A little more than a month ago, Gibson stunned the music world by abruptly shutting down Cakewalk, a music software company it had acquired in 2013. Now the music industry is abuzz again, after an announcement from Gibson Brands that it has decided to pull out of the NAMM show – the biggest music industry tradeshow, taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center January 25-28. Gibson Guitars is one of the top guitar manufacturers in the world, and the thought of a major music industry tradeshow without their representation has tongues wagging throughout the industry, with plenty of speculation about the “real” reason Gibson chose to pull out.
Strata-SERIES: RMR – Series Wrap-Up
One month ago, on December 6th, Strata-gee launched a series of articles on recurring monthly revenue (RMR) programs based on research conducted for a cover story in the December issue of Residential Systems Magazine. That Series, called Strata-SERIES: RMR, ran the entire month of December and into January with a total of five posts of content, plus an additional Series introduction and this Series wrap-up.
What did we learn about RMR? Much! Read on… [Read more…] about Strata-SERIES: RMR – Series Wrap-Up
Classé Rises Again as Part of Sound United
Sound United announced yesterday it had completed the acquisition of shuttered high-end brand Classé Audio from former owner Bowers & Wilkins. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The announcement confirms the deal of which Strata-gee reported last month when Sound United quietly entered negotiations to buy the brand.
See more on this news which breathes new life into Classé… [Read more…] about Classé Rises Again as Part of Sound United
Monster & Noel Lee Must Pay Beats Nearly $8M in Legal Fees
On a Roll, Beats Files New Lawsuit Against Monster Seeking $100 Million

While you were drinking your eggnog or otherwise enjoying your holidays, the Grinch stole all the good cheer from Monster LLC and owner Noel Lee when a jury in the case of Monster LLC v. Beats, et al agreed with Beats and ordered Monster and Lee to pay them $7,916,201.64 as reimbursement for their legal expenses.
And Beats has more bad news for the Monster camp… [Read more…] about Monster & Noel Lee Must Pay Beats Nearly $8M in Legal Fees
Strata-SERIES: RMR – Smart Help for a Quick Start in RMR
[NOTE: This post is part of a series of articles on recurring monthly revenue programs we call Strata-SERIES: RMR. It will likely make more sense to you if you start by reading our Series Introduction here… and then our Topic Introduction and First Installment here…]
Because he had worked with an alarm company for the last twenty years, Matt Walin of Costa Mesa, CA-based Brilliant AV was very familiar with the concept of RMR programs as it related to central station security system monitoring. But as it specifically relates to residential AV and home automation solutions, it was about two years ago when they began exploring the process of offering their clients some form of a maintenance agreement covering their system installations.
Residential AV RMR, it turned out, was a horse of an entirely different color… [Read more…] about Strata-SERIES: RMR – Smart Help for a Quick Start in RMR
Control4 Acquires Ihiji Validating Importance of Remote Management
BREAKING NEWS
Control4 announced today that it has acquired remote system monitoring and management pioneer Ihiji of Austin, TX. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal sends a strong signal of the growing importance of remote installation monitoring and management systems for integrators moving forward.
See more on this new acquisition by Control4… [Read more…] about Control4 Acquires Ihiji Validating Importance of Remote Management
Monte Wood, Behind-the-Scenes Hero, Dies

Sad news to report this holiday season – Monte Spencer Wood, a behind-the-scenes hero at Tampa, Florida-based Perpetual Marketing Associates and PGW Distributing, died peacefully in his sleep in the early evening of December 26, the day after Christmas. Monte, a personal friend of mine and many, many others, was a big man with an even bigger heart. His lively, bigger-than-life presence will be missed by all who knew and loved him. He was just 58-years old.
See more on the life of Monte Wood… [Read more…] about Monte Wood, Behind-the-Scenes Hero, Dies
Happy New Year from Strata-gee!
With 2017 nearly over, we’ve wrapped up another year – our best ever, thanks to Strata-gee readers and SYNCH subscribers! With more readers, and more engagement in the form of reader comments, we are lucky to count the smartest readers in Tech among our regular readers. THANK YOU!
See our new year message for you here… [Read more…] about Happy New Year from Strata-gee!
Thanks to You, A Record Year for Strata-gee
Wow…what a way to wrap up our TEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! My head is spinning! At the risk of sounding boastful, please indulge me for a few moments while I share with you what I think are some remarkable results from 2017 for Strata-gee.com. First and foremost, let me say that it is completely thanks to you…our readers…that we have just had the best year in the history of our website.
Read more about the year we had in 2017 – thanks to you, our readers… [Read more…] about Thanks to You, A Record Year for Strata-gee
Strata-gee Editor’s Pick: The Top Stories of 2017
With this being the traditional end-of-year holiday period, there is an irresistible pull for editors to review their top stories reported on in the year that is now fading fast from view. I am certainly not immune from that pull. And while every year seems remarkable, I can say with certainty that 2017 appears to earn that lofty designation as well.





