couple of employees managing it. Management could care less given the grand scheme of things. They said put everyone on Windows because that is the main money making machine.

The only thing that will save them is if there is a fan of their technology up high. Doubt that this is in place at Samsung.