NEWS
Rode Microphones
Reaches Golden Jubilee
Rode Microphones ’ current HQ in Sydney
Throughout 2017 , Freedman Electronics , the parent company of Rode Microphones , is celebrating its 50 th anniversary . Over the course of five decades , the company has seen its ups and downs as it transitioned from a small pro audio shop and PA installer founded by Henry and Astrid Freedman , who emigrated from Sweden , into one of Australia ’ s most successful manufacturers and exporters .
“[ I ’ m ] obviously incredibly proud . Half a century , having a business last that long , is pretty special as most businesses
Peter Freedman ( left ) & a friend in the old Freedman Electronics showroom
fail . But there have been so many things , the ups and downs , and there is so much luck of being in the right place at the right time ,” says Peter Freedman , who took over the company from his father in 1987 . “ But when people say , ‘ If you had one piece of advice , what would you say ?’ it ’ s , ‘ Never give up .’”
Under Henry ’ s leadership , Freedman Electronics grew from a small storefront electronics repair shop to a trusted and successful PA installer , audio distributor , and retailer based in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield . When Henry fell ill , Peter took over and through a combination of reckless ambition and a historic economic downturn , the company fell on hard times . The global stock market crash of 1987 hit Australia particularly hard . This came after
Peter had taken out bank loans , started a second company called Image Design Works , and also expanded Freedman Electronics ’ import and distribution business . On the verge of bankruptcy , Peter , together with his friend and salesman Colin Hill , happened upon a successful product . Peter found an old Chinese-made microphone in the shop that he figured he could import cheaply , fixed it up to make it useable , and Colin took it around the local market to gauge interest . To their surprise , there was ample appetite for an inexpensive condenser microphone in the local music and studio market . Dubbing it the Rode NT1 , it was a pivotal product and moment for the company . The original NT1 , Peter concedes , wasn ’ t very good , but with the help of a new Chinese business partner , John Qiu , the NT2 was a marked improvement .
“ I thought , ‘ If we can sell 500 of these in a year , I think we can get out of debt eventually and be alright ,’ and now we do 1.1 million in 12 months . Who dreamt that ? Nobody ,” says Peter .
Eventually , Peter set his sights on the North American market , bought a plane ticket he could hardly afford to attend the 1992 NAMM Show in California , and began hustling to save his company . “ I ’ m eating pizza on the side of the bed , drinking Jack Daniels , and walking around with a backpack on and a mic in the back of it . I went through NAMM with an overcoat on , like , ‘ Want to buy a mic ?’ It was like a guy with the watches up his arm ,” Freedman laughs – and he did sell a few . The big breakthrough , though , was an order for 100 mics from West L . A . Music . “ God bless them . I walked out crying practically because I knew I had something .”
Peter Freedman with his Order of Australia medal
In the 25 years since that trip , Rode has moved all manufacturing in-house at its state-of-the-art facilities in Australia and become a market leader in studio and location recording and live sound . “ With all this stuff , I make products that I want to buy ,” says Peter . “ I love this stuff . I ’ m an audio person so it ’ s very easy for me to go , ‘ Oh , that would be cool . Why don ’ t we do that because I need to have one myself ?’”
For more information , go to www . rode . com .
The original Freedman Electronics shop
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CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE