Harman International Acquires Roon

All Image Credit: Samsung

Harman, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., has just announced the acquisition of Roon, the company behind the subscription-based music management and streaming platform used by many music enthusiasts. The Roon software is available for all popular operating systems and offers a user friendly interface for browsing and discovering music, compatibility with almost any audio device and a playback engine designed to deliver audiophile quality sound. Roon also manufactures a line of hardware server appliances called Nucleus.

According to Enno Vandermeer, Roon Labs Founder, Roon should remain exactly as it is, broadly meaning that:

• All monthly, annual, and lifetime subscriptions remain valid and will continue without interruption.
• Trials will continue and convert as they usually would.
• There will be no changes to our billing processes.
• This community site will continue to be the home for discussion about Roon, audio, and music.
• Our customer success and support services will continue to operate as they do today.
• All supported audio products will continue to work with Roon, and we’re committed to certifying new Roon Ready and Roon Tested products from all brands.
• The familiar faces from our team will be right here as always.

Here is the Press Release from Samsung:

“HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer, and enterprise markets, today announced the acquisition of Roon, the music management, discovery, and streaming platform for music enthusiasts.

Roon is a music player platform for music enthusiasts, which features a rich interface for browsing and discovering music, compatibility with almost any audio device, and a playback engine designed to deliver the best possible sound. Roon is available for all popular operating systems and manufactures a line of hardware server appliances called Nucleus.

“At HARMAN we take great pride in our ability to create exceptional audio experiences for our partners and consumers around the world,” said Dave Rogers, President, Lifestyle Division, HARMAN. “The team at Roon shares our passion in bringing exceptional sound and connectivity to music lovers as they browse, discover, and listen at home and on the go. We are looking forward to welcoming Roon, whose impressive talent will join the HARMAN family and bolster our already robust engineering capabilities.”

Roon will operate as a standalone Harman business with its existing team. All Roon operations will stay in place and continue to be dedicated to serving and growing Roon’s community of device partners and customers, under a joint mission to deliver engaging and personalized audio experiences across a universe of products and platforms.

Aligned with its ‘work with all’ strategy, HARMAN is committed to growing Roon’s open device ecosystem which includes collaborating with more than 160 other audio brands, delivering audio to more than 1000 high-performance devices. Roon’s dedication to its loyal community and its exceptional UI/UX design expertise will continue to expand and flourish with the acquisition.

“Our team is ecstatic to join HARMAN, a visionary company that has been leading the audio industry forward for decades,” said Enno Vandermeer, CEO of Roon. “By combining forces with HARMAN, Roon gains the incredible scale, resources, and reach of a global technology leader, while maintaining our independence to invest in the business’s growth and future. We look forward to continuing to bring our advanced data management, SaaS expertise, and consumer engagement capabilities to our broad ecosystem of partners, as we join forces with HARMAN to deliver even greater audio experiences to our customers.””