Is Gibson becoming a major player in the DJ market?

Gibson is aiming to strengthen its position in the digital DJing market with the purchase of the Deckadance software from FL Studio developer Image-Line.

Gibson has been on something of a shopping spree over the past few years, purchasing a variety of hi-tech companies including Cakewalk and TEAC. In this case, it's grabbed just a single application; this will sit alongside Stanton's DJ hardware products, which are also under Gibson's ownership.

Explaining the reasons for the sale, Image-Line's CFO Frank Van Biesen said, "Growing Deckadance any further required our expanding into hardware development, which would have diverted attention from our core business of developing FL Studio, our highly successful music production application and related software.

"With Gibson Brands building new products around Deckadance, not only will existing Deckadance customers receive ongoing support, but with Gibson's proven hardware expertise Deckadance enthusiasts can look forward to a bright future."

Gibson Brands CEO and Chairman Henry Juszkiewicz sounds pleased, too: "We have many exciting plans for Stanton, and projects that will rejuvenate the DJ scene in the years to come. Acquiring Deckadance is a huge step forward in that direction. We're grateful to Image-Line for creating a strong foundation, and can't wait to build additional innovations on that foundation."

It's been confirmed that the core of Deckadance's development team will remain in place "to ensure consistency in future development, as well as make sure that future innovations are consistent with what users love about Deckadance".