What’s Next for The Producer Community? Exploring the Impact of Cymatics buyout of Producergrind

ProducerGrind + Cymatics

So recently Cymatics just bought out ProducerGrind but before diving into the implications of the buyout, It’s important to grasp and understand exactly who these companies are.

ProducerGrind emerged as a pretty dominant force within the hip-hop, music, production, and community, focusing their content, primarily on interviews with well-known producers and tutorials with upcoming producers, their content offers invaluable insight into the creative process of industry giants, making the platform a cornerstone for beginner, aspiring and professional producers to learn how to make beats and find inspiration and knowledge about the music industry.

Cymatics, on the other hand, is a very well-established name in the EDM music production market. Known primarily for its comprehensive suite of sound packs sample libraries and plug-ins, Cymatics has catered to producers of all genres. Since 2015 the company has consistently provided high-quality resources, tutorials, and master classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced producers to enhance their production and their sound.

I won’t get into it too much here, but there is a behind-the-scenes relationship between the two companies. You can check out more about that here.

Having been a longtime supporter of ProducerGrind, and Cymatics this merger or acquisition comes as a bit of a surprise to me. The two brands were incredibly talented at what they’ve done in their respective niches while Cymatics primarily focused on sound design and course creation, ProducerGrind has put a lot of energy into their podcast and connecting with trap producers primarily in the Atlanta trap subgenre.

I’ve taken some of the Cymatics courses, particularly the 2022 Melody creation course and it was pretty insightful into how to create new melodies and ProducerGrind has tons of packs that I use daily.

As of now, I have to say that my position on this merger is somewhat neutral though throughout this article, you might find the tone somewhat biased. I’d like to reiterate that I have nothing against Stephen at Cymatics, Dylan at PG, or any of the whole team at producer I love their products and I’ll continue to support the venture because they make good shit.

However, some people within the producer community feel that this acquisition is representative of a larger problem that exists within the music altogether again I will not dive into that in this article you can check out more of that here. 

Rather than focusing on the negatives, this could be a positive for both Cymatics and the team at ProducerGrind. Last week,TB Digital hopped on a live with busy Works beats to clear up some of the rumors surrounding the recent acquisition.

https://www.youtube.com/live/NewIUxUWAFw?si=spb-cWXG6WB0pWWa&t=946

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed in ProducerGrind for the lack of content over the past year or so and figured there might be some internal struggles. Not jumping to conclusions, Of course, I checked my opinion on the matter. Others in the community have been more vocal about what they felt, or perhaps, having inside knowledge of the players. During the live stream TB shed some light on the hiatus informing us that ProducerGrind was in a state of essentially creator’s block where they were figuring out the next steps to make, and how to further the brand.

While I don’t knock the creative process, I will say that in this digital era taking longer than a week off of a consistently producing YouTube channel is almost 100% certain death either for the channel or for the company. Knowing that fact now, the acquisition really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Dylan, the founder of ProducerGrind, and Steven from Cymatics were working out the details of a potential merger, which takes time and energy.

Dylan had previously hinted at potentially selling the company during the Timberland interview can link to that here.

In all honesty, I see this as a win-win for the producer community, as well as the companies involved Cymatics will benefit from expanded reach by gaining access to the producer audience, and their content allowing for wider promotion of products services courses, tutorials, and podcast synergy can potentially lead to an increased market, distribution penetration and revenue for the companies additionally, with this influx of Cash PG can leverage the resources Cymatics provides to enhance the podcast content, which in all honesty TB labeled as community service, but I feel could be extremely powerful in attracting new clients to ProducerGrind/Cymatics one could incorporate demos and tutorials into their current model and have exclusive content linked to those interviews or a premium Subscribers can see more behind the scenes with their favorite producers. This can provide an immersive experience for producers and change the game with the right planning and organization.

In addition, the two brands could diversify their product offerings. Cymatics produces incredible sound packs and plug-ins geared at Lofi and EDM and has been slowly diving into the trap market whereas ProducerGrind pretty much focuses on the trap market. Cymatics can expand its business model beyond just product sales. Now they own a content platform and the company can generate more revenue through advertising brand partnerships and potentially subscription-based services based on educating their sub on the other hand ProducerGrind gets an influx of creators and resources to be able to showcase different styles of production outside of trap music in the ATL scene.

Now on the flip side of this is where some members of the community find and see the most danger. According to them, this acquisition could potentially disrupt the independence of the producer community as of now independent creators, like ProducerGrind have editorial independence. With larger companies, seeing potential in the market, this could lead to more buyouts and acquisitions, subsequently leading a decline in the objectivity of not only ProducerGrind content but the community at large. Right now we can relatively trust our creators to act subjectively versus in the interest of promoting products.

This type of long-term impact remains to be seen if Cymatics can successfully integrate ProducerGrind while maintaining its editorial integrity. This partnership can prove beneficial for both companies and the music producer community.

Realistically, conflicts are always going to arise when you balance your commercial interest with the integrity of your content and the quality of such. Ultimately, the success of this merger will depend on how well the two companies can leverage their combined strengths and create value for the audience and innovation in the producer community.

I think Worrying about the consolidation in the producer community is a valid concern. A great example is Inmusic, having acquired major brands, such as Alesis, Pioneer, and Akai. This type of consolidation ultimately has produced some mixed reviews, especially the MPC community.

A pretty constant conversation in the community is the lack of product quality, higher prices, lack of attention to the customer. Additionally, with these types of mergers, we’ve also seen a premium valuation on products or ancillary services and the subscription-based pricing model. 

Looking back at the podcast boom between 2017 and 2020 we can assess how that affected independent creators. Thousands of podcasts were born with the assumption they would get an endorsement or partnership with major brands. Could this buyout affect independent content, creators, the same way?

What happens to the average creator / plug-in developer if larger companies can dominate the market? Will smaller players be forced to produce content that’s appealing to a buyout versus independent, subjective content? Only time will tell.

What I do like, is is the idea of an all-in-one creation, suite where a company like ProducerGrind, Cymatics, (or Akai) can offer a product that allows professionals and beginners to make competitive music, which is relatively consistent with what we’ve seen in music to date.

I’d love to see from these companies more community-driven revenue streams, where either ProducerGrind or Cymatics is willing to dive into the producers and create a marketplace or a platform where producers can sell their preset samples, projects, or essentially their catalogs and generate additional revenue for the parent companies and for independent producers.

Though this might be controversial, I also think that Cymatics could benefit from having more relationships inside of the Atlanta producer scene, which is where TB Digital and Dylan from ProducerGrind shine. Having real enough relationships with their subjects to create compelling interviews that feel authentic allows us as consumers to see a different side of the music industry.

I fear that with new energy placed behind the podcast, the platform will become another place where industry producers can collect a check rather and then offer community service to the producer community, which is what TB digital describe the podcast as.

Either way, it’s too early to tell whether or not this merger will become successful. Ultimately, the success of these business models is going to depend on a careful execution by the respective teams in a deep understanding of their target, target audience, and the ability to adapt to the changing market conditions, we’ve seen new genres pop up within the last 2 to 3 years and we’ve seen the entire industry flip within the previous six months.

As within Music’s recent acquisition of Moog, it’s too early to tell if the merger will benefit specific niches within their respective markets only time will tell if Cymatics will be able to learn from what they acquired at the producer, grind, and execute an effective strategy at strengthening the community in increasing their revenue and providing value to their customers.

What’s your take on it? 

Comment below.

Note from the editor: 

As I just finished writing this post, I opened up my email to a sneak peek VST from ProducerGrind "Dark Sky", a granular FX plug-in one of the bonuses of their trap Genesis project. I can tell that this merger will be an interesting foyer for both companies. I use my computer as a sound module so it will be interesting to see which Cymatics plug-ins ProducerGrind adopts into their product catalog or if I’m going to get Cymatics emails through ProducerGrind. Only time will tell.