What's up, y'all? I'm Nadir, the Marketing Director for Beat Kangz Electronics.
There's a lot to cover. I'll attempt to be thorough, but concise because, as you guys have pointed out, we have a lot of work to do here at BKE.
First of all, I want to thank you all for the support that you've given Beat Kangz Electronics over the past several months. I don't believe any of us have ever seen a new company or new product generate so much discussion so early. We are truly humbled that our Thangz have created so much anticipation and conversation among our fellow producers and musicians.
As a young company, we must also concede that we've made some mistakes. As I said, we are musicians and producers first. Since starting our own music technology firm we've gained a MASSIVE amount of respect for the creators of such products. We weren't naive about the process, but software and hardware designers deserve a LOT more respect for their work than we musicians often give.
Yes, we came out blazing and bragging because we know we have the bomb. We've taken tons of heat for our marketing, and I'll accept that heat gladly. We (I) have learned from those mistakes. You'll notice that we've chilled out with the hip hop braggadocio over the past few months. Yes. We've taken your advice.
We have also worked to insure that you knew what we have always known, that Beat Kangz products are not just for hip hop producers. Soon you'll see videos from dance music producers and DJs. Rock bands like Living Colour are taking Beat Thang Virtual on their live tours.
We come from hip hop culture, but when it comes down to it, we are music lovers. We designed our products so you can do anything with these Thangz that you like. You guys told us that's where we needed to go with our marketing. Thanks for your suggestions. We've taken them to heart.
As for the "Kanglish" that we speak in our marketing campaigns, we do it because it is fun. It's not because we're "ghetto" or "country", though some of us could be described as both. (All three Kangz and I grew up as working and middle class kidz in Tennessee.)
We are all educated professionals who have worked day jobs in corporate environments while doing music on the side, and we HATED IT. When we set out to start our own company, we knew it would be hard work so we do our best to make the work as FUN as possible.
We actually think that the Kanglish stuff is funny. We LAUGH when we come up with new product names or when we name our lighting function "BLANG". We don't want boring names for our products like the SJ1-9000XLT. No offense to anyone, but that's just not us.
We don't believe we're "setting black people back 100 years" or that our banter is demeaning to anyone. We're from Tennessee. We talk like this. We don't say things, we say "thangz".
There is a segment of the music production world that will love to have custom grillz on their Thang. Some of you may not. That's okay.
And frankly, we're nearly a dozen pages in on an Akai forum discussing our independent product. Thanks again to you guys. Our marketing did strike a chord, no matter how dissonant some of you feel that chord has been.
Thanks to your advice, we're tempering the banter because we know some of you cats don't get the jokes. In fact, some of you take it VERY seriously. (Admittedly, there are some inside jokes. But "if you ain't up on Thangz...")
It is not our intention to offend anyone. Our marketing is intended to make you take notice, and to have fun.
But, first and foremost, we are musicians and producers. So when it comes to the discussion of the quality of our musical products, we are very serious. The reason the Kangz started on this path is because they had dope concepts for the creation of outstanding music products. The reason I joined them is because I believe in what they do, and I LOVE and USE the products.
We want to create the best music production equipment possible at an affordable price, and we want to make it as easy as possible for YOU to make music. We spend a lot of time on development getting it right because we want to make sure we satisfy ourselves and YOU.
We also know that YOU GUYS won't cut us ANY SLACK, if the product isn't the best it can be.
That's why we're taking our time to make sure we get Thangz right.
We appreciate customers like SaintJoe who don't work for us, but who like what we're doing, and what we're about, and tell people about us. Joe has also been vocal in his criticism of the marketing plan, and has let us know many product improvements that he believes we should make. He's been right most of the time, and because he works with a lot of different gear on a regular basis, we listen to him. But Joe tells us these things in an encouraging way, and we believe it's because he wants us to succeed.
This is why we listen to all of you guys here on the forums... even when you're HATING on us. Some of you cats DON'T have our best interest at heart, and we accept that. Perhaps it's because of the way we stepped onto the stage (Okay. That's MOST of it), or perhaps you have other reasons.
We know we won't make all of you happy, but our goal is to make the best Thangz possible so those of you who are with us will use our gear to make incredible music, and the haters will be quiet. So yes, we appreciate the HATE as well!
Let's address some of the development issues on the table. The latest update for Beat Thang Virtual was released last week. When we tested, everything seemed to be cool, but apparently some Vista users are having problems while others are not.
All PCs and Macs are not created equally. We are working diligently to determine the cause of the updater issues and to correct them as quickly as possible for all of our users.
This happens often in the technology world. Some of you will recall the frustration you felt when Apple released their new OS for iPhone, and you found that any audio apps you had downloaded now suddenly didn't work. Certainly, if a high-powered, well financed, corporate juggernaut like Apple can have development issues, a small independent company is susceptible.
But that isn't an excuse. We strive to be as good or better than Apple, so like them, we'll work through those problems. The mark of any good company is not that you don't make mistakes. It's how well you make it right after you do make a mistake. We will make Thangz right. So if you have a copy of the updater, and it isn't working on your machine, send us a note at support @ beatkangz.com, and we'll get you fixed up.
As for the Beat Thang hardware, we are on track and are working diligently to make sure that it is the baddest Thang on the planet. It is a complicated piece of machinery, and we're combining elements that have never been combined in a music production device before. We want to get it right because you guys won't cut us any slack if we don't!
But Beat Thang Virtual is here. The operating system is exactly the same as the OS for the hardware. If you're enthralled by the features that are listed on the boxx, then you'll definitely want to get the Virtual now. I'm currently using it on an album I'm producing for an emcee in Nashville, and I LOVE it! (Yes, I've asked for VST, and tha Kangz listened. We'll all have VST very soon, when it's ready.)
Now, admittedly, I'm a software guy. I'm on the road a lot. I like having an app that I can pull up on my laptop while I'm on the plane or in the coffee shop or at a show. Virtual has a very low CPU footprint, a great work flow, and fantastic sounds. The learning curve is extremely easy to climb, and it's FUN TO PLAY WITH!! It's a terrific piece for professionals and novices alike.
So on behalf of Beat Kangz Electronics, I want to thank you all again. We don't always have time to respond to your posts, but we're definitely reading your conversations, listening to the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, and more importantly, doing our best to implement your suggestions. Keep it coming.
Peace,
Nadir Omowale
Marketing Director
Beat Kangz Electronics LLC
http://www.beatkangz.com
