Behringer founder and CEO Uli Behringer has appeared in a rare interview with music gear retailer Sweetwater in which he discusses the history of the company and sheds light on the company's pricing strategy.
Behringer is widely known for releasing highly affordable instruments and studio gear that take influence from the design of popular products released by other manufacturers. In the past few months alone, the company has revealed inexpensive products inspired by the PPG Wave, LinnDrum, Roland CR-78 and Universal Audio 6176, among others.
Behringer claims that his decision to price the company's products so competitively is driven by a mission to make music technology accessible to a broader range of customers. "We have not invented synthesizers, nor will we ever claim to, but hopefully people will remember us for having brought all these jewels back to life," he says.
"Only a few people can afford those, and I think it's important to make them accessible to people who do not have deep pockets. That's something we feel strongly about and that's our purpose, it's why we exist."
Speaking in more detail about how the company decides on its prices, Behringer says: "The way that we price our products is that we look at the cost and we add a small profit on top of it, and that's the sales price". Behringer then compares this to the company's competitors, who he believes are overcharging their customers.
"We don't go out like most of our competitors and say, 'how much could I charge and get away with it?' We say it doesn't matter. We just take the cost, add a small margin, and that's the sale price. Customers will appreciate it, and then you have a long-term or lifetime customer, and that's what matters."
While the interview didn't touch on the criticisms levelled at Behringer's imitative designs by LinnDrum designer Roger Linn, who recently questioned the ethics of the company's business practices, Behringer claimed that his decision to recreate vintage instruments isn't driven by financial gain, but the desire to make historic pieces of gear - most of which are now either too expensive or too rare to purchase for many musicians - attainable for music-makers that cannot afford them.
"We made it our mission to bring these products back and give them to people like me who, at that time, couldn't afford them," Behringer says. "I can tell you that in many cases, we build synthesizers and there is no commercial incentive behind it. In some cases we even lose money, it doesn't matter. But perhaps my gift to these musicians is to make these synthesizers affordable."
