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Pioneer DJ

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Pioneer DJ
FormerlyPioneer Pro DJ
Company typePrivately Held Corporation
IndustryHardware and software for DJ's and music production/performance
FoundedKawasaki (2014 (2014))
HeadquartersYokohama, Japan
Key people
ProductsDJ Mixers, CDJs, DJ Controllers, Turntables, Rekordbox
Number of employees
435
ParentNoritsu
Websitewww.pioneerdj.com

Pioneer DJ is a brand of DJ products, including media players and DJ software controllers, turntables, DJ mixers, headphones, effects units, and loudspeakers. Originally part of Pioneer Corporation, the company became independent in 2014 as Pioneer DJ Corporation, and has produced numerous industry-standard DJ products.[1] The company's market share of the DJ market is estimated at 60%.[2] Pioneer DJ Corporation changed its company name to AlphaTheta Corporation from January 1, 2020. Their brands and brand names, including Pioneer DJ, were not affected by this change.[3] In January 2024, it was announced that new products would be released under the AlphaTheta brand, alongside Pioneer DJ.[4]

History

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Background

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In 1937, Nozomu Matsumoto developed the Pioneer A-8, the very first dynamic speaker to be built in Japan from original components.[1] The following year, Matsumoto founded the Fukuin Shokai Denki Seisakusho company, a radio and speaker repair shop, in Osaka Japan. In May, 1947 Fukuin Denki was incorporated, and in June, 1961, the company's name was changed to Pioneer Electronic Corporation.

Pioneer Corporation

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In 1994, Pioneer released the world's first CDJ, the CDJ-500, a top-loading CD deck designed for professional DJ use, with a live cue function, looping, the ability to adjust tempo without altering pitch and a rudimentary jog dial which allowed the user to nudge the track forward or backward. The company introduced a companion DJ mixer, the DJM-500 with built-in effects that could be synchronized to the BPM of the music. In 1998, Pioneer introduced the CDJ-100s, the first CDJ with built-in jog wheel-controllable effects.

In 2001, the company introduced the CDJ-1000 with "Vinyl Mode," which made it possible for a user to manipulate touch-sensitive platter like vinyl on a turntable to slow down or speed up a track, or even scratching. The CDJ-1000 also introduced 'cue points' which allowed the user to set markers on a track and recall them. These new features, combined with the increased availability of music on CDs, as well as the comparative ease of transporting and storing CDs compared to vinyl, soon made the CDJ-1000 an industry standard in nightclubs worldwide.[1][5]

In 2004, Pioneer introduced the DVJ-x1, the first video DJ deck (capable of reading DVDs and outputting video).[1]

In 2009, Pioneer launched the first version of Rekordbox, a computer-based DJ software developed for Pioneer by Mixvibes and controllable by the newly released CDJ-2000, which popularized DJing without physical media. Rekordbox developed rapidly, and by 2015 was capable of performing entire DJ sets on a laptop controlled by the newly released XDJ-RX system.[1]

Pioneer DJ

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In September 2014, with an estimated DJ market share of 60%,[6] Pioneer Corporation announced it would sell 86% of its DJ equipment business to private equity firm KKR for about 59 billion yen ($550 million), with the sale to be completed by March 2015,[7] establishing Pioneer DJ Corporation.

In 2016, Pioneer DJ introduced the CDJ-2000NXS2, which established itself as the new industry standard, appearing on most riders for major events and nightclubs worldwide.[1]

In 2020 Pioneer DJ's parent company's name was changed to AlphaTheta Corporation. In March of that year, KKR and Pioneer Corporation sold their respective stakes in AlphaTheta Corporation to Japanese holding company Noritsu.[8]

On 23 January 2024, AlphaTheta Corporation confirmed that new products would be announced using the brand AlphaTheta, separate from Pioneer DJ.[4]

DJ Players / Turntables

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CDJ-1000MK3 (2006)
The CDJ-2000 (first item in the row of devices, with black jog dial in its center), a CD player designed by Pioneer DJ. A DJM-800 mixer is also seen directly behind it, in the middle.
Name Year
CDJ-50 / CDJ-500 1994
CDJ-30 / CDJ-300 1995
CDJ-500G 1995
CDJ-50II / CDJ-500II 1996
CDJ-500S 1997
CDJ-100S 1998
CDJ-500II-LTD 1998
CMX-5000 2000
CMX-3000 2001
DMP-555 2002
MEP-7000 2008
SEP-C1 2008
CDJ-200 2005
CDJ-400-K-LTD 2009
CDJ-350 2010
DVJ-1000 2006
CDJ-1000 2001
DVJ-X1 2003
CDJ-1000MK2 2003
CDJ-1000MK3 2006
CDJ-400 2007
CDJ-700S 1997
CDJ-350-W 2011
CDJ-800 2002
CDJ-800MK2 2006
CDJ-900NXS 2013
CDJ-2000NXS-M-LTD 2013
CDJ-850-W 2012
CDJ-850-K 2012
CDJ-350-S 2012
CDJ-2000-W-LTD 2012
MEP-4000 2011
CDJ-850 2010
CDJ-900 2009
CDJ-2000 2009
CDJ-2000NXS 2012
CDJ-2000NXS2 2016
CDJ-2000NXS2-W-LTD 2017
CDJ-TOUR1 2016
CDJ-3000 2020
PLX-500 2016
PLX-1000 2014
PLX-1000-N 2015
PLX-CRSS12 2023
XDJ-1000 2014
XDJ-700 2015
XDJ-1000MK2 2016

DJ Controllers (incomplete)

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DJ-Controller DDJ-SX2, 2014
DJ Controller DDJ-RX (launched 2015) with the mixing software Rekordbox (by Mixvibes), which comes packaged with many Pioneer products, running on a computer
Name Channels Year
EFX-500 2 1996
DDJ-ERGO 2 2011
DDJ-S1 2 2011
DDJ-T1 4 2011
DDJ-SX 4 2012
DDJ-WEGO 2 2012
DDJ-SB 2 2013
DDJ-SR 2 2013
DDJ-SP1 - 2013
DDJ-WEGO2 2 2013
DDJ-SX2 4 2014
DDJ-SZ 4 2014
DDJ-WEGO3 2 2014
DDJ-RX 4 2015
DDJ-RZ 4 2015
DDJ-SB2 2 2015
DDJ-RB 2 2016
DDJ-RR 2 2016
DDJ-RZX 4 2016
DDJ-SZ2 4 2016
DDJ-WEGO-4 2 2016
DDJ-SR2 2 2017
DDJ-XP1 - 2017
DDJ-1000 4 2018
DDJ-400 2 2018
DDJ-SB3 2 2018
DDJ-SX3 4 2018
DDJ-1000SRT 4 2019
DDJ-200 2 2019
DDJ-800 2 2019
DDJ-XP2 - 2019
DDJ-FLX6 4 2020
DDJ-REV1 2 2022
DDJ-REV7 2 2022
DDJ-FLX4 2 2022
DDJ-FLX6-GT 4 2022
DDJ-FLX10 4 2023
DDJ-REV5 2 2023
DDJ-GRV6 4 2024
DDJ-FLX2 2 2024

All-in-one DJ Systems

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Name Channels Year
XDJ-AERO 2 2012
XDJ-R1 2 2013
XDJ-RX 2 2015
XDJ-RX2 2 2017
XDJ-RR 2 2018
XDJ-XZ 4 2019
XDJ-RX3 2 2021
OPUS-QUAD 4 2023
XDJ-AZ 4 2024

DJ Mixers

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Pioneer Mixers
Name Channels Years
DJM-250 2 2012
DJM-250MK2 2 2017
DJM-300 2 1998
DJM-300S 2 1998
DJM-350 2 2010
DJM-400 2 2006
DJM-400 LIMITED 2 2006
DJM-450 2 2016
DJM-500 4 1995
DJM-600 4 1998
DJM-600S 4 2002
DJM-700 4 2007
DJM-707 2 2004
DJM-750 4 2013
DJM-750MK2 4 2017
DJM-800 4 2006
DJM-850 4 2012
DJM-900NEXUS LIMITED 4 2011
DJM-900NXS 4 2011
DJM-900NXS2 4 2016
DJM-900SRT 4 2013
DJM-909 2 2004
DJM-1000 6 2005
SVM-1000 4 2008
DJM-2000 4 2010
DJM-2000NXS 4 2012
DJM-TOUR1 4 2016
DJM-3000 4 2001
DJM-5000 4 2009
DJM-T1 2 2011
DJM-S3 2 2017
DJM-S9 2 2015
DJM-S9-N 2 2015
DJM-V10 6 2020
DJM-S11 2 2020
DJM-S7 2 2021
DJM-S5 2 2022
DJM-A9 4 2023

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Saunders, Jarrah (29 May 2023). "Gear Icons: Pioneer DJ". Mixdown. Furst Media. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  2. ^ McGlynn, Declan (5 March 2020). "Pioneer DJ has been sold, again". DJ Mag. Thrust Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Pioneer DJ changes company name to AlphaTheta Corporation - AlphaTheta". alphatheta.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  4. ^ a b "New Pioneer DJ products will now be branded as AlphaTheta". DJMag.com. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  5. ^ Rothlein, Jordan (3 October 2013). "Industry Standards: Pioneer CDJ". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  6. ^ Richards, David (18 September 2014). "Pioneer Offloads Lucrative DJ Business for US$550M". Channel News. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  7. ^ Knight, Sophie (16 September 2014). "Pioneer to spin off DJ audio unit to KKR in $550 million deal". Reuters. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  8. ^ Murray, Eoin (11 July 2023). "Pioneer DJ's parent company AlphaTheta Corporation acquires Serato". DJ Mag. Thrust Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
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