Ableton and Teenage Engineering veterans launch new company and tease first product
“We want to be a source for both playful exploration and a reliable tool for musical results,” says Rikard Jönsson, CEO of new company Forever 89.
Credit: Forever 89
A new music company has been launched by two experienced music tech veterans, with a teaser of its first product hinting at drums, percussion and resynthesis.
The brand-new start-up, named Forever 89, has been created by Rikard Jönsson and Svante Stadler, who collectively bring more than 30 years of experience from their careers across companies such as Ableton, Teenage Engineering, Reason Studios, XLN Audio, Cycling ‘74, and Spotify.
The company is described as a “pan-European collaboration” between Stockholm and Berlin, with Stadler providing technical expertise accrued from working on products such as Teenage Engineering’s OP-1, Auxy’s iOS app, the XO VST/AU from XLNAudio, and more.
Jönsson worked at Spotify back when it was still in its start-up phase. He later became Ableton’s sole Product Marketing Manager, bringing multiple Ableton Live campaigns to the market, and later joined its Cycling ‘74 subsidiary as a Product Manager for the RNBO.
Forever 89’s first product is still in its private beta phase and is being tested by musicians across the globe. The company name pays tribute to the era of innovation that characterised the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Little information is yet available on the product, but you can watch a short teaser below:
“We want to be a source for both playful exploration and a reliable tool for musical results,” says Jönsson.
“We both grew up in a time when technological advances made last year’s innovations look outdated. Our vision is to create opportunities for similar progress again,” adds Stadler. “We looked at our own needs as musicians and based our first product on that. We want to be a guiding star for modern musical instruments and also believe it’s important to contribute with innovation in our sector.”
Find out more over at Forever 89.
