The Channel: audioMIDI.com
by Terry Hardin

An interview with audioMIDI.com founder and owner Russ Jones
AudioMIDI.com founder/owner Russ Jones says that his company was established in the late nineties to be a "no-nonsense resource to serve the growing community of professional, hobbyist, and student musicians producing music on their computers. Our concept and purpose is to provide a place where the customer can find current, accurate, and unbiased information about the plethora of products commercially available for creating and recording music with a computer." At AudioMIDI.com, audio enthusiasts can read reviews and otherwise keep informed about the latest audio, MIDI and computer music news, as well as purchase studio software and hardware. This month's The Channel investigates Jones and his still-young online business.

“I have dedicated my efforts in this endeavor to bridging the information gap between musicians and technology, i.e. computer music/audio hardware and software.”

How and when did audioMIDI.com get its start?
The idea was spawned in 1997 when our pre-sales staff (at Steinberg North America) would take calls about Cubase and VST plug-ins, and the MI stores at the time were reluctant to stock audio software applications and didn't have a clue about plug-ins. My thought at the time was to offer an alternative to sending interested customers to the MI store only to be told they didn't have it in stock or never heard of it. Originally, audioMIDI.com was going to be "Plug-ins Direct." Realizing it would be difficult to establish a company selling plug-ins alone, we expanded it to include anything MIDI and audio, hence audioMIDI.com.

Russ Jones, founder and owner of audioMIDI.com

Russ, tell us about your history in our wild and wacky industry.
I have spent the last 35 years in the Musical Instrument (MI) industry, not as a musician, but still having an influence on how music is made. I started as the VP of sales and marketing at Acoustic Control during the era when The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Sly & the Family Stone were the big names in rock music, 1967 to 1972. After Acoustic Control, I joined up with the legendary Dr. Tom Oberheim to introduce Oberheim Synthesizers to the MI channel. This partnership spanned 13 years, during which I met current UA president Matt Ward when he was a sales guy at Leo's Pro Audio in Oakland, California.

Following that, I formed a joint venture with Karl Steinberg and Manfred Rürup of Steinberg [1985] to introduce Steinberg software to the U.S. and Canadian markets under the company name Steinberg/Jones, which later became Steinberg North America. Drawing upon my experience and relationships as both manufacturer and distributor, I added retail--e-tail, as some would say--to my list of endeavors, creating audioMIDI.com. I have dedicated my efforts in this endeavor to bridging the information gap between musicians and technology, i.e. computer music/audio hardware and software.

audioMIDI.com began with the goal of creating a place where the computer music/audio customer could find and purchase exactly what he needs to build his music/audio studio system in a painless and efficient manner. Having successfully laid the foundation, I plan to continue expanding upon the realization of my initial goal.

What were some of the first product lines that audioMIDI.com sold?
Antares AutoTune; Steinberg Cubase, Emagic Logic, Cakewalk, RME, and MIDI Man/ M-Audio Delta 1010.

What makes audioMIDI.com unique in the MI and Pro Audio retail world?
Specializing in computer music/audio products with a primary emphasis on providing the customer sufficient data, content and technical expertise to make an informed buying decision.

Why is Universal Audio important to audioMIDI.com?
audioMIDI.com only sells the UAD-1 products, and these powered plug-in products are important because the UAD-1 elegantly and affordably fills a specific need for our customer base, which is primarily focused on computer based music and audio production.

What is cool about selling UA products?
Customer satisfaction; UAD-1 products do what is expected and do not get returned.

What makes selling UA products a pain in the neck?
Not being able to keep them in stock.

Who is your most famous Universal Audio client that you can divulge?
Although we harvest and manage a lot of data about our customer base, we don't keep track of this, unless the high-profile customer requests a special price or a freebie. This is typically not the case with UAD-1, because at the price point it has real value.