Topic: If only Yamaha was like Windows,Apple, Android

[Oldden]

My wife and I have three iPads, two windows laptops and android phones. All of them have a “store” where we can download extra software if we want. Pity Yamaha can’t do the same with their keyboards. Yes we can download stuff from the Yamaha music shop, now mostly free, but it would be nice if we could have extras from other sources. Better pianos, guitars are pretty poor, an update so that when moving things around it updates itself. Lots of options . Yamaha could sell and vet these through its own shop, like apple does and make money that way.

[Oldden]

Just a short update which I forgot to mention in my previous post. Look at the free Kontakt software,

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-start/

Imagine that or similar on your keyboard.

[mikf]

There are hundreds of millions of people using those devices you mention, so the provision of software, apps, accessories etc is a highly lucrative business model. Not the case for keyboards. There are a few niche providers of aftermarket stuff, but it is never going to be a big deal for large corporations like Yamaha where the successful business model is overwhelmingly selling the original hardware. If they improve things they use that to launch a new model and sell more hardware. It’s what works.
Mike

[Oldden]

Yes I agree with what you say. I was looking towards a possible future for Yamaha and others. Are the keyboards we play getting towards the end of their life. I have spent a fortune in the past buying two manual organs with pedals, now you can’t give them away. Quite a few of the old organ, keyboard makers have also gone. Maybe there won’t be a Genos 2 as we know it. Band in a box on my iPad works quite nicely, I really don’t know what the future will bring, Yamaha and the rest need to make a profit to stay in business, when you take into account the cost of physically making a new keyboard against the cost of just the software which has to be done anyway, who knows. Anyway it’s fun, at least for me,just speculating

[rodrigo.b]

My wife and I have three iPads, two windows laptops and android phones. All of them have a “store” where we can download extra software if we want. Pity Yamaha can’t do the same with their keyboards. Yes we can download stuff from the Yamaha music shop, now mostly free, but it would be nice if we could have extras from other sources. Better pianos, guitars are pretty poor, an update so that when moving things around it updates itself. Lots of options . Yamaha could sell and vet these through its own shop, like apple does and make money that way.

I agree with you. PS If you want a better guitar sound, check out the Prominy acoustic guitar library for Kontakt. I recently discover it and it is a lot better then the factory MegaVoice Steel guitars from the Genos

[Amwilburn]

My wife and I have three iPads, two windows laptops and android phones. All of them have a “store” where we can download extra software if we want. Pity Yamaha can’t do the same with their keyboards. Yes we can download stuff from the Yamaha music shop, now mostly free, but it would be nice if we could have extras from other sources. Better pianos, guitars are pretty poor, an update so that when moving things around it updates itself. Lots of options . Yamaha could sell and vet these through its own shop, like apple does and make money that way.

They *did*. About 15 years ago or so; Repertoire finder, songstar or something (can't remember the app's name, it allowed you to download and learn sheet music with midi, midi with full backing, and I believe even with vocals), and I've forgotten what else (there was even an app that displayed "fireworks" on your phone timed to your music); you used to be able to plug in CVP's/Tyros directly into the internet via ethernet cable and go to the store to purchase songs, styles; I cannot remember if they ever made samples directly downloadable (would've been T2 -T3 era)

As mikf already suggested, it just wasn't worth the effort, given how few people who purchased arrangers actually plugged them into the internet (this was before touchscreens; it wasn't easy to browse with buttons)

Mark